By Mark O’Brien
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, United States — Russia’s foreign ministry denounced the United States this week for what it called “serious problems” in the U.S. human rights record.

Presenting their own report on human rights to foreign nations, Russian leaders condemned what they called the American double standards on human rights.  Specifically, they criticized harsh conditions in prisons, use of the death penalty, mistreatment of adopted children, and the United States’ failure to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.

“Washington’s attempts to become the world’s tutor on democracy are baseless,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov during a hearing by the Duma International Affairs Committee.

The report, which was not actually released after being presented on Monday, was the second paper from the Russian Foreign Ministry on human rights abroad.  The first was released in December, not long after a report from the U.S. State Department criticized Russia.

Among the criticisms outlined in the report were racial profiling, police brutality, Internet censorship and rising right-wing extremism.  It also condemned the United States for “extra-judicial” killings overseas by drones, its involvement in Afghanistan, CIA “renditions,” and failing to sign and ratify more than a dozen international treaties and conventions on human rights going back 80 years.

Konstantin Dolgov, who authored the new Russian report, said the purpose was to expand the dialogue of human rights abuses worldwide by showing no country is perfect.

“Nobody likes to be hectored,” he said.  “We are a young democracy, we have our problems, but we also have serious achievement that we hope won’t be overlooked.”

Dolgov and other authors based the report largely on the work of American academic and non-government sources.  They claimed the data shows that U.S. criticisms of other countries are often less than objective, ignorant of cultural significance, and sometimes hypocritical.

“They criticize and judge everyone except themselves,” Dolgov said.  “We think the U.S. should not try to monopolize the role of leader, teacher, and mentor in the field of human rights.  If they want to do this, they should be aware that they are also being monitored.”

The official U.S. response to the Russian report was “Bring it on,” according to the Christian Science Monitor.  The news organization quoted State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland as saying that would be the response from any agency, whether American or international.

“[The United States] is an open book, and we have plenty of non-governmental organizations of our own that make assessments about our human rights and that represent to the government what they think needs to be done,” Nuland said.

For further information, please see:

The Christian Science Monitor — Russian Report Criticizes US on Human Rights, US responds ‘Bring It On’ — 24 October 2012

Global Research — Russia Denounces US Human Rights Record — 23 October 2012

The Chicago Tribune — Russia Condemns United States for Human Rights Record — 22 October 2012

The Moscow Times — Foreign Ministry Slams U.S. on Human Rights — 22 October 2012