The US State Department has just released its 2002 “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.” Some snipets:
* Israel: “The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there continued to be problems with respect to its treatment of Arab citizens”
* Iraq: “In February the Minister of Justice specifically informed the Special Rapporteur that prostitution is not punishable by death under the law and claimed that no one had been sentenced to death for prostitution in many years. However, security forces allegedly beheaded a number of women suspected of prostitution and some men suspected of facilitating or covering up such activities in October 2001. Security agents reportedly decapitated numerous women and men in front of their family members.”
* Saudi Arabia: “The Government’s human rights record remained poor; although there were some improvements in a few areas, serious problems remained.”
* Kuwait: “In February a police officer was sentenced to death for the March 2001 murder of a news editor. The police officer believed that the editor had insulted the officer’s tribe in articles written and published by the editor. ”
* Romania: “Discrimination and instances of societal violence against Roma continued. ”
* France: “In June the ECHR found that the prosecution of two journalists under the 1881 press law prohibiting insulting foreign leaders was unjustified, and the court criticized the law as outdated. The ECHR found that the Paris Court of Appeals interfered with the freedom of expression of two journalists in its 1995 ruling that they had insulted King Hassan II of Morocco. ”
* Andorra: “Violence against women increased, and there was some discrimination against women in the workplace. There were some limits on workers’ rights. Some immigrant workers complained that they did not have the same labor rights and security as citizens in practice, despite legal protections.”