Myanmar, 'Arab awakening' top US list of progress on human rights

China, which according to some human rights organizations was initially handled with kid gloves by the Obama administration, gets an especially negative evaluation. The report cites “deterioration” in freedoms of expression, assembly, and association.

Because the report covers the year 2011, it does not mention the recent high-profile case of Chen Guangcheng, the dissident who was finally allowed to leave China for the US after an extraordinary diplomatic bout earlier this month that pitted Clinton against senior Chinese officials as she visited China.

At the State Department briefing, Michael Posner, assistant secretary for democracy, human rights, and labor, said the US continues to “closely monitor” the situation in China for Mr. Chen’s family and associates, and he said “we have and will raise those concerns with the Chinese government.”

Noting there is “a closing of space for human rights activists and organizations in China,” Mr. Posner said the US has scheduled a “human rights dialogue” with Chinese officials this summer, when a wide range of human rights concerns would be addressed.

But he also highlighted the fact that Clinton, who was in China earlier this month for a “strategic dialogue” that has become an institutionalized part of the US-China relationship, was able to conduct “a very successful meeting while the human rights [Chen] issue was worked out.”

Some critics blasted the Obama administration for continuing its meetings with Chinese officials while the Chen issue remained unresolved. Mitt Romney called the episode a “day of shame” for President Obama. But the administration takes the position that human rights are a critical issue that won’t be sidestepped but that can be woven into discussions on a wide range of issues with key international partners.

Bahrain is a case in point. The administration has been accused of overlooking the assault on personal freedoms and guarantees – particularly pertaining to the kingdom’s Shiite majority – because of Bahrain’s strategic partnership with the US and the fact the Fifth Fleet is based there.

The human rights report chronicles a list of reported abuses, but it also notes that the king established an independent commission that found a “culture of impunity” in which security officials operated. It says the government has also implemented some of the commission’s recommendations.

While it is a fact that the US has “an important security arrangement with Bahrain,” Posner said, that has not impeded Clinton from being “very specific [about human rights concerns] in her conversations" with Bahrain’s leadership.

“We’re on a journey,” Posner said in assessing the evolution of human rights in general in the countries of the Arab awakening. “We recognize that change in any society that’s been stuck is going to be a process. In each of these countries we’ve seen fundamental change,” he added, “but there’s also a range of challenges that remain.”

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