March 08, 2007	Thursday	Safar 18, 1428

WASHINGTON, March 7: In the name of national security, the Bush administration continues to turn a blind eye to human rights abuses by its allies, says the Amnesty International.

In response to the US Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released on Tuesday, the Amnesty International said that while the reports recognise the plight of human rights defenders around the world, they fail to acknowledge that US foreign policy may have exacerbated conditions for many of these brave individuals.

The Amnesty includes India among the countries that the United States forgot to highlight in its latest report on human rights, although each of these countries has committed serious human rights violations.

It also highlights abuses in Pakistan, Iraq, Egypt and Russia and blames the US for holding prisoners in secret cells without trial and for sending them to countries where they were tortured and some even disappeared.

“There are many countries listed in these reports that have questionable human rights records, including Turkey, India, Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia,” said Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA executive director.

“If the Bush administration persists in allowing other considerations to trump human rights concerns, the real-world impact of these reports will be greatly diminished,” said Mr Cox.

“In the name of national security, the Bush administration continues to turn a blind eye to many instances of abuse by countries cited by the State Department for appalling human rights records,” the world body complained.

“Until the United States changes its own policies of holding detainees indefinitely, in secret prisons and without basic rights, it cannot credibly be viewed as a world human rights leader,” Mr Cox said.

“Human rights abuses must not be hidden behind a façade of national security rhetoric.”

The Amnesty International and others have reported that the United States is believed to have transferred, “rendered” or “disappeared” over 100 detainees in the war on terror to countries that the report cites for torture or ill-treatment of detainees. Some detainees are believed to be held in a labyrinth of secret prisons around the globe run by the United States government in collusion with regimes that have problematic human rights records.

The AI analysis reveals that the United States, in the context of the war on terror, has been silent on human rights abuses committed by many of its new-found friends.

The AI notes that the State Department’s report on Iraq omits crucial elements of the full human rights picture in that country. It lacks any information about human rights abuses against Iraqis perpetrated by US personnel, especially in detention centres.

It fails to acknowledge the severe legal and judicial flaws in the Iraqi judicial system, epitomised by the rushed execution of Saddam Hussein. It does not adequately document patterns of abuse and discrimination by the Iraqi government against vulnerable groups such as religious minorities, women, and gays and lesbians. Finally, the section fails to recognise the sheer scale of the Iraqi refugee problem – some 1.2 million people, according to most estimates, who have fled Iraq due to the utter lack of security there.