Russia Criticizes U.S. Human Rights Report

[Nutmegger]

Moscow on Friday criticized the U.S. State Department's annual report on global human rights, saying its assessment of the situation in Russia was skewed, confrontational and aimed at furthering U.S. political interests.

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 its own citizens' rights and rights of 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a reader to "draw specific negative conclusions" about Russia and contains "skewed perceptions of the real situation, outdated information, intentional vagueness and citations of biased sources."

The statement did not mention any specific information in the State Department report, which was released last week.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/03/12/022.html

[Selatius]

1. The US government and the Russian government have poor human rights records

The US should simply dispense with the holier than thou attitude and recognize it's just as capable of stomping on civil liberties as any other government on the face of the planet. The day that happens, though, is the day America abandons the jingoistic notion that it is the freest nation in the world.