Russia Criticizes U.S. Over 'Confrontational' Human Rights Report

[Purveyor]

MOSCOW — A State Department report that said Russia's human rights record has deteriorated in the past year was criticized by the government on Friday as skewed, confrontational and aimed at furthering American political interests.

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In a bitter statement that reflected persistent strains between the Cold War foes, the Foreign Ministry accused Washington of double standards, and suggested the United States was preaching to the world while violating the rights of its own citizens and others across the globe.

The report is "nonobjective, politicized and in many ways confrontational," the statement said, claiming that it aims to lead a reader to "draw concrete negative conclusions" about Russia and contains "skewed perceptions of the real situation, outdated information, intentional vagueness and citations of biased sources."

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"Washington has long practiced double standards in the sphere of human rights, depending on whether one state or another acts in accordance with (U.S.) political interests," the statement said. "These standards are particularly clearly visible against the background of what is happening now in Iraq, Afghanistan and at the military base in Guantanamo with the participation of the U.S. armed forces."

At home, the statement said, "the United States under various pretexts limits democratic freedoms, interferes in the personal lives of its own people, effectively carries out censorship of the media and sends minors to the electric chair."

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http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4615773.html

[Tempest]

1. Russia should point out the FBI's illegal spying on U.S. citizens

The timing of the U.S. report couldn't have been worse for the Bushies.