What do the following countries have in common besides the US Dept of State's human rights assessments of them? Does anybody here know???
1.) Afghanistan Not Free The overall human rights situation remained extremely poor.
2.) Albania Partly Free The government's human rights record was poor in many areas; however, there were some improvements ... Police beat and otherwise abused suspects, detainees, and prisoners ... Prison conditions remained poor.
3.) Azerbaijan Partly Free The government's human rights record remained poor ... Some prison inmates and detainees died in part due to mistreatment by the authorities. Police tortured and beat persons in custody and used excessive force to extract confessions. Arbitrary arrest and detention [were] a problem.
4.) Bulgaria Free The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however ... its human rights record was poor in other areas. Members of the security forces were responsible for some killings. Security forces commonly beat suspects and inmates and beat and mistreated minorities. Arbitrary arrest and detention were problems.
5.) Colombia Partly Free Government's human rights record remained poor ... governmentsecurity forces continued to commit serious abuses, including extrajudicial killings.
6.) El Salvador Free The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens. There were no politically motivated killings or disappearances; however, some police officers committed killings. Police officers kidnapped persons for profit ... used excessive force and mistreated detainees.
7.) Eritrea Not Free The government's poor human rights record worsened, and it committed serious abuses ... Many observers believe that the police occasionally resorted to torture and physical beatings of prisoners, particularly during interrogations.
8.) Ethiopia Partly Free The government's human rights record remained poor; although there were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained. Security forces committed a number of extrajudicial killings.
9.) Georgia Partly Free The government's human rights record remained poor and worsened in several areas. Security forces continued to torture, beat, and otherwise abuse detainees.
10.) Honduras Partly Free The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, serious problems remained. Members of the security forces committed some extrajudicial killings. Well-organized private and vigilante security forces are alleged to have committed a number of arbitrary and summary executions. Security force personnel beat and otherwise abused detainees and other persons.
11.) Kuwait Partly Free (The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens in many areas; however, its record was poor in some significant areas. Some police and members of the security forces abused detainees during interrogation. The judiciary is subject to government influence ... The law empowers the government to impose restrictions on freedom of speech and the press.
12.) Macedonia Partly Free The government's human rights record significantly worsened during the year in the context of the ethnic Albanian insurgency led by the Natonal Liberation Army ... Police committed extrajudicial killings and killed civilians during combat operations.
13.) Nicaragua Partly Free The government generally respected many of its citizens' human rights; however, serious problems remained in some areas. Members of the security forces committed 15 reported extrajudicial killings at year's end. Police continued to beat and otherwise abuse detainees. There were allegations of torture by the authorities.
14.) Philippines Free The government generally respected the human rights of citizens; however, there were serious problems in some areas. Members of the security services were responsible for extrajudicial killings, disappearances, torture, and arbitrary arrest and detention; there were allegations by human rights groups that these problems worsened as the government sought to intensify its campaign against the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group.
15.) Rwanda Not Free The government's poor human rights record worsened, and the government continued to commit numerous, serious abuses. Citizens do not have the right to change their government. The security forces committed extrajudicial killings ... Security forces beat suspects, and there were some reports of torture. Prison conditions remained life-threatening and prisoners died of starvation and preventable diseases.
16.) Singapore Partly Free The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were significant problems in some areas. The governmenthas wide powers to limit citizens' rights and to handicap political opposition. There were a few instances of police abuse of detainees. The governmentcontinues to rely on preventive detention to deal with espionage, terrorism, organized crime, and narcotics.
17.) Solomon Islands Partly Free The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were serious problems ... Armed conflict led to a serious deterioration in the human rights situation; police and militants from both sides committed numerous human rights abuses, including killings, abductions, torture, rape, forced displacement, looting, and the burning of homes.
18.) Turkey Partly Free The government generally respected its citizens' human rights in a number of areas; however, its record was poor in some areas, and several serious problems remained. Extrajudicial killings continued, including deaths due to excessive use of force and torture.
19.) Uganda Partly Free The government generally respected freedom of speech and of the press; however, there were some instances in which the government infringed on these rights. The government restricted freedom of assembly and association, and the constitutional restrictions on political activity effectively continued to limit these rights.
20.) Uzbekistan Not Free The government's human rights record remained very poor and it continued to commit numerous serious abuses ... Security force mistreatment resulted in the deaths of several citizens in custody ... Prison conditions were poor, and pretrial detention can be prolonged. |
