US' crimes in Afghanistan must be thoroughly investigated: Chinese diplomat

GENEVA - Although the US has ended its military presence in Afghanistan, the crimes of killing civilians by the US troops and its allies must be thoroughly investigated and the perpetrators must be held accountable, a Chinese diplomat said here on Tuesday.

On behalf of a group of countries, Jiang Duan, minister of the Chinese Mission to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva, said in a joint statement on the second day of the ongoing 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council that wars waged by the US have caused tremendous casualties and displacement of civilians.

"The drastic change in Afghanistan shows once again that military intervention and power politics get no support. Imposing the American-style democracy on others will only lead to chaos and turmoil and is doomed to failure," Jiang said.

The statement also expressed concern about chronic human rights issues in the United States and called on the Human Rights Council and the High Commissioner for Human Rights to continue to attend to the human rights situation there.

"Disregarding the right to life and right to health of its people, the US, while possessing the most advanced medical equipment and technologies, has seen the largest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the world," the statement said.

It added that instead of fighting the coronavirus in full gear, the US administration is obsessed with political manipulation of issues like the virus origin-tracing, with the purpose of shifting the blame onto other countries and shirking responsibility for its own failure.

The statement pointed out that systemic racism and racial discrimination have long existed in the United States. Africans and people of African descent, Asians and people of Asian descent, Muslims and other minority groups continue to suffer discrimination and harm there.