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US slammed over trampling global human rights

By: Mohamed Alii

WASHINGTON: A leading New-York based human rights group in its annual world report has criticized Washington over the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal and the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

Human Rights Watch says that when a country as dominant as the US openly defies the law, it invites others to do the same. It calls for the Bush administration to set up a fully independent investigative commission, similar to the 9/11 Commission, to look into prisoner abuse at Iraq's US-run Abu Ghraib jail.

The report also calls for more military protection in Sudan's Darfur region.

According to the group, abuses committed by the US have significantly weakened the world's ability to protect human rights.

Executive director of HRW Kenneth Roth said, “The US government is less and less able to push for justice abroad, because it's unwilling to see justice done at home.”

Washington says it has condemned the abuse and is investigating allegations in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.

The report found that human rights conditions remained grave in Iraq and Israel, and had deteriorated in Iran, with little sign of improvement in the rest of the Middle East.

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