U.S. Issues Annual Human Rights Reports

The reports reflect mixed pictures in many countries for 2006.

The State Department says "Russia experienced continuing centralization of power in the executive branch" and that this, together with pressure on the judiciary and restrictions on NGOs, created a "further erosion of government accountability."

The report on Russia said serious human rights violations continue in Chechnya and other areas of the North Caucasus.

In Belarus, the report found "continued and intensified repressive policies" from the government.

In Ukraine, "progress in human rights performance continued to be made" but serious problems remained, including corruption in all branches of government."

The U.S. State Department praised the Georgian authorities for taking steps to improve the situation in the country. The report focused on Georgia's judicial reforms as especially noteworthy.

By contrast, the human rights situation in both Armenia and Azerbaijan, was judged to be "poor."

In Central Asia, freedom of speech mostly remains restricted, or tightly restricted, according to the country reports.

In Kyrgyzstan, where "human rights had improved considerably following the change to democratically elected leadership in 2005," the State Department said, "at the end of December [2006], however, parliament passed another constitution negating many key checks and balances."

The U.S. State Department said Afghanistan "made important human rights progress since the fall of the Taliban in 2001," but "its human rights record remained poor."

It said the Iranian government "flagrantly violated freedom of speech and assembly" and continued to "flout domestic and international calls for responsible government by supporting terrorism movements in Syria and Lebanon as well as calling for the destruction of a UN member state."

And the report said that in Iraq, despite the government's "continuing commitment" to "establish the rule of law," both "deepening sectarian violence and acts of terrorism seriously undercut human rights and democratic progress during 2006."

The information used in the reports is gathered throughout the year by State Department officials in Washington and at overseas posts.

Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org