WASHINGTON, June 24: The United States is particularly concerned about the human rights situation in 92 countries around the world, according to a US report released on Tuesday.

The report by the US State Department examines all the countries for which the United States has intervened in pro-democracy efforts or where it has lobbied for better human rights conditions.

The nearly 100 countries are those “where there is pervasive torture, disappearances and other serious violations of human rights,” Lorne Craner, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, said in presenting the report.

The report on US democratization efforts was the first of its kind but is expected to be released annually in the future.

It complements the annual State Department report on human rights, the last version of which included all 196 countries around the globe, except for the United States.

Tuesday’s report included nations on all continents, and included allies of the United States like Jordan and Egypt, as well as hostile nations such as North Korea and Cuba.

Iraq was excluded from the report because of the “rapidly evolving situation” in the country following the US-led campaign that ousted president Saddam Hussein.

Turkey was not included in the report, while Israel was criticized for its policy on the Palestinian territories and the Palestinian Authority’s actions were also condemned. —AFP