U.S. cites human rights abuses in Syria, China, Sudan

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON - Man's inhumanity to man was documented anew today by the State Department as it surveyed human rights abuses last year in scores of countries and found systematic torture in Syria, serious abuses in China and the killing of civilians by government-backed militia in Sudan's troubled Darfur province.

Egypt, a close ally of the United States in Mideast peacemaking, was condemned for security forces torturing prisoners and for mass arrests. Iran's "poor human rights record worsened," the State Department report said.
...
Syria's human rights record is poor, the report said. Syrians do not have a right to change their government and "continuing serious abuses included the use of torture in detention, which at times resulted in death," unfair trials and arbitrary arrests.

But there were several bright spots. Terrorism fell off in post-Taliban Afghanistan, respect for human rights in Ukraine rose with the staging of free elections, and what the report said were prospects for peace in Iraq "help create momentum for the improvement of human rights practices."

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/headline/world/3060645

[flyingfysh]

1. isn't this rather hypocritical?

I believe that some of those being tortured were snatched by the US and sent to Syria for just that purpose.

[merwin]

4. We're the almighty Americans. We follow a different set of rules. n/t

[Sandpiper]

2. The U.S. has lost all moral authority on this issue

Now that we're running our own little floating torture palace at Guantanomo.

[MHalblaub]

12. Because of that nobody tries to mention Fidel Castro or Cuba.

Cuba?
Guantanamo Bay?
Ups!

[Shakespeare]

3. Wow, the irony. n/t

[omulcol]

5. People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones ?

[peacetalksforall]

6. Our State Dept wrote the survey? How can we believe anything they say?

[Anakin Skywalker]

7. I Thought the Chinese Were Our Pals

since they produce so much cheap stuff for Wal-Mart, etc.? No?
:)

[JohnyCanuck]

8. Never mind, the rest of the world knows well enough

the US government is nothing but a hypocritical, two-faced liar on torture issues.

From the Barbados Nation News, Feb 24 2005:


'Rendering' Torture

People around the world were undoubtedly shocked and horrified at the pictures which were published of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib Military Prison in Iraq being tortured, beaten and sexually humiliated by their American captors.

It had been bad enough before this to see prisoners at the Guantanamo Gulag shuffling around blindfolded, manacled and chained at their feet – people who had been imprisoned, often in solitary confinement – for two years or more without ever being charged with an offence.

Now even worse tales of sheer cruelty are coming to light. In a long article in the respected magazine The New Yorker, details have been given of a secretive programme known as “extraordinary rendition”.

<snip>


Quite simply, when the Americans want a captive subjected to really severe torture in order to extract information, they ship them off to some country where it can be done with the blessing of the authorities. The most common destinations for “rendered” captives are Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Jordan and Afghanistan. On January 27, President Bush, in an interview with the New York Times, assured the world that “torture is never acceptable, nor do we hand over people to countries that do torture”. Yet his newly appointed Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales had no compunction about turning a blind eye to the practice of “extraordinary rendition”.

http://www.nationnews.com/StoryView.cfm?Record=58144&Section=Life&Current=2005%2D02%2D24%2000%3A00%3A00

[applegrove]

9. Russia, Guantanamo Bay Cuba, Turkey, Columbia, Myanmar, etc.e tc.

[NNN0LHI]

10. Three words. Abu Ghurayb prison n/t

[ConcernedCanuk]

11. US reporting on others Human Rights Abuses? - that's a laugh!

.
.
.

From the Article:

"North Korea, which President Bush has denounced as part of an "axis of evil," is one of the world's most repressive and brutal regimes, the report said. An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people are believed to be in detention camps in remote areas, and defectors report many have died from torture, starvation and disease."
________________________________________

OK

How many does the US have in jail on weenie charges like pot Possession/Usage?

and no, we've never heard of abuse in US jails right?

I may be wrong, but I believe I read more than once from different sources that the US has more of it's OWN citizens in jail per capita than any other nation?

Besides

Doncha think the world is getting tired of "The US says" - "The US cites", "The US threatens" - "The US sanctions" - etc., etc. ?

Yur damm right -

The world ain't listening to the US anymore

- they have lost major credibility and trust

OK

WE may "listen"

- but we sure ain't going to change our ways cuz the "US says so"

The United States Of America is a Rogue Nation in many people's/nation's eyes

Ignoring the UN, distancing itself from the justice of the International Court

and doing what it wants cuz it's got the big guns . . .

Well that don't cut it, the US has almost no respect around the world,

Fear and Obedience in some cases, but the Obedience part is dwindling

Close Gitmo - fess up to the Abu Ghraib abuses, and so on, and the world MIGHT start looking at the US with a gentler eye

Until then, the US is dirt in most people's opinion,

Well, other than those that can get rich off of the US's schemes . .

(sigh)

[struggle4progress]

13. U.S. accuses dozens of nations of mistreating prisoners

By FRANK DAVIES
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - The State Department's annual report on human rights Monday criticized dozens of governments for mistreating prisoners and using practices that U.S. forces also have used in the war on terror.

The report also condemned the routine use of torture in three countries - Syria, Egypt and Saudi Arabia - where U.S. forces have transferred detainees or arranged for their custody. <snip>

The State Department criticized Pakistan for use of "prolonged isolation," "denial of sleep" and "painful shackling;" Egypt for "stripping and blindfolding" and dousing detainees with cold water; and Syria for forcing prisoners to stand for long periods of time.

Those tactics were also used and approved by the Pentagon in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where more than 500 detainees are held. <snip>

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/11015908.htm

[DrZeeLit]

14. How dare the US? The rest of the world must think....

... our president is NUTS!

[understandinglife]

15. You can hear the laughter all the way from Beijing and Damascus. (nt)

"DO YOU ENJOY BEING A CITIZEN OF THE ROGUE SUPER_POWER?"

[tlcandie]

16. Wait!!!! And aren't "WE" (the US CIA/FBI/military) sending

terraists to these same countries for JUST THAT?!?!? TORTURE!!! How can you contribute to it on one hand and provide those for the torturing, yet condemn it on the other hand?!?!? :eyes:

[bloodyjack]

17. Bullshit.

Pure bullshit.

[bemildred]

18. What did they say about the USA?

And who appointed these assholes anyway?

[Rex]

19. Meanwhile in the USA a American citizen is held for years without

a trail. Others are kidnapped by our own government and flown to our allies (Egypt, SA, etc) and tortured severely. In Iraq our soldiers (with the help of the CIA) have tortured and humiliated Iraqi citizens for no apparent reason. Down in Cuba we have bases to hold people from all around the world - because techniques (torture) used in extracting info is illegal in the States and a violation of U.S. law.