U.S. Allies Criticized for Rights Abuses

Key U.S. allies including Egypt, Russia and Saudi Arabia were criticized in the State Department’s annual human rights progress report Monday, while violations in North Korea and strife-torn Sudan provoked sharper concerns.

The report, the first since President Bush’s inaugural pledge to promote democracy worldwide, says that although elections in Ukraine, Afghanistan and Iraq had encouraged hope for improvements worldwide, “progress along this path will not be easy or rapid.”

The congressionally mandated report documents yearly progress and highlights key offenders in 196 countries, although not the U.S. Advocates charged that Washington had its own human rights deficiencies.

“This report is so honest that it criticizes other countries for practices that the Bush administration has itself been engaged in,” said Tom Malinowski of Human Rights Watch, citing the abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan and alleged abuses elsewhere.

Conditions in Russia drew more attention this year. The executive branch’s greater power coupled with law enforcement corruption and increased control over media drew concerns about the erosion of government accountability.

In Saudi Arabia, positive developments such as a recent conference on women’s rights and voter registration for men did not outweigh the problems, the State Department said. Torture, a lack of legal rights, violence against women and children and discrimination against religious minorities are among the issues plaguing the country, it said.

The report calls China’s cooperation and progress on human rights “disappointing.” The country continued to arrest political and religious activists.

Several countries, including Venezuela and India, have not adequately addressed human trafficking, the report says. The number of Indians sent into forced labor or the sex trade is in the millions, it says.

“Honor killings” of women by their families continued in Turkey, and Tanzania was cited for outlawing homosexuality and not enforcing laws against female genital mutilation.

Atrocities in the Sudanese region of Darfur -- described last year as “genocide” by U.S. officials -- have not stopped, the report says.

North Korea’s treatment of its people was called “brutal and repressive,” with an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 political prisoners believed to be held.

Iran was accused of killings, including executions without due process. The government was also cited for torture, arbitrary arrests and denying free and fair elections by excluding reformist candidates.

The citing of torture and prisoner abuse in Egypt and Syria raised concern among lawmakers and advocacy groups that the United States was criticizing countries while simultaneously transferring prisoners to them for interrogation.

“Just as many corporations monitor wage rates worldwide to shift their operations to the lowest-cost producers, the Bush administration has demonstrated a keen appreciation for the torture skills available for hire,” said William F. Schulz of Amnesty International USA.

In response to such concerns, Bush has made it clear that he is against torture of any kind, said Michael Kozak, acting assistant secretary of State. Despite prominent human rights abuses over the last year, Kozak said, the United States works to hold offenders responsible.