U.S. Delays Release of Rights Study

The State Department plans to delay the release of a human rights report that was due out today, partly because of sensitivities over the prison abuse scandal in Iraq, U.S. officials said.

One official who asked not to be identified said the release of the report, which describes actions taken by the U.S. government to encourage respect for human rights by other nations, could “make us look hypocritical.”

Officials said documents for the report, “Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record 2003-2004,” were not ready to be sent to Congress and therefore it could not be made public as planned.

But they said the scandal over abuses at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad also played a role in the decision to delay the release.

Asked which of the two reasons explained the delay of the report, the official said, “Both.”

“The decision [to postpone] was not made in isolation, but it also wasn’t made solely because of” the prison abuse scandal, he said.

Another official said it was unclear whether the report would come out this week or next week.