Amnesty: U.S. leads global human rights violations 
By Aljazeera
05/25/05 - - Human rights watchdog Amnesty International accused the United States of violating human rights, ignoring international law and sending a "permissive signal to abusive governments".
"When the most powerful country in the world thumbs its nose at the rule of law and human rights, it grants a license to others to commit abuse with impunity and audacity," the rights group said in its annual report.
Amnesty also slammed the Bush administration and the U.S. Congress for failing to call for a complete and independent probe into abuses against prisoners in U.S. custody in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay.
"During his first term in office, the U.S. proved to be far from the global human rights champion it proclaimed itself to be," the report said, citing Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.
It also condemned the U.S. government for failing to implement the Geneva Conventions, and for trying to justify the use of harsh interrogation techniques, the practice of holding "ghost detainees" and the "rendering" of detainees to third countries where torture is not outlawed.
"Arbitrary and indefinite detention"
The 300-page annual report also says that the U.S. authorities at the detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, not only apply the practice of "arbitrary and indefinite detention in violation of international law," but also ignore justice and open the world to "counter-terrorism."
While some of the violence in Iraq could be blamed on armed forces, the report also accused U.S.-led occupation forces for "unlawful killings, torture and other violations".
"Torture and ill-treatment by U.S.-led forces were widely reported," it said.
"Rapid and radical" reform
The report also condemned the United Nations Commission on Human Rights for failing to hold its member states to account on human rights, one of its primary goals.
"The UN Commission of Human Rights has become a forum for horse-trading on human rights," secretary general Irene Khan said. "Last year the commission dropped Iraq from scrutiny, could not agree on action on Chechnya, Nepal or Zimbabwe and was silent on Guantanamo Bay."
Amnesty also called for a “rapid and radical” reform of the UN human rights machinery to improve its legitimacy, efficiency and effectiveness in protecting human rights.
"The time has come for a sober reappraisal of what needs to be done to revive the human rights system and our faith in its abiding values," the report states.
The London-based organization also expressed its concerns about the lack of accountability for human rights abuses in Haiti and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the reported abuses by Russian forces in Chechnya and the indifference to violence against women.
Copyright: Aljazeera.com