HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE
By Sue Pleming and Arshad Mohammed
32 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States, acknowledging its own record is in question, criticized Iraq on Tuesday in its annual report on human rights abuses, listing death squads with government links, kidnapping and torture.
"We do not issue these reports because we think ourselves perfect but rather because we know ourselves to be deeply imperfect," said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in announcing the annual report on human rights worldwide.
"Our democratic system of governance is accountable but it is not infallible," she told reporters.
Iraq was listed among the most problematic nations when it came to human rights abuses listed in the 2006 report, which covered more than 190 countries.
The United States invaded Iraq in 2003, partly to end abuses committed by then-president Saddam Hussein, but the State Department's report said worsening sectarian violence and terrorism undercut any progress in human rights last year.
"On one side, predominantly Sunni Arab groups such as al Qaeda in Iraq, irreconcilable remnants of the Baathist regime, and insurgents waging guerrilla warfare violently opposed the government and targeted Shi'a communities," the report said.
It also highlighted the role of Shi'ite militias and security forces attached to some ministries "nominally allied with the government who committed torture and other abuses."
"Predominantly Shi'a militias with some ties to the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), targeted Sunnis in large-scale death squad and kidnapping activities," it said.
Despite the Iraq war's deep unpopularity in the United States, President George W. Bush has decided to increase the number of troops there by about 20,000 in an effort to stabilize the country and reduce the violence.
OWN RECORD QUESTIONED
China, Russia, Afghanistan, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Sudan, North Korea, Myanmar, Kazakhstan and Iran were among other nations listed as the most serious human rights offenders in the report.
The Bush administration has come under growing criticism since the September 11 attacks on the United States for its own treatment of terror suspects held without trial at a U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, and in detention centers elsewhere.
In an unusual acknowledgment, the report said the United States would continue to respond to the "good faith" concerns of others about its own human rights record.
"We recognize that we are writing this report at a time when our own record and actions we have taken to respond to the terrorist attacks against us, have been questioned," said the report. "We are also committed to continual improvement."
The report also targeted the human rights record of Afghanistan, where U.S. forces helped oust the Taliban after the September 11 attacks and are still there.
"Its human rights record remained poor," said the report of Afghanistan. "There were continued reports of cases of arbitrary arrests and detention, extrajudicial killings, torture and poor prison conditions."
Pakistan, another close U.S. ally in fighting terrorism but which is at loggerheads with Afghanistan, was also highlighted for its "poor" human rights record.
GENOCIDE
Restrictions remained on freedom of movement, expression and association and religion. "Disappearances" of activists and political opponents continued as well as extrajudicial killings committed by the security forces.
"Arbitrary arrest and torture remained common," said the report.
In China, there were an increasing number of high-profile cases involving the harassment, detention and imprisonment of journalists and religious activities, while in Russia, nongovernmental organizations faced restrictions.
The United States labeled genocide as occurring in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region more than two years ago and the report said it was continuing to ravage the west of the country.
"The Sudanese government and government-backed Janjaweed militia bear responsibility for the genocide in Darfur, and all parties to the conflagration committed serious abuses," said the report.
However, the report said there had been some advances, such as in Liberia where Africa's first female head of state was inaugurated a year ago and in Morocco and Haiti where there had also been improvements.
You think it's not your job to to answer to such questions. You think it's only your job to criticize the Bush administration! Carry on!
