US report on human rights 'shows Cold War mentality'

The United States is adopting a "Cold War mentality" by pointing its finger groundlessly at the human rights situations in other countries, according to a report published by the Information Office of the State Council yesterday.

The document, The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2006, is Beijing's annual rebuttal eight consecutive years to Washington's assessment of global human rights published on Tuesday, which routinely singles out China as one of the world's worst violators.

The 15,000-Chinese-character report uses a lot of evidence to demonstrate the serious rights violations on US soil.

The report, in seven sections, covers issues ranging from civilian deaths in Iraq, child poverty, and racial and sexual discrimination to the mistreatment of prisoners.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said at yesterday's press briefing that the report is like a mirror for America to look at its own human rights record and "to see what qualification it has to make irresponsible remarks and interfere in other countries' internal affairs with the excuse of human rights".

The report said it is aimed at helping people understand the human rights situation in the United States when it points the finger at more than 190 countries and regions but avoids touching on its own human rights record.

It said the US has used its military power to trespass on the sovereignty of other countries and violate human rights, citing US news stories estimating that more than 655,000 Iraqis have died since the war started in March 2003.

It also said the US has "a flagrant record" of violating the Geneva Convention by systematically abusing prisoners in Iraq and in Afghanistan, citing the mistreatment of prisoners in Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison.

Source: China Daily