WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China and Iran have stepped up their abuses of human rights, targeting both anti-government activists and the free flow of information over the Internet, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday. In its annual survey of human rights in 194 countries, the State Department also criticized Cuba, Myanmar, North Korea and Russia, which it faulted for killings of activists and journalists. While it noted the end of Sri Lanka's 33-year civil war in May, the report found that both the government and the defeated rebel Tamil Tigers had used excessive force and committed abuses against civilians last year.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - China and Iran have stepped up their abuses of human rights, targeting both anti-government activists and the free flow of information over the Internet, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.
In its annual survey of human rights in 194 countries, the State Department also criticized Cuba, Myanmar, North Korea and Russia, which it faulted for killings of activists and journalists.
While it noted the end of Sri Lanka's 33-year civil war in May, the report found that both the government and the defeated rebel Tamil Tigers had used excessive force and committed abuses against civilians last year.
A senior UN official has called for Burma's military rulers to be investigated over allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated against Burmese civilians, in a move that will sharply increase pressure on the isolated regime ahead of controversial national elections due later this year.In a draft report to the UN Human Rights Council [pdf] in Geneva, Tomás Ojea Quintana, special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, described "a pattern of gross and systematic violation of human rights" which he said has been in place for many years and still continued."There is an indication that those human rights violations are the result of a state policy that involves authorities in the executive, military and judiciary at all levels," he said.
A senior UN official has called for Burma's military rulers to be investigated over allegations of crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated against Burmese civilians, in a move that will sharply increase pressure on the isolated regime ahead of controversial national elections due later this year.
In a draft report to the UN Human Rights Council [pdf] in Geneva, Tomás Ojea Quintana, special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, described "a pattern of gross and systematic violation of human rights" which he said has been in place for many years and still continued.
"There is an indication that those human rights violations are the result of a state policy that involves authorities in the executive, military and judiciary at all levels," he said.
