Washington, D.C, Jan.18.– New evidence demonstrated in 2005 that torture and mistreatment have been a deliberate part of the Bush administration’s counterterrorism strategy, undermining the global defense of human rights, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing its World Report 2006 ...  The policy has hampered Washington’s ability to cajole or pressure other states into respecting international law, said the 532-page volume’s introductory essay.  
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U.S. partners such as Britain and Canada compounded the lack of human rights leadership by trying to undermine critical international protections. Britain sought to send suspects to governments likely to torture them based on meaningless assurances of good treatment. Canada sought to dilute a new treaty outlawing enforced disappearances. The European Union continued to subordinate human rights in its relationships with others deemed useful in fighting terrorism, such as Russia, China and Saudi Arabia.  
 
Many countries –Uzbekistan, Russia and China among them– used the “war on terrorism” to attack their political opponents, branding them as “Islamic terrorists.”  
 
Human Rights Watch documented many [more] serious abuses outside the fight against terrorism.  ...

The Human Rights Watch World Report 2006 contains survey information on human rights developments in more than 70 countries in 2005.
[click here to see the Report]