State Department Rights Report Released After Delay

The US State Department issued its annual report on human rights and democracy yesterday after a two-week delay following revelations that Iraqi prisoners were mistreated in US custody.

"We had to think about whether we want to put this report out in the environment of the Abu Ghraib scandal," said Lorne Craner, assistant secretary for democracy, human rights and labour.

"Given what we were doing around the world for human rights, we decided this wasn't the right kind of environment."

The report, "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy, the US Record 2003-2004", covers the human rights record of 101 countries and is very critical of some of America's strongest allies, including Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Overall trends in the Middle East, the report said, were "cause for concern, as many countries still suffer from systemic denials of freedom". The combination of economic and political stagnation in the region would "breed greater political instability, insecurity and poverty if not overcome".

The report was highly critical of Israel's human rights record in the West Bank and Gaza, which it said remained "poor" and had worsened in the treatment of foreign human rights activists.

"Israeli security units often used excessive force in their operations that resulted in numerous deaths. Israel carried out policies of demolitions, strict curfews and closures that directly punished innocent civilians," the report said.

Saudi Arabia's human rights record also remained "poor". Prisoners continued to be tortured, freedom of speech was still restricted and violence against women and children endured. "Serious problems remain," the report said.

"We hold friends and foes alike to the same standards which we hold ourselves," said Richard Armitage, the deputy secretary of state.