Human Rights

1. Human Rights

2. 2001 Country Reports On Human Rights Practices • We choose freedom and the dignity of every life - both U.S. values and the universality of human rights that steadily have gained international acceptance over the past 50 years • to give voice to those who have been denied the freedoms and rights provided for in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights - Only through the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms can the international community be secure from the scourge of terrorism. (The 2001 human rights reports reflect a year of dedicated effort by hundreds of State Department, Foreign Service, and other U.S. Government employees.)

3. 2002 Country Reports On Human Rights Practices • The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices reflect America’s diligence in the struggle to expand freedom abroad - Spreading democratic values and respect for human rights around the world is one of the primary ways we have of advancing the national security interests of the United States. The defense of liberty is both an expression of our ideals and a source of strength that we have drawn on throughout our history. Democratic values have also been at the heart of America’s most enduring and effective alliances, partnerships which continue to help us meet the challenges of tyranny and deprivation.

4. 2003 Country Reports On Human Rights Practices • The United States stands ready to work with other governments and civil society to prevent the abuses of power and the proliferation of dehumanizing ideologies that produce misery and desperation and lead to devastating international political, economic and humanitarian consequences. - The United States cannot afford to ignore either type of human rights problem, or to excuse them as cultural differences.

5. 2004 Country Reports On Human Rights Practices • The survival of liberty in our land depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world - The United States and its international partners worked with many countries during 2004 to expand freedom by helping to protect the political rights of their citizens and to advance the rule of law in their societies. - In the past three years since the removal of the Taliban regime, the people of Afghanistan have worked to diminish terrorism and improve security; to bridge traditional ethnic, religious, and tribal divides; to craft a new constitution faithful to their values and way of life; to extend fundamental rights to women and minorities; and to open their society to unprecedented political competition and freedom of expression.

6. 2005 Country Reports On Human Rights Practices • non-negotiable demands of human dignity——Bush - every individual and every organ of society +to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, +to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance • the end of tyranny in our world——Bush - the United States to work with other democracies and men and women of goodwill across the globe to reach an historic long-term goal

7. 2006 Country Reports On Human Rights Practices • The United States takes its human rights commitments seriously. - 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. - The congressionally mandated country reports on human rights practices that follow are an essential element of the United States' effort to promote respect for human rights worldwide. • As a review of these reports shows - 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, for just laws and justice for all. - There also was a growing recognition that democracy is the form of government that can best meet the demands of citizens for dignity, liberty, and equality.

8. 2007 Country Reports On Human Rights Practices • the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world - Today, on every continent, men and women are working, often against great odds and at great risk, to secure the basic rights to live in dignity, to follow their conscience and speak their minds without fear, to choose those who would govern them and hold their leaders accountable, and to obtain equal justice under the law. • democracy is seen as the form of government capable of securing those rights and fundamental freedoms

9. 2008 Country Reports On Human Rights Practices • Guaranteeing the right of every man, woman, and child to participate fully in society and live up to his or her God-given potential is an ideal that has animated our nation since its founding. - work together with nongovernmental organizations, businesses, religious leaders, schools and universities, and individual citizens - all of whom play a vital role in creating a world where human rights are accepted, respected, and protected

10. 2009 Country Reports On Human Rights Practices • more people gained greater access than ever before to more information about human rights through the Internet, cell phones, and other forms of connective technologies - we should be defined not by our differences but rather by our common humanity, and we should find ways to work in partnership with other nations so that all people achieve justice and prosperity.

11. 2010 Country Reports On Human Rights Practices • This report provides encyclopedic detail on human rights conditions in over 190 countries for 2010. - the explosive growth of nongovernmental advocacy organizations focused on a wide range of democracy and human rights issues and causes • The United States will continue to monitor the situations in these countries closely, knowing that the transition to democracy is not automatic and will take time and careful attention. - await the lifting of the state of emergency in Egypt - encouraged by the creation of a fact-finding committee to investigate human rights abuses that took place during the uprising in Tunisia

12. How the Reports Are Prepared • The Department of State prepared these reports using information from U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, foreign government officials, nongovernmental and international organizations, and published reports.