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U.S. sees systematic abuse of human



Friday January 30 7:06 PM EST 

US Sees Systematic Abuse of Human Rights in 97

By Patrick Worsnip 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Systematic abuse of human rights kept many 
authoritarian governments in power last year, the U.S. State Department 
said Friday in its closely watched annual report on rights observance 
around the world. 

The department painted what it called a "dismal scenario" of violations 
in a report covering 193 nations -- all countries of the world except 
the United States. 

But U.S. officials said the picture was not wholly black. They pointed 
to what they called a "turning point" in war-torn Bosnia and said 
repressive rulers everywhere had to contend with people's growing demand 
for respect of their freedoms. 

In its key section on China, whose rights practices have become a major 
political issue in Washington, the report said Beijing's record improved 
in 1997 but the communist government still continued widespread abuses. 

In Russia, however, the State Department said President Boris Yeltsin's 
government "took a step backward" last year by passing a restrictive law 
on religion. 

The report singled out continuing major violations by governments in 
Burma, Nigeria, Cuba, Libya, Syria, Iraq and Iran. It said conflicts 
posed an increasing threat to civilians in central Africa, Sudan, 
Afghanistan, Colombia and in Algeria, where it spoke of the "alarming 
brutality of the massacres". 

"Strong authoritarian governments in many parts of the world kept 
themselves in power through the systematic abuse of the human rights of 
their citizens," the report said. "The dismal scenario is all too 
familiar." 

The State Department's report to Congress has been produced every year 
since 1976 and typically draws angry ripostes from countries criticized. 
Officials said this year's version focused heavily on religion and 
women's rights. 

Citing the release in November of veteran dissident Wei Jingsheng, the 
report said that in China "there were positive steps in human rights, 
although serious problems remained". 

The China report contrasted with a bleaker appraisal for 1996 that said 
public dissent had been virtually silenced. It follows a U.S. visit by 
President Jiang Zemin late last year and plans by President Bill Clinton 
to go to China in 1998. 

Russia, the State Department said, "took a step backward with the 
passage of a law restricting freedom of religion". 

The law distinguishes between mainstream and fringe religions, imposing 
a series of regulations on the latter. 

Even though the law, signed by President Boris Yeltsin last September, 
was ostensibly targeted against extremist cults, the report said some of 
its backers sought "to discriminate against members of less 
well-established religions". 

U.S. officials said they also wanted to highlight countries where 
improvements had occurred. "This is a year where we'd like to show major 
developments in Bosnia," one said. 

"History will mark a turning point in 1997. Progress has been slow and 
halting, but a tremendous effort on the ground has moved things 
forward," he said. The Clinton administration hopes to persuade Congress 
in the spring to approve an extension of the stay of U.S. peace-keeping 
forces in Bosnia. 

Pointing also to a "dramatic turnaround" in Albania, the official said: 
"One major trend we note this year is that more and more people around 
the world are increasing demands for their basic freedoms -- it's a 
trend that has to be taken on board by all leaders." 

The report said, however, that some countries slid back toward greater 
authoritarianism last year. 

Cambodia "reversed course" in July when Second Prime Minister Hun Sen 
ousted his coalition partner, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, and since then 
the government had curbed freedoms of the press and assembly and the 
right to a fair trial, it said. 

In Belarus, "the situation continued to worsen" as President Alexander 
Lukashenko "harassed independent political parties, the media, trade 
unions, human rights groups, and NGO's (non-governmental 
organizations)", the report said.