State Department critiques human rights

WASHINGTON - The U.S. State Department offered candid assessments of the human rights records of nations across the world on Monday in what is perhaps the bluntest document that comes out of the U.S. bastion of diplomacy each year.

At a press conference to mark the release of the State Department report, Acting Assistant Secretary Michael Kozak said the annual look at 196 countries around the world is not intended to "pass judgment" on the countries but rather to provide U.S. policymakers with the "information" they need to make "decent judgments."

But Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky went further in the press briefing, suggesting that human rights and democracy records of countries form the bedrock of U.S. policy toward them. She noted, "These reports put dictators and corrupt officials on notice that they are being watched by the civilized world and that there are consequences for their actions."

U.S. stands with opponents of tyranny
The State Department report reiterated President Bush’s stated goal of promoting democracy, as well as American unity with nations oppressed by tyranny.

"The United States will work globally to promote democracy, as democracy is the best guarantor of human rights," said Dobriansky, reiterating the president’s policy. 

State Department officials also noted that democracy cannot be "imposed" from the outside, but rather that the United States supports with those active inside tyrannies who stand for democracy.

The report, as well as comments by State Department officials, noted democratic progress in a number of countries, including Ukraine, Georgia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Palestinian Authority.

Undersecretary Dobriansky noted the recent orange revolution in Ukraine, the purple revolution in Iraq (so-called because of the ink-stained fingers of voters), and said that in Lebanon, "we see a growing momentum for a “cedar revolution.”

More work needed in Middle East
Despite some recent successes, the State Department report noted a continuing need for nations of the Middle East to become more a part of the mainstream and comply with democratic norms.

"If freedom and democracy work in Muslim nations like Indonesia, Turkey, Afghanistan and Iraq, why should they not be the norm in Iran, Libya, Syria and Saudi Arabia? " Dobriansky said.

There was a very blunt assessment of Saudi Arabia’s tentative moves toward democracy with recent elections and criticism of the exclusion of women from the vote.

"It was good that they had municipal elections. It's not good that women were excluded.  It's not good that even though parts of the municipal councils were elected, other parts are appointed still. So that's maybe a partial step forward,” said Kozak.

Kozak also noted that Saudi Arabia, cited last year as a "country of particular concern" in the annual U.S. report on religious freedom, could be sanctioned for the lack of religious freedom allowed in the kingdom. 

Israel and the occupied territories were also cited in the report for questionable circumstance surrounding many the deaths of over 800 Palestinians on 2004.

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