China has been "backsliding on key human rights issues," the US State Department said in a report that also accused Russia of manipulating elections and making threats against opposition parties.
"We saw many developments covering the whole range from the dramatically uplifting to the disappointing," the State Department said on Wednesday in its annual report on the state of human rights worldwide. The report covers developments last year.
Among the most positive developments last year were the rescue of Iraq from "years of grave human rights violations by Saddam Hussein's regime" and the adoption of a new constitution in Afghanistan through a democratic process, the study said.
On China, the report said last year began with hopes that "incremental but unprecedented progress" the previous year would continue.
Instead, the study said, the situation deteriorated. It cited arrests of democracy activists and individuals who discussed subjects on the Internet deemed sensitive by the government.
Chinese authorities in Tibet carried out executions without due process and engaged in torture and arbitrary arrest, the report said.
It also said the Russian government manipulated the October presidential elections in Chechnya and parliamentary elections held in December.
"Both failed to meet international standards," the report said. It added that the last major non-state TV network disappeared from Russia last year because of government pressure.
The report also alleged that the government carried out criminal prosecutions and threats of prosecutions against major financial supporters of opposition parties.
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