Fact Checks
Tuesday 26 November 2024
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"The resolution was a clear sign of reducing the noble concept of human rights to a tool for exerting political pressure on independent nations."
Iran continues to force confessions, execute individuals who committed crimes as minors and subject detainees to torture in violation of its obligations under international law. -
"[The Malian army] has achieved in two years what foreign organizations, including MINUSMA, have not been able to achieve in 12-13 years."
International observers independently report a sharp increase in violent attacks on civilians, including by the junta’s forces, with the conflict spilling over to new territories. -
“Every escalation between China and the Philippines — without exception — has been caused by Philippine provocations and violation of China’s sovereignty. Calm will return once the Philippines stops those activities.”
China has dismissed an international ruling outlining the Philippines’ rights in the South China Sea, and repeatedly engages in aggressive actions to maintain its dominance in the region. -
“In the history of our relations with the African continent, there has never been any shadow – never; we have never exploited African peoples, nor been engaged in anything inhumane on the African continent.”
Various human rights groups accuse Russia of committing crimes that amount to crimes against humanity in Africa. Several reports also have exposed Russia’s illegal export of gold worth more than $2.5 billion from Africa to sponsor its war in Ukraine. -
“Rather than respecting her dignity and focusing on the mental health challenges she was facing, these groups saw an opportunity to fuel their anti-government agenda.”
Witness reports and Iran’s systematic use of punitive psychiatry to undermine dissent contradict government claims that the woman had a mental health crisis and was not protesting enforcement of the country’s mandatory dress code. -
“[W]e have always recognized the borders of Ukraine within the framework of our agreements after the collapse of the Soviet Union. … But later, as is known, the Ukrainian leadership amended the Basic Law and announced its desire to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and we did not agree to this.”
Ukraine abandoned its constitutional neutrality to pursue EU and NATO membership only in 2019, years after Russia annexed Crimea and backed pro-Russia separatists in Donbas. NATO considered Ukraine’s membership after Moscow invaded Georgia, starting a war in Europe. -
"They [the U.S.] are now direct beneficiaries of the instability in the Congo, looting the natural resources of that country to benefit U.S. companies and their allies."
Trading in stolen minerals from war-ridden nations is a criminal offense in the United States. Congo and the United Nations accuse Rwanda and Uganda of feeding the war and stealing minerals. -
"These [Moldovan presidential] elections were neither democratic nor fair. They were full of electoral manipulations."
International observers reported that Moldova’s well-organized presidential runoff provided voters with a real choice, despite legal shortcomings, biased media coverage and the effects of Russian interference. -
"American newspapers, the bigwigs of the media business, refuse to support any candidate in the U.S. elections one after another. This time they cannot support anyone, because both have the stamp 'Russian.'"
Russia remains a part of pre-election rhetoric in the United States due to its war against Ukraine and its destabilizing effect on American allies in Europe. However, the claim is an exaggeration of the Kremlin's influence over U.S. media. -
"…it was not Russia's actions that precipitated the escalation in Ukraine, but rather the 2014 coup d’etat, supported primarily by the United States. It was even publicly disclosed how much financial support the then U.S. administration allocated toward preparing and orchestrating this coup.”
In more than 22 years between the collapse of Soviet Union, when Ukraine regained independence, and the 2014 Revolution of Dignity, the U.S. invested $5 billion in supporting NGOs and democracy-building programs in Ukraine, along with initiatives in securing and dismantling weapons of mass destruction, military assistance, border security, anti-human trafficking, anti-corruption, narcotics control, and law enforcement. -
“The creation, at Berlin’s initiative, of a regional NATO maritime command headquarters at the German navy base in Rostock, East Germany … constitutes gross violation of the spirit and letter of the Two Plus Four Agreement, Article 5, paragraph 3 of which mandates Germany to prevent the stationing and deployment of foreign armed forces on the territory of the former East Germany.”
The Treaty’s Article 5, paragraph 3 regards the time frame following the withdrawal of the Soviet troops from Germany. However, Article 6 states that the conditions of Article 5, paragraph 3 no longer apply after Germany joins an alliance. -
"…Ukrainian troops have caused serious damage to … the [building] of the Mariupol Republican Academic Order of the Badge of Honor Russian Drama Theater."
Ukraine used the Mariupol theater as a bomb shelter, with “Children” painted in large white letters over a pavement outside. Russia bombed and destroyed it on March 16, 2022, killing up to 600 Ukrainians.