 |
A
demonstrator protests against
Guantanamo Bay prison during a Stop
the War rally
in Trafalgar Square,
central London October 8, 2011.
(Credit:
Reuters/Luke MacGregor)
|
(Reuters) -
Russia sought to undermine the authority of the United States as a global judge
of human rights on Wednesday with Moscow's first report to detail allegations
of torture, phone tapping and abuse by the U.S. government.
Criticizing
the United States for double standards, Russia said President Barack Obama had
failed to shut the military prison at Guantanamo Bay and accused the White
House of sheltering officials and CIA operatives from prosecution.
The Foreign
Ministry's report "On the situation with human rights in a host of world
states," follows China's example in highlighting U.S. failings in an
attempt to counter U.S. State Department criticism of domestic human rights
abuses.
"The
situation in the United States is far from the ideals proclaimed by
Washington," Russia's foreign ministry said in a 63-page report posted on
its www.mid.ru Web site. "The main unresolved problem is the odious prison
in Guantanamo Bay."
"The
White House and the Justice Department shelter from prosecution CIA operatives
and highly placed officials who are responsible for mass and flagrant breaches
of human rights," it said.
Every year
since 1976, the U.S. Department of State has published a detailed report on the
state of human rights in the world, often with scathing analyses of abuses in
China and Russia.
Washington
scolded Russia for "governmental and societal human rights problems and
abuses during the year" in its report published in April.
U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton angered Prime Minister Vladimir Putin this
month by suggesting that Russia's parliamentary elections were neither free nor
fair.
Russia's
counter-report is unlikely to harm ties with its former Cold War foe, though
Obama's attempt to forge more friendly ties with the Kremlin has cooled since
Vladimir Putin said in September he planned to run in the March presidential
election.
"These
kinds of human rights reports can be a useful mechanism," State Department
spokesman Mark Toner said.
"We
certainly don't regard it as interference in our internal affairs when foreign
governments, individuals or organizations comment on or criticize U.S. human
rights practices."
Russia also
criticized European Union countries for the treatment of religious minorities
and Britain in particular for breaching human rights in the wake of August's
riots.
The report
focused on the United States and European countries, mentioning China only once
and then in passing.
(Additional
reporting by Andrew Quinn; Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by MatthewJones)
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