The annual report, for 2023, also notes "crimes against humanity" committed by the Russian Army in its second year of invasion of Ukraine, criticizes Uganda's anti-LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex) law and points to the existence of "political prisoners" in Cuba and Nicaragua. This exhaustive report, prepared by the State Department since 1977, serves as a guide for the US Congress in determining foreign aid granted to each country. The report includes "the brutal terrorist attack" by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas perpetrated on October 7 against Israel, in which 1,200 people died and another 230 were kidnapped. It also considers that Israel is "exercising its right to self-defense" in the offensive on Gaza, but stresses that Benjamin Netanyahu's government "must conduct its military operations in accordance with international law and take all possible precautions to protect civilians". "We continue to express our growing concern about the deaths and injuries of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including women, children and people with disabilities," the report says. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed today that his department has an "ongoing" investigation into alleged human rights violations by Israel and denied having double standards when it comes to investigating its ally. "We are reviewing reports of incidents that have come to our attention and we have our procedures, especially if there are US weapons involved," he said at the press conference presenting the report. "Once we have gathered the facts and can do the analysis, we will make our conclusions known," Blinken assured, denying a double standard when it comes to investigating an ally like Israel and promising that "the same standard applies to everyone and that does not change if the country in question is an adversary or a friend." The United States also accuses Hamas of using civilians as "human shields" and condemns attacks by radical Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. In the report, the administration of Joe Biden again attacked Russia for its "disregard for human rights" in the war in Ukraine, where it documented some violations "equivalent to crimes against humanity". The survey alleges that tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been deported to Russia, in many cases separated from their families and forced to adopt Russian citizenship and names. Similarly, in Russia, the authorities are bringing "spurious criminal charges" against hundreds of Russians who oppose the war in Ukraine. The State Department included Sudan among the countries of greatest concern, due to the conflict between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which led to "mass killings". Washington determined last December that both sides committed war crimes and that the paramilitaries are responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. The report also criticizes the Ugandan authorities for enacting a "draconian law" against the LGBTI population, which includes death sentences in the most extreme cases. China was again named for "serious human rights abuses", including "genocide" in Xinjiang province against the Uyghur minority. It also points to the "disproportionate human rights violations" suffered by women in Iran, as well as Tehran's persecution of dissidents abroad. The report documents that the Taliban promoted more than 50 decrees in Afghanistan that "eliminate women from public life" and that the military junta that controls Myanmar (formerly Burma) has killed more than 4,000 people. With regard to Latin America, Washington claims that more than 1,000 political prisoners are arbitrarily detained and subjected to ill-treatment in Cuba, while their relatives are threatened. It is also documented that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega closed more than 300 civil society organizations last year, stripped 300 people of their citizenship and held more than 100 political prisoners "in atrocious conditions". The preface to the report congratulates Mexico on the progress made in implementing its labor reform, which, according to Washington, is allowing workers to overcome "obstacles" to improve their conditions. Other encouraging aspects include the improvement of freedom of expression in Kenya, the defense of the LGTBI community in Japan, Estonia and Slovenia and the policies of educational inclusion for children with disabilities in Jordan. Read Also: Gaza authorities say they have exhumed 200 bodies from mass grave (Portuguese version)