Human Rights Record of the United States in 2018

AUGUST

August 7

The Guardian reported on its website that according to the campaign finance watchdog Open Secrets, an overall $6.5 billion was spent by presidential and congressional candidates in 2016, and the average cost of winning a Senate seat was $19.4 million.

August 9

According to a report by Wall Street Journal, several hundred people were murdered every year in Chicago in recent years, but the prosecution rate for homicide cases was only 17.5 percent. At least 74 people were shot on the weekend of August 4 and 5, 12 of them fatally. Tens of thousands of young US citizens were fleeing cities with frequent and serious violence cases.

August 14

The Washington Post said on its website that more than 300 Catholic priests across Pennsylvania sexually abused more than 1,000 children over seven decades, protected by a hierarchy of church leaders who covered it up.

August 14

The USA Today reported that when dozens of homeless people set up camp near the heart of Cincinnati, Ohio, Robert Ruehlman, a local judge, declared homeless camps a public nuisance and banned them in the affected part of downtown.

August 22

The ACLU website said in an article that it was a common occurrence that the NSA, FBI and CIA gather and search through US citizens' international emails, internet calls, and chats without obtaining a warrant. It said PRISM is a warrantless wiretapping program that operates around the clock, vacuuming up emails, Facebook messages, Google chats, Skype calls, and the like.

August 27

Business Insider US reported that according to data from the US Census Bureau, the average gender pay gap in the United States is around 19.5 percent, meaning that, on average, a woman earns 80.5 percent her male counterpart earns.

August 30

American Immigration Council said on its website that the Atlanta City Detention Center was accused of an unsanitary environment, and rampant use of lockdown and isolation.

August 31

The US government announced that it would no longer contribute to the United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees, and threatened to cancel the assistance programs to Palestine worth over $200 million in the West Bank and Gaza, aggravating the already serious humanitarian situation in the area.

SEPTEMBER

September 2

The website of National Partnership for Women& Families reported that among full-time, year-round workers, women with associate's degrees are paid less than men with just a high school diploma, and women with master's degrees are paid less than men with bachelor's degrees.

September 6

The Hill reported on its website that US Capitol Police arrested 212 people over three days amid protests surrounding Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings.

On the same day, the website of The New Yorker reported that seven men were killed in a bloody prison riot in April 2018 at a prison in South Carolina.

September 10

A website owned by ABC News said in an article that collectively, US House candidates raised more money by August 27 than House candidates raised during the entire 2014 midterm election cycle. Ad volumes are up 86 percent compared to that previous midterm. Dark money-flowing to political action committees from undisclosed donors-is up 26 percent. For House seats, more than 90 percent of candidates who spend the most win.

September 11

BBC reported that the US military was alleged to have committed torture at secret detention sites in Afghanistan.

September 12

US News& World Report reported that according to the US Census Bureau, 39.7 million people were poor in 2017, about 12.3 percent of the population or 1 in 8 Americans.

September 20

Pew Research Center posted on its website that about 70 percent of the female interviewees say they would like to see more women in top leadership positions-not only in politics, but also in the corporate world.

On the same day, The New York Times website reported that James Harris Jackson, a white Army veteran, fatally stabbed a 66-year-old black man with a sword in March 2017 and said the slaying was "practice" for the murdering of several black men-preferably younger black men in the company of white women-because of his hatred of interracial dating.

September 24

The USA Today reported on its website that according to a survey, based on responses from more than 160,000 secondary students in 27 states, nearly 40 percent of middle-schoolers said they'd been bullied; 27 percent of high-schoolers said the same. Students of color in these schools experienced a steeper increase in bullying over last year.

September 26

The USA Today reported that sexual harassment and assault had become a systemic issue in Hollywood. Based on an industrywide survey, 94 percent of women surveyed said they had experienced some form of sexual harassment or assault over the course of their careers.

On the same day, CNN reported that French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a fiery rebuke of US isolationist policies at the UN General Assembly on September 25. At times directly referring to the United States, Macron rapped the US government for its policies on Iran, climate change, the UN, migration and the Middle East peace, among others.

OCTOBER

October 5

The website of CNN reported that more than 300 protesters were arrested by US Capitol Police in demonstrations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

October 18

Houston Chronicle reported that 12 inmates died at 10 Texas prisons during heat waves.

October 22

The website of The Guardian reported that the 2018 midterm elections have seen a dramatic rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric. A report found that conspiracy theories targeting Muslims have increasingly entered the political mainstream. "More than a third have claimed that Muslims are inherently violent or pose an imminent threat", and "just under a third of the candidates considered have called for Muslims to be denied basic rights or declared that Islam is not a religion", it said.

October 25

Pew Research Center's website reported that 47 percent of Latinos said their situation in the US has worsened over the past year, and 55 percent said they are worried that they, a family member or close friend could be deported.

October 27

Robert Bowers, 46, stormed into a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with rifle and handguns, shouting hate for Jews and killing worshippers in a 20-minute attack. The Caucasian male killed 11 and wounded six, making the attack the deadliest on the Jewish community in US history.

NOVEMBER

November 7

To stop the follow-up questions of a CNN reporter at a White House news conference, a White House intern tried to take the microphone away from the correspondent and the reporter's press pass was also revoked.

November 8

Former Marine Ian David Long opened fire inside a bar in Thousand Oaks, California, killing 12 and injuring a lot.

On the same day, US Department of Justice reported on its website that Daniel Davis and other officers at Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, Louisiana were found guilty of willfully depriving an inmate of his right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, beating the inmate who was unable to resist, leaving the inmate with severe injuries. They were also convicted of conspiring to cover up the beating.

The website of the Center for Responsive Politics reported that during the 2018 midterm election cycle, the Texas race between incumbent Republican Ted Cruz and Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke is the most expensive congressional election ever in terms of spending by candidates. O'Rourke himself holds the record for the most money raised by a congressional candidate at $69.1 million.

November 12

BBC website reported that Jemel Roberson, 26, an armed African security guard at a bar in suburban Chicago was killed by police as he detained a suspected gunman. Everybody was screaming out "security, he was a security guard", a witness said, adding that the police saw a black man with a gun and opened fire on him.

The New York Times reported on its website that Esteban Manzanares, a Border Patrol agent in Texas, came into three undocumented female immigrants, including two minors, who surrendered to him for help. He drove them to an isolated, wooded area 16 miles from the border. There he sexually assaulted a teenager, viciously attacked the other two, and left them, finally, to bleed in the brush. Over the past four years, at least 10 people in South Texas have been victims of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping or rape-all, according to prosecutors and officials, at the hands of Border Patrol agents.

November 20

The website of The New York Times reported that the Los Angeles district attorney announced that the nine people had been charged with paying homeless people off-with one dollar bills and stray cigarettes-in exchange for signing fake names on voter registration forms.

November 22

In a gunfire at an Alabama mall on the Thanksgiving night, Emantic "EJ" Fitzgerald Bradford Jr, an 21-year-old African American, helped other shoppers to safety. He was mistaken for the gunman and killed by police officers. The Bradfords' lawyer, Ben Crump, said that "EJ's senseless death is the latest egregious example of a black man killed because he was perceived to be a threat due to the color of his skin".

November 24

CNN reported that Harvard University had been sued for intentionally discriminating against Asian-American applicants over the years. The trial of the case at a US District Court drew wide public attention.

November 26

Al Jazeera America reported that US authorities used tear gas on migrants and refugees, including children, who approached the border fence near the El Chaparral crossing. Rights groups have accused to the US government of stalling the processing of asylum claims.

November 28

The New York Times reported that Raimundo Atesiano, former police chief of Biscayne Park, Florida, was found guilty of framing three African Americans in 2013 and 2014.

The Guardian reported that at least 30 Afghan civilians have been killed in US airstrikes in the Afghan province of Helmand. Women and 16 children were among the dead. It also cited UN statistics that the number of civilian casualties from airstrikes in the first nine months of 2018 was already higher than in any entire year since 2009.

November 30

The USA Today reported that a survey found more than 230,000 aged or disabled people in the United States were abused in 2017. In recent years, the number of such maltreatment cases has been on the rise.

DECEMBER

December 3

According to a report by The Huffington Post, latest figures showed that out of more than 2,600 children who were separated from their parents, 171 were still in government custody, as a result of the US government's "zero tolerance" immigration policy.

December 6

As reported by The Huffington Post, a research examined federal data on gun deaths between 2000 and 2016, and found that gun violence has shortened the life expectancy of Americans by nearly 2.5 years. It said US black people have lost 4.14 years of life expectancy due to gun violence, while US white people lost 2.23 years.

As reported by CNN, six inmates died in correctional facilities in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, between June and October of 2018, three from accidental overdose and three by suicide. The investigation by the US Marshals Service revealed inhumane conditions in the county's jails, from severe overcrowding to disordered management.

December 7

According to The Los Angeles Times, health departments of Ohio revealed that the number of infant deaths in the state decreased overall from 2016 to 2017, but deaths among black infants increased. The number of black infants who died was three times the rate of white infants.

On the same day, a Jehovah's Witnesses house of worship was destroyed by a fire, which was the fifth attack targeting the religious group in Washington state in 2018.

December 8

Eight members of a neo-Nazi skinhead group assaulted a black man at a bar in Washington state, while yelled racist slurs during the incident.

On the same day, a 7-year-old girl named Jakelin Caal from Guatemala died of dehydration and shock less than 48 hours after she was taken into Border Patrol custody. She reportedly "had not eaten or consumed water for several days."

December 9

As reported by The Fort Worth Star Telegram, more than one hundred church leaders of independent fundamental Baptist churches were accused of committing sexual crimes against children, spanning 40 states.

December 10

A 21-year-old man was arrested on a charge of allegedly plotting to kill worshippers in a Jewish synagogue in Toledo.

On the same day, a total of 32 religious leaders and activists were arrested at the US border fence in San Diego during a protest to support the Central American migrant caravan.

December 11

As reported by WFAA.com, an African-American employee of Zodiac Seats US sued his employer for discrimination in work environment. White employees used racial slurs against him by calling him "black monkey". He received retaliation after reporting the issue, with a noose left in his workplace by two white women.

December 12

As reported by CNN, anti-Semitic pamphlets were spread throughout the city of Pittsburgh, with Nazi-themed posters found in various locations around the State University of New York.

BBC reported on the same day that the year 2018 has seen the highest number of school shooting incidents in the United States ever recorded, in figures going back to 1970, which also saw the most casualties. According to figures from the US Center for Homeland Defense and Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 94 school shooting incidents were reported in 2018, with 163 casualties, compared with a previous high of 97 in 1986.

According to the Atlantic, the US government in 2017 began pursuing the deportation of many long-term immigrants from Vietnam, Cambodia and other countries, who the administration alleges are "violent criminal aliens".

December 14

Felipe Gonzalez Morales, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, expressed his concern of the death of the 7-year-old Jakelin Caal, who died in the US Border Patrol custody. He called on the US government to conduct comprehensive investigation into the case, stressing that the US government should stop detaining child migrants.

On the same day, the US Death Penalty Information Center's figures showed that among the cases of interracial crimes that involved death penalties since 1976, 290 African Americans were sentenced to death for murdering the whites, but only 20 white people received death penalties for murdering African Americans.

December 16

As reported by CNN, Yemen was facing large-scale famine and cholera outbreak due to war, with more than 22 million people require humanitarian assistance and protection. An estimated 85,000 children under the age of 5 in Yemen might have died from starvation and disease. "The United States is enabling war that has made Yemen a hell on earth for civilians," US Senator Chris Murphy said. "There is a US imprint on each of these civilian deaths."

December 17

According to American Broadcasting Company, Texas lacks the ability to support its healthcare. It has 4.7 million uninsured residents under age 65, accounting for 19 percent of the state's population. The state's maternal mortality rate has increased 9 percent since 2016.

December 18

According to a report of The Associated Press cited by New York Daily News on its website, two prison guards assaulted and intimidated several young inmates at a south Florida facility where they worked, severely damaging the detainees' personal rights.

According to The Guardian, the Judge Rotenberg Center in Canton, Massachusetts, often used high-powered electric shocks as a form of punishment on the students. The students were zapped with electric currents far more powerful than those discharged by stun guns. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued a rare formal notice that called for immediate cessation of the electric shocks.

On the same day, the USA Today reported that suicide was the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. Since 1999, the suicide rate had climbed 33 percent, with 47,000 people killed themselves in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

December 19

As reported by The Chicago Tribune, 690 Catholic priests were accused of sexual abuse against children in Illinois, according to a report issued from Attorney General of the state. Some dioceses did not conduct proper investigations into allegations and even used personal information against the person making the allegation.

According to The Washington Post website, a Baltimore City man was convicted of first-degree murder, and the local police ignored the testimony, did not investigate his alibi or tips that another man was the shooter, which led to his 27 years in prison.

December 24

Felipe Alonzo-Gomez, an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy, died on Christmas Eve in the custody of US Customs and Border Protection, which was the second Guatemalan child to die in the agency's custody that month.

December 31

According to The Washington Post, 998 people had been shot and killed by the US police in 2018. By month, 99 were shot and killed in January, 80 in February, 111 in March, 100 in April, 83 in May, 82 in June, 89 in July, 74 in August, 56 in September, 75 in October, 78 in November and 71 in December.