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Democracy News
US State Department Releases Human Rights Report
March 16, 2010
By: Randi Zung and Benjamin Russell | Printer Friendly
On March 11, the United States Department of State released its 34th annual report on human rights around the world. The report, which covers human rights practices in 194 countries, was identified by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as: “an essential tool for activists who courageously struggle to protect rights in communities around the world, for journalists and scholars who document rights violations and who report on the work of those who champion the vulnerable, and for governments including our own, as they work to craft strategies to encourage protection of human rights of more individuals in more places.”
Following Secretary Clinton’s remarks, Assistant Secretary Michael Posner stated that the report was “the single-most exhaustive, comprehensive compilation of information about human rights produced anywhere in the world.” Boasting the report’s large international readership, Posner stated it was a tool to facilitate global engagement in order to promote universal standards for human rights. In addition, Posner cited: internet freedom; governments’ justification of the revoking of civil liberties by claiming threats to national security; and hate crimes against religious, ethnic, and sexual minorities; as the key human rights issues of 2009.
According to Foreign Policy’s online blog, Western Europe was heavily criticized for widespread “anti-Muslim sentiments.” The State Department’s report, which asserts: “discrimination against Muslims in Europe has been an increasing concern,” cites that countries with previously respectable records for respecting human rights have started to backslide in this area. Specifically, the report notes: a construction ban on minarets – the distinctive architectural pointed dome spires on Islamic mosques – in Switzerland, anti-head scarf laws in France, the refusal to recognize multiple Islamic organizations in Germany, inadequate prison security for Muslim and other ethnic minority inmates in the United Kingdom, and the Italian government’s unwillingness to allow the construction of mosques. The report also cites similar acts of Muslim hostility in other Western European nations.
On the electronic front, the report highlighted internet freedom as a principle human right. The increased occurrences of oppressive media crackdowns by the governments of Iran and China were specifically named for blocking access to the internet as a way to control dissent, BBC News reported. During the June 2009 Iranian presidential election, the government blocked access to social media networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to suppress opposition dissent. China, in particular, drew the ire of the report for allegedly “[increasing] its efforts to monitor internet use, control content, restrict information, block access to foreign and domestic websites, encourage self-censorship, and punish those who violated regulations.” According to a March 15 article by Reuters, Google – the world’s largest search engine – stated that it was 99.9% sure that it would shutdown its Chinese search engine because the company was unable to reach a compromise with the Chinese Communist Party over censorship.
To view the full report, please see:
2009 Country Reports of Human Rights Practices
Sources:
VOA News - US Human Rights Report Hits Conditions in Iran, China, North Korea
Foreign Policy - Western Europe Criticized in State Department’s Annual Human Rights Report
BBC News – Internet Restrictions Curtail Human Rights, Says US
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