110th Congress, 2nd Session. Jacket 41-228PDF or 41-228 PDF. The promotion of human rights is an essential piece of our foreign policy. This effort will be a global one that reaches beyond government alone. The reports in this volume will be used as a resource for shaping policy, conducting diplomacy, and arranging assistance, training, and other resource allocations. The reports will also serve as a basis for the U.S. Government’s cooperation with private groups to promote the observance of internationally-recognized human rights. The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices cover internationally-recognized civil, political and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These rights include freedom from torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; from prolonged detention without charges; from disappearance or clandestine detention; and from other flagrant violations of the right to life, liberty and the security of the person.

The idea of human rights begins with a fundamental commitment to the dignity that is the birthright of every man, woman and child. Progress in advancing human rights begins with the facts. And for the last 34 years, the United States has produced the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, providing the most comprehensive record available of the condition of human rights around the world. These reports are an essential tool—for activists who courageously struggle to protect rights in communities around the world; for journalists and scholars who document rights violations and who report on the work of those who champion the vulnerable; and for governments, including our own, as they work to craft strategies to encourage protection of the human rights of more individuals in more places. Joint Committee Print. S. Prt. 112-40.

The best country-by-country assessment of human rights. The human rights records of more than ninety countries and territories are put into perspective in Human Rights Watch's signature yearly report. Reflecting extensive investigative work undertaken by Human Rights Watch staff, in close partnership with domestic human rights activists, the annual World Report is an invaluable resource for journalists, diplomats, and citizens, and is a must-read for anyone interested in the fight to protect human rights in every corner of the globe.