US says human rights get worse in China, Cuba, Iran and Myanmar

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Human rights conditions worsened last year in China, Cuba, Iran and Myanmar according to a keynote annual US government report released Wednesday which also cast an unfavourable spotlight on some Washington allies.

The annual US State Department human rights report also criticised Saudi Arabia and Israel, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin's consolidation of power, and rebuked Haiti's President Jean Bertrand Aristide.

The report also accused the UN Commission of Human Rights (UNCHR) of delinquency in its mission, citing commission members China, Cuba, Libya, Sudan, Syria and Zimbabwe as having failed "to protect their own citizens' rights."

The US State Department's annual human rights report released Wednesday called for reinforcement of the presence of democratic countries on the UNCHR.

"With Libya in the Chair and such countries as Zimbabwe, Cuba, Sudan, China and Syria, which fail to protect their own citizens' rights, as members, the 2003 session of the UNCHR fell short in several respects," said the report.

"Resolutions on the human rights situations in Zimbabwe, Sudan and Chechnya were defeated," it said.

"The United States continued to emphasize the need to improve the functioning of the commission, primarily by supporting the membership of countries with positive human rights records.

"We began to discuss the formation of a democracy caucus with interested governments," said the report. "We envision this as a group of like-minded countries that would coordinate more closely in multilateral settings to advance goals consistent with democratic values."

Libya's decision to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction was applauded, but the north African state was reproached for its poor rights record, while improvements were reported in Afghanistan, despite the persistence of serious abuses.

The review of global rights for 2003 underlined that the US-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein last year had revealed "unimaginable" abuses carried out under his rule.

"Saddam Hussein's torture chambers have been put out of business, mass graves no longer await his victims," Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a presentation of the report.

China, the world's most populous state, drew fire for its "backsliding on key human rights issues," according to the report which cited arrests of pro-democracy activists, and religious repression in Tibet.

North Korea was labelled "one of the most inhuman regimes in the world."

The State Department said: "Rigid controls over information, which limit the extent of our report, reflect the totalitarian repression of North Korean society. Basic freedoms are unheard of, and the regime committed widespread abuses of human rights."

Elsewhere in Asia, Myanmar's "highly authoritarian regime" had overseen "numerous, serious human rights abuses."

Rights advances had been notched up in Afghanistan, but improvements were patchy, particularly outside Kabul where local security forces contined to commit abuses.

In the Middle East, the report made a bleak assessement of Iran's rights record, amid a "pursuit of numerous violations," against fundamental rights, that notably targetted government opponents in politics and the media.

In Saudi Arabia, the report cited "credible information" detailing torture, mistreatment of prisoners and arbitrary arrests citing a general lack of political and religious freedoms.

Syria and Egypt were also underlined as countries were abuses had occurred.

Israel came in for criticism, as Washington deplored "the use of excessive force," in the occupied territories, and in particular the destruction of Palestinian homes by the Israeli army.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) and members of the Palestinian security forces were implicated and involved in offering support to individuals and extremist gorups who have attacked Israel, said the US report.

Russia was criticised for manipulating elections in Chechnya and for an aggressive clampdown in the separatist republic. Washington also cited political pressure on the country's media and the controversial use of security agents to support state power.

In Africa, Robert Mugabe's government in Zimbabwe was highlighted. Mugabe was accused of presiding over a "concerted campaign of violence, repression and intimidation."

The government of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi meanwhile continued to preside over instances of torture and arbitrary arrests, it said.

"Libya, despite welcome cooperation in reducing weapons of mass destruction, continued to deprive citizens of the right to be secure in their home or their person."

Closer to home, the report said rights in Cuba had been "dramatically" abused, with increased arrests and jailing of dissidents.

About 75 Cuban dissidents were jailed for up to 28 years last April after being found guilty of state security offences.

In Haiti, groups linked to President Aristide were accused of murdering the political opponents and of conducting violence against protestors.

On the other side of the coin, the report said rights were improving in many parts of the world, and that progress had been noted in Qatar, Oman, Yemen, Jordan and Morocco.

It said "positive signs" of progress had also been observed in Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Madagascar and Liberia.

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Source: "AFP".