Annual Report of the U.S. Department of State on Human Rights Conditions Worldwide - 2003-04-01

The U.S. Department of State, in its annual report on human rights conditions in two hundred countries, has accused Iraq of widespread and repeated human rights violations. This report, published yesterday as a book, accuses the Republican Guard of Iraq, the main force defending Saddam Hussein, the leader of Iraq, of murder, torture, enforced disappearances, rape, and other human rights violations. In the report from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, China, the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli government, and the former Soviet republics, namely Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan, have been criticized for their records on human rights abuses. The U.S. Department of State is mandated by Congress to review the human rights situation in all countries annually to serve as a basis for allocating U.S. foreign aid. The human rights report indicates that several Middle Eastern countries, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon, received poor ratings, with the report stating that the human rights situation in these countries worsened in 2002. Regarding Iran, it was noted that despite the aspirations of the Iranian people for greater freedom, the rights of Iranian citizens were less respected in the past year compared to the previous period. However, Iraq was recognized as one of the worst human rights violators in the world. The closest U.S. ally in the Middle East, Israel, was also criticized for its violations against the rights of people in the occupied territories, including the killing of nearly a thousand Palestinians by Israeli soldiers in 2002. Some officials of the Palestinian Authority have also been accused of failing to stop terrorism against civilians and even encouraging and endorsing such violence. Countries praised for positive actions towards ensuring human rights include Bahrain for granting women the right to vote for the first time since its establishment, Qatar for drafting and approving a new constitution, and Morocco for holding free elections. Countries that, according to the U.S. Department of State, generally respected the rights of their citizens last year despite many serious problems include Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Tunisia, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates.