Russia Dismisses U.S. Criticism on Human Rights

Moscow has rejected a U.S. State Department report that criticized Russia’s poor human rights record as biased and politically motivated.

The U.S. Department of State released last week the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011, which traditionally identified violations of democratic processes, a weak judicial system and suppression of freedom of expression as key problems in Russia.

“The part of the report dedicated to Russia is not objective,” Russian Foreign Ministry’s ombudsman for human rights Konstantin Dolgov said in a statement on Monday.

“Our American partners regretfully refuse to notice large-scale efforts by the Russian leadership to carry out reforms of political and judicial systems, law enforcement bodies and correctional facilities, to fight corruption,” Dolgov said.

The official pointed out that the most serious flaw of the report was “an habitual abuse of the human rights theme to satisfy the political interests of the United States, which resulted in selective stereotyped assessments and extensive use of double standards.”

“It is indicative in this context that the report again does not analyze the human rights situation in the United States, a country whose human rights record is far from perfect,” he said.

Dolgov expressed hope that the U.S. approach toward the issue would be more objective and weighted in the future.

 

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