Dobriansky: 2006 Country Reports on HR Practices

On-The-Record Briefiing on the State Department's 2006 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky; Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Barry F. Lowenkron
Washington, DC
March 6, 2007

(10:10 a.m. EST)

UNDER SECRETARY DOBRIANSKY: Thank you, Madame Secretary. As we release the Annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, I would first like to recognize the hard work and tireless efforts of Assistant Secretary Barry Lowenkron and his team in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, Labor as well as our posts abroad. Their dedicated work made these reports possible.

In February of 2006, Secretary Rice established the Global Internet Freedom Task Force of which I'm a co-chair to address the challenges to freedom of expression and the free flow of information on the internet by repressive regimes which threaten the internet's ability to empower individuals and societies. Despite international commitments to freedom of expression, numerous governments around the world seek to blunt the internet's transformational power and restrict the rights of their citizens to participate in the online exchange of information, ideas and ideals.

Today, people are imprisoned in a number of countries simply for expressing their peaceful views online. Consequently, our strategy is based on three elements: monitoring internet freedom in countries around the world, responding to threats to internet freedom and advancing internet freedom by expanding access to the internet.

One of the immediate results of the task force is reflected in this year's human rights reports. The reports include information on the extent to which internet access is available to and used by citizens in each country and provide information on whether governments inappropriately limit or block access to the internet or censor websites. And I'm pleased to announce that this year the reports include new reporting on the means by which internet restrictions occur, the domestic legal authority in each country for such restrictions, the government entities that conduct those activities and the penalties for the exercise of free speech via the internet, the extent to which such penalties are enforced and the government authorities that enforced the penalties.

We will continue to defend internet freedom, including by addressing internet repression directly with the foreign governments involved and seeking to persuade foreign officials that restricting internet freedom is contrary to their own interests and that of their countries. The new information in this year's reports will make an important contribution.

Thank you. Let me invite Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor to the podium. He'll give you the overview of the report and take your questions and answers. Thank you.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Good morning. Let me say a few words about the production of the reports and then make some brief -- brief observations about their content before we go to Q&A.

These congressionally mandated annual reports were delivered to Congress early today. Here we are -- over 1,800 pages and they will be posted on our website immediately after this briefing. Officers at our overseas posts go to great lengths to gather factual information for these reports. Here at the State Department, I owe a special thanks to Stephen Eisenbraun, who coordinated the production of the reports and to the many dedicated officers in my bureau as well as in bureaus throughout the Department who devoted long hours and intense effort to ensure that the reports meet high standards of accuracy and objectivity.

The reports are based on information we receive from governments and multilateral institutions, from indigenous and international non-governmental groups, from academics, jurists and the media. We recognize that we are issuing this report at a time when our own record and actions we have taken to respond to the terrorist attacks against us have been questioned. We will continue to respond to the concerns of others, including by means of the reports we submit to meet our obligations under various human rights treaties. As the Secretary has said, our democratic system of government is not infallible, but it is accountable. Our robust civil society, our vibrant free media, our independent branches of government and a well-established rule of law work as correctives.

As for the report itself, each country report speaks for itself, yet broad patterns are discernible. Across the globe in 2006, men and women continued to press for their rights to be respected and their governments to be responsive, for their voices to be heard and their votes to count. This is a hopeful trend indeed, but I have to tell you the reports also reflect several sobering realities.

First, the advances made in human rights and democracy were hard won and challenging to sustain. While some countries made significant progress, others regressed.

A second sobering reality is that insecurity due to internal or cross-border conflict can threaten gains in human rights and democratic government. Despite the Iraqi Government's continued commitment to foster national reconciliation and reconstruction, to keep to an electoral course and to establish the rule of law, deepening sectarian violence and acts of terrorism seriously undercut human rights and democratic progress. And although Afghanistan has made important human rights progress since the fall of the Taliban, its human rights record remain poor, due mainly to weak central institutions and Taliban attacks.

Third, as the worldwide push for greater personal and political freedom grows stronger, it is being met with increasing resistance from those who feel threatened by change. I call 2006 "the year of the pushback." A disturbing number of countries passed or selectively applied laws and regulations against NGOs and the media. Examples include Russia's restrictive new NGO law and internet restrictions in China. In 2006, country resolutions passed by the UN General Assembly emphasized the need to protect human rights defenders in Iran, Belarus and Burma.

The UN Democracy Fund, growing out of an idea presented to the General Assembly by President Bush, completed its first year successfully. Its board agreed to fund 125 projects out of more than 1,300 proposals submitted by over a hundred countries.

And in December 2006, Secretary Rice launched two important initiatives to defend the defenders. She announced the creation of a Human Rights Defenders Fund that will quickly disburse small grants to help human rights defenders facing extraordinary needs as a result of government repression.

Secretary Rice also announced ten guiding NGO principles regarding the treatment by governments of nongovernmental organizations. These core principles are meant to complement the lengthier, more detailed UN and other international documents, and to serve as a handy resource for governments, international organizations, civil society groups and journalists. They have already been translated into Spanish, French, Arabic, Farsi, Russian and Chinese.

When democracies support the work of human rights advocates and civil society organizations, we are helping men and women in countries across the globe shape their own destinies and freedom; and by so doing, we are helping to build a safer, better world for all.

Thank you. I will now be happy to take your questions. Please state your name and the news organization you represent.

QUESTION: Secretary Lowenkron, Arshad Mohammed of Reuters. One of the great things about these reports is that they allow you to make comparisons over years. In Iraq, has the respect for human rights broadly speaking, not just the actions of the government but the actions of non-state actors taken into account, has the state of human rights in your -- in the U.S. Government's view, is it now better than it was under Saddam or worse than it was under Saddam?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: I find no comparison between the two. Under Saddam there was absolutely no hope for a better future. In Iraq, a country that faces sectarian violence, that faces terrorist attacks and that has a long way to go, there still is hope.

I could stand here and I could discuss with you the challenges of creating the human rights commission in Iraq and I could discuss with you the challenges in building the capacity of the Minister for Human Rights in Iraq. That individual, who I had the privilege of meeting several times, we would not be having this discussion if Saddam were in power.

QUESTION: Can I follow up on that? Elise Labott with CNN. Last year when you talked about the violence in Iraq and the human rights record, while you noted that it was rather poor, you said that the security -- given the security situation in Iraq, it was kind of understandable that the human rights record wouldn't be as good as you like. And it seems this year you take the government a little bit more to task for not -- for extrajudicial arrests, detentions, torture, things like that. Are you disappointed in the Maliki government's attention to human rights?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: I'm not disappointed in the lack of attention. I'm disappointed in the lack of capacity. It is clearly a challenge across the board that the Prime Minister does face.

What I would like to see is greater improvement, for example, in the Ministry of Human Rights. The Minister herself highlighted for me her concerns: the need for greater education, the need for training, the need to ensure greater coordination among the various ministries in Iraq. It is a long, long, hard road for the Ministry and for the government officials.

QUESTION: But can I just quickly follow? A lot of these government ministries such as the Minister of Interior and security forces and the police were trained by the United States and other countries. So isn't there an attention in this training paid to respect for human rights?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: There is, but the challenge to get it going and maintaining it in the right direction is very, very difficult and the report speaks for itself.

QUESTION: David Millikin, AFP. Could you elaborate a bit on what is new in this year's report concerning the internet and internet freedoms that were -- was not included in the previous years' reports?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Essentially, the way that governments are now using ways to crack down on internet usage, the export of technology to other countries to help them cracking down the internet, internet laws, just a general trend in some countries that is not good. And we felt it was important to highlight that in the report. I would also add the other issue that we highlighted in the report that is different than last year is there's a greater concentration on the crackdown on NGOs.

QUESTION: Lambros Papantoniou. Elefteros, people's Greek daily Athens. Mr. Secretary, since in your report you are saying exactly that Albanians in Greece are 7 percent of the entire population, I am wondering, with the same token, did you find how large in percentage are the Greeks in Northern Epirus, Albania?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: No, I did not, but I'd be happy to take your question and get back to you on that.

QUESTION: One follow-up. Did you note the same progress about the predicament of the Greeks in Northern Epirus, Albania from political, educational and religious point of view since they have a restriction to formulate political parties, to have Greek education and to appoint their own religious leaders?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Be happy to follow up.

QUESTION: On Cuba. You say practically they have gone on with the same system as before. How will the change in Cuba happened over the end of the summer? I wonder whether the report could find any changes afterwards, because it was towards the end of the year, especially in the light now there is these changes. There is a documentary that has been in all the newspapers. My name is Anna Molinaris (ph) of Cuba Broadcasting.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Okay. I think our position remains clear, and that is we're not interested in a succession; we're interested in a transition. We're interested in transition where the Cuban people could have a right in their own say, a right that's been denied to them for over 40 years. And it's in that context that we put out publicly a charter, a statement of the American policy that was given in the summer of 2006 which laid out what we would be willing to do in response to the Cuban people, looking forward to a day in which they can finally have a say in their own affairs.

QUESTION: On Iran. You were saying that the government's poor human rights record worsened. And Iran's record has been condemned year after year by the U.S., UN, EU and other international organizations. Some Iranian human rights activists believe that it's now time for the U.S. and other concerned parties to push for UN Security Council sanctions against Iran on human rights basis. How practical is this and will the U.S. be willing to support any sanctions drive against Islamic Republic?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: My sense for now is that the UN activity, the Security Council activity, will continue to be focused on Iran's nuclear program. But we engage in a very active dialogue with our key allies and partners in terms of all the elements, the challenges posed by Iran: its support for terrorism; its crackdown on human rights; its reprehensible statements about the Holocaust. I would just mention that Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns is going to be testifying this very day, this afternoon, before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on U.S. policy toward Iran.

QUESTION: On Iran as well, since they continue to defy the international community on the nuclear issue and continue to have these human rights violations, what's your reaction to Ambassador Bolton's suggestion just the other day that our policy ought to be regime change there?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Well, one of the beauties of a democracy is that everybody is entitled to their opinion. I can tell you from my perspective and the work that I do as Assistant Secretary, I am focused on behavior change.

QUESTION: And how do we achieve that? I'm sorry.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Well, I think with the support of the Congress, we have received funding over several years for programs, programs that are in the area of broadcasting, programs in the area of exchanges, and programs in the area of supporting the work of nongovernmental organizations.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) from BBC Brazil. Secretary Rice is traveling to Brazil this Thursday and the report specifically mentions a series of abuses committed in Brazil, like the beatings and abuse, torture of detainees by police and security force, the inability to protect witnesses involved in criminal cases, discrimination against indigenous people. Are those issues that Secretary Rice intends to address during her visit to Brazil?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: What I would say is that in these trips, one looks at the whole range of issues in the bilateral relationship. When I sit with the Secretary of State and we talk about individual countries, with the rare exception of some of the real outliers, the question she always asks me is, "Don't tell me, is this country perfect or not; tell me where the trajectory is going. Is it in a positive direction or a negative direction; where is it in terms of electoral issues, governance issues, civil society issues."

And that's the tenor of my conversations with her. Nobody expects perfection and clearly, these are the kinds of issues that we follow up at all levels with all governments. I would hasten to say that even looking at the difficulties with Brazil, they remain one of our key partners, one of our key friends. And I know the Secretary is looking forward very much to this trip.

QUESTION: I want to (inaudible) Brazil, sir, if I can. You said about a trajectory -- I'm sorry, (inaudible) from TV Globo Brazil. What would be, in your view, the trajectory of Brazilian human rights in the last five years?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Well, I would say certainly positive.

Anybody I haven't called on yet? Go ahead and then I'll work back, sorry.

QUESTION: I'm Matthew Lee from AP. Two things that are unrelated. One on Sudan. You talked -- the report says that the genocide is the most sobering -- I've forgotten the --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Reality, right.

QUESTION: -- reality for 2006. I understand you're planning to travel to Sudan.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Yes.

QUESTION: Next week?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: I'm leaving this Thursday evening.

QUESTION: Okay. Is this something that you bring up? Obviously, you bring it up, but do you plan to meet President Bashir? Do you plan to -- or do you hope to -- do you raise these points and -- you know, how serious or -- does the United States believe the situation there has gotten demonstrably worse since when it was first called a genocide by Secretary Powell several years ago?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Well --

QUESTION: And then I'll ask an unrelated question.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Okay. Well, it was called that by Secretary Powell and reiterated by Secretary Rice. It is inconceivable for me to say that we've moved away from the issue of genocide, given the fact that the last half of 2006 was a particularly violent period in Darfur.

As for my schedule, I'll leave it up to our charge'. I'm awaiting the final parts of my schedule. As of now, I intend to spend several days in Darfur. I intend to go to Juba because I think it's critical that we do not lose sight of implementation of the North-South agreement that ended 21 years of that bloody civil war. Then I will meet with officials in Khartoum. Let me also add, I intend to go after that to Addis Ababa to have a full range of consultations with the AU.

QUESTION: And Meles, presumably?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Yes.

QUESTION: Okay. And then --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Okay.

QUESTION: Well, and then my -- an unrelated question goes back to the internet question. This was mentioned in previous reports, right? Is there just a new focus?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: It's highlighted. In previous reports we talked about a crackdown here and a crackdown there. What we're seeing now are efforts to deepen and to expand internet restrictions.

QUESTION: Okay. And can you say -- and perhaps this is in there but I haven't had a chance to go through the entire thing yet --

QUESTION: You didn't?

QUESTION: -- what the -- you know, which countries are the top of the list in terms of --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: I would certainly put at the top of the list in terms of their technology and their efforts, I would put China.

QUESTION: Right. Any --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Somebody in the --

QUESTION: Anyone else?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: I put China for that one. Somebody in the back?

QUESTION: You know what, I'm sorry --

QUESTION: How seriously are you taking ElBaradei -- his declaration yesterday?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: I'll talk to you after this. Pardon?

QUESTION: How seriously are you taking the declarations of Mohamed ElBaradei yesterday about the nuclear plan for Iran?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: I will refer you to the Under Secretary's presentation this afternoon.

QUESTION: Yeah, speaking to China -- and I'm Richard Finney with Radio Free Asia. Could you say something about the overall trends you've observed there in the last year, and then say something too with regard to their behavior in Tibet and Xinjiang?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: I will say that the situation in China in terms of human rights has deteriorated in a number of areas since 2006. I think if you look at the issue of China and human rights, there are individual cases that still have not been addressed.

There are questions about where China is going in the context of legal reform. They had some interesting ideas in terms of how to change the nature of courtroom proceedings to give defense attorneys and those who are accused a greater say. That seems to have become dead in the water. There are questions about whether or not they are going to repeal their reeducation through labor. And it strikes me that a confident, self-assured China should still not have to rely on the system of reeducation through labor.

I think there are questions about restrictions on the growing civil society that's in China. I think Chinese officials probably still view civil society as part of a problem rather than part of a solution to help in terms of environment and health and so forth. There are labor issues. There are issues of accountability. There were thousands of demonstrations out in the countryside in China last year. My sense is that these are individuals that are seeking redress, seeking accountability, and so far that's lacking.

So I am disappointed in the overall performance of China last year. Against the backdrop of 30 years, they certainly have made progress. You have to go back to 30 years. Against the backdrop of last year, I am disappointed.

I will hasten to add that I expect this afternoon to get China's report on the U.S. Human Rights Practices. They do that every year.

QUESTION: And then Tibet and Xinjiang also, if you could.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: We have made it clear in terms of Tibet that the Dalai Lama is not intent on splitting China. The Secretary has made it clear. The President has made it clear. I wish could say there's more progress on that, but there has not been.

QUESTION: Libby Leist from NBC. Given the recent deal with North Korea, do you see any hope that the North Korean regime will change its behavior and open up its system at all, given their willingness to seemingly agree on the nuclear?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: All I could say to that is I would find it inconceivable as we go down this path that the issues of how the regime treats its people would not be part of our agenda. I'm not naïve; this is a long, tough road. But the issue about pressing human rights, whether it's North Korea or elsewhere is one of not only trying to make progress but ensuring it's embedded in the strategic framework of our dialogue with these countries.

You've been very patient. Go ahead.

QUESTION: In terms of Venezuela -- Antonita Gueyez (ph) in Mercurio, Chile. In terms of Venezuela, their report shows centralization and oppression of civil society. Is the situation getting worse with time?

And in terms of Chile, Pinochet death (inaudible) family victims to overcome grief? What do you thinks in terms of human rights?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: In Chile?

QUESTION: Yes.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: I would say the trajectory in Chile is quite positive, in contrast to the trajectory -- I believe you mentioned Venezuela?

QUESTION: Yes.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Okay. In contrast to Venezuela, where you have a democracy and a leader that's not ruling democratically.

QUESTION: So the situation in Venezuela is getting worse?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: It is getting worse. Packing the supreme court, muzzling the opposition, intimidating the press, going after NGOs. In fact, they just recently -- the national assembly of Venezuela is debating a bill that would further constrain the ability of NGOs to operate. So the trend definitely is negative. When I talk about countries regressing if you look at the 2006 report, I would highlight Venezuela as a case.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) I'm with RTVi. Could you elaborate on the situation of the trends in Russia regarding human rights and democracy, and also in Belarus? How concerned are you about those two countries?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Well, that's a pretty good follow-up to that question. I would say if I had to pick another country in which it's regressing, I would also pick Russia. I think if you look at a number of indicators, if you look at the difficulty in parties who are able to reregister -- 35 tried, 19 made it, the party of independent Duma member Ryzhkov was denied, former Prime Minister Kasyanov was also denied -- I think it's -- I think the notion that there was a level playing field in terms of electoral politics in Russia is increasingly suspect.

I think if you take a look at the media, I think if you take a look at the statements coming out of Russian officials that they have something called sovereign democracy or managed democracy -- I'm probably dating myself, but from my years in the State Department back in the 1980s I was never big on adjectives before democracy, like "people's democracy." And sovereign democracy and managed democracy is problematic.

QUESTION: Belarus?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Belarus -- there is nothing good to say about Belarus except -- about the regime in Belarus except the fact that civil society is still trying. And we had a group from Belarus that came to Washington just last week. I had the privilege of meeting with them. I was interested in their plans. They're not going to give up. They're going to continue to press. The citizens of Belarus will find themselves that there is an alternative, there is an alternative to Yushchenko, there is an alternative to a regime that suppresses their human rights, and that alternative lies to its other neighbors.

In the back, then in the --

QUESTION: What can you say on Saudi Arabia and Egypt for this year?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Well, in terms of Saudi Arabia, we have been developing with Saudi Arabia a Strategic Dialogue which stemmed from discussions that then-Crown Prince Abdullah had with President Bush in 2005. It has continued and it gets to my point about issues of human rights and reform should not stand apart from the overall fabric of our relationship. So as part of this Strategic Dialogue, even as we talk about security issues and we talk about energy issues, we also talk about issues of educational reform, we talk about development, we talk about a whole range of political issues.

In terms of Egypt, there was some progress in 2005. It seems to have come to a halt in 2006. The upper court has reaffirmed the five-year conviction of Ayman Nour. There were nearly 500 people that were arrested last year, last spring, in protest when they were protesting and calling for an independent judiciary. A higher court overturned a lower court decision that said the Baha'i could have their religious identity in their cards and now said no, they could not, which discriminates against the Baha'i. We are still at stasis in terms of the registration and the work of some of the institutions that do this kind of outreach like IRI and NDI.

Okay, I had promised you.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) Broadcasting Corporation. The report specifically mentions on North Korea the Japanese abductee issue as well as the likelihood that nationals of other countries have also been kidnapped. And how -- what is the possibility that North Korea would be taken off the state sponsor of terror list before the abductee issue has been fully resolved?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: I'm not going to speculate on that. What I'm -- even as we proceed to the six-party and then as part of that, we have -- we're going to develop our bilateral discussions with the North Koreans. The Japanese are going to have their -- are having their bilateral discussions with the North Koreans. And we would -- I would be surprised if this thing were not a factor because at the end of the day, one of the successes -- one of the successes of this agreement is it is multilateral and all the parties need to have their specific fundamental concerns addressed.

QUESTION: I want to follow up on that. Josh Rogin, Asahi Shimbun. Referring to the abductee issue, you used words such as "believed to have been abducted" and "cases of suspected abductions." Is it the policy of the U.S. State Department that this absolutely happened as a point of fact or that they believe it happened -- these abductions?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: The report speaks for itself. I'm not going to slice the words about believe or they happened.

QUESTION: Joel Wishengrad of World Media Reports, WMR News. To what degree are you looking at various religious entities? Next week, there is this conference over in Baghdad or for Iraq with both Syria and Iran. Are the Syrians and others still meddling with Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and others? And do you specifically pinpoint the amounts of money that are being earmarked to those groups?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Well, we certainly do not in our Human Rights Report, but my colleagues in the State Department and others certainly continue to explore the links between these organizations and countries.

QUESTION: Eritrea has been added this year to the worst -- the list of the worst violators. Can you elaborate on the reason why this year you decided to add Eritrea?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Well, not only has there been no progress in Eritrea, but there's been an uptick in terms of the -- what I call the forced -- the forced -- I'm struggling for a good word here because we used to call it impressment of men and women into the armed services, the further banning of nongovernmental organizations. There's been a deterioration in the climate for freedom in Eritrea.

QUESTION: Sir, could you --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: I'll get back to you. Somebody who hasn't had a chance to go.

QUESTION: Thank you, I'm (inaudible) from Voice of America, Buenos Aires. According to (inaudible) news sources, the U.S. is informally negotiating with the UN Human Rights Commission to hold a special session on Burma in late April which could lead to a resolution on forming a commission of inquiry and human rights abuses. Are you optimistic about this move after the UN Security Council failed to adopt the U.S.-drafted resolution?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Thank you for raising the case of Burma. And let me say this, about a year ago the Secretary sat down with several of us and said, we cannot continue this business as usual. I want to use all the multilateral tools to press for fundamental change in Burma and for the freedom of Aung San Suu Kyi, for her demands, for her requests to open up a dialogue. What that has meant is that we work very closely with our EU allies, we worked in the third committee of the General Assembly, we worked with our ASEAN partners and we also took Burma to the Security Council. And yes, Russia and China vetoed it.

But let me say this, a year ago, people thought there was no way that we could even have an informal discussion of Burma in the Security Council. And so we will use all multilateral avenues, including the Human Rights Council to press on Burma.

QUESTION: Thank you.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Okay.

QUESTION: Christoph Marschall from the German daily Der Tagesspiegel. I have a question to Iraq and one to Germany/Europe, but first about about Iraq. I just worked through the draft, not through the whole report until now, but in the draft you just highlight the concern about the sectarian violence, not about violence through security forces which are in the chain of command of the government, for example, torture in Iraqi prisons. Is that of less concern or it's not such a huge number of cases? Why don't you highlight that?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: It actually is in the full report. It actually was.

QUESTION: Of course, but not highlighted. It means to say a difference between both concerns or --

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Look, at the end of the day, everybody knows how to put a highlight together. You know, you do a few pages, you put it on the top. And what I would hope is that people who want to focus on Iraq and focus on Afghanistan, focus on our partners in the war on terrorism, read those chapters in their entirety.

I will tell -- I will tell my colleagues, don't spend time reading the chapter on Germany, for example, or on France or other countries. But certainly look at that. You will find that information there.

QUESTION: I will do that. And the second question about -- now to sort of follow up, back to Germany -- is there seems to be a general difference or Europe seems to be the only continent in the world where you don't have major concerns because it's almost -- almost free of concerns. This was the not the case in the '90s, for example, discussions about how to judge the treatment of scientology in Germany and we had discussions about that. Is that a change? Is there an improvement in West Europe or at least the EU countries? Does that mean they are relatively free of concern from your perspective?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Well, let me say that the trends in Europe are extremely positive. (Laughter.)

No, no, it's -- clearly when you look at Europe, it's -- we view Europe as, in essence, our partners -- our partners in a whole host of issues, including I would add in terms of human rights and democracy promotion. We've come a long way from the rancor and bitterness over the Iraq war.

My colleague, Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Dan Fried, says matter-of-factly -- he's Assistant Secretary of a global bureau -- because of our partnership with Europe across the world, which I agree with. But his -- the other regional assistant secretaries are less than enthusiastic to hear that, but that's the reality. They are our partners.

In the back, somebody I haven't called.

QUESTION: (Inaudible) Voice of America. Would you say that Cuba and Venezuela are the worst countries -- were the worst countries last year on human rights in the Americas? What about Mexico?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Well, I mean, the report speaks for itself on Cuba and Venezuela and I've addressed both of them.

In terms of Mexico, I think that there are still a number of issues that need to be addressed -- the issue of corruption. There's an issue have you had reform on the federal level, do you have it in the state level. But I would just highlight the unprecedented number of extraditions that occurred just several months ago. And even as we work with the Mexicans and we ask them questions about what happened in Oaxaca and what are the elements, what are the strategies to deal with the underlying causes of what happened in Oaxaca.

MR. CASEY: Barry, I think we've got time just for a couple more. Arshad, I know you've been trying to get him to get you, and then maybe one over here.

QUESTION: Yes. You mentioned Venezuela and Russia as countries where regression was particularly pronounced. Can you cite any other countries where you feel like their regression was particularly pronounced this past year?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: I don't know. I'd have to go through -- there were 196 reports. We had -- I'm glad you mentioned Eritrea; that was one. I mentioned some of the problems that we've had in Egypt. I can't think of any others that come to mind.

MR. CASEY: Barry, why we don't get this gentleman back here and then this young lady and then we'll wrap it up.

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Okay.

QUESTION: Ahmed Mansour (ph), Al Jazeera. The report mentions Morocco as showing not with progress. Could you highlight which Arab countries made progress and which did not?

And the second issue, the EU parliament criticized (inaudible) member-states for playing a role in the rendition program run by the CIA. Do you want to comment on this one as well?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: Well, I mean, look, in terms of the Middle East, you know as well as I do, I mean, we had -- Kuwaiti women got full empowerment to vote and to run and people say, well, the fact that they voted in Iran, they lost. But if you take a look at the Kuwaiti politicians who are running, they have to appeal to get the female vote. An election is not just an election at one time, so I think you see positive trends in Kuwait. I think you see positive trends in Jordan. You see positive trends in Morocco. You see positive trends in Bahrain.

There is no -- let me put it this way, the promotion of -- democratic promotion and accountability, it's not chemistry. There is not one specific formula that applies at one specific time to each specific country. It involves three -- what I call the three legs to the stool. What are you doing in terms of electoral democracy? What are you doing in terms of governance? What happens the day after democracy? And what are you doing to support, to nurture civil society? And each of the countries in the Middle East are proceeding in different fashion and different pace on the three areas.

In terms of your second question, I would refer you to John Bellinger, our Legal Counselor. He's addressed this many times, including just recently publicly in Brussels.

One more?

MR. CASEY: This young lady will be the last question.

QUESTION: Thank you. National News Agency of Ukraine (inaudible). I'd like to ask you about Ukraine and what does it mean (inaudible) of the human rights and freedom of the press after the parliamentary elections and especially after the forming of the new government of Viktor Yushchenko?

ASSISTANT SECRETARY LOWENKRON: We view the last election in Ukraine as an extremely positive step. Clearly, those who came to power in the Orange -- so-called Orange Revolution were determined, were determined to ensure that there would be free and fair elections in the future come what may. And this is not about picking winners or losers; it's about having a level playing field, which is what happened in Ukraine. That is a positive development.

I would say the one area of concern in Ukraine, and Ukrainians themselves talk about that, is still the need to tackle the issue of corruption, greater transparency.

Thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you. 2007/161

ENDS

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