.:: SAMAA - Human rights battle increasingly fought on Internet: US

WASHINGTON: The United States said Thursday that the battle for human rights is increasingly being fought on the Internet as China, Iran and other states try to block access by political activists and others.

In its 2009 report on human rights abuses worldwide, the State Department highlighted how the Internet has become a battleground for supporters and opponents of fundamental rights like freedom of expression and assembly.

It was "a year in which 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," it said.

"Yet at the same time it was a year in which governments spent more time, money, and attention finding regulatory and technical means to curtail freedom of expression on the Internet and the flow of critical information," it added.

Such governments also sought "to infringe on the personal privacy rights of those who used these rapidly evolving technologies," it added.

In Iran, after the contested presidential elections, authorities cracked down on new media such as Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites.

"After the June election, there was a major drop in bandwidth, which experts posited the government caused to prevent activists involved in the protests from accessing the Internet and uploading large video files," it said.

In China, the government "increased its efforts to monitor Internet use, control content, restrict information, block access to foreign and domestic Web sites, encourage self-censorship, and punish those who violated regulations.

"The government employed thousands of persons at the national, provincial, and local levels to monitor electronic communications," the report said.

"The government at times blocked access to selected sites operated by major foreign news outlets, health organizations, foreign governments, educational institutions, and social networking sites," it said.

"The government also automatically censored e-mail and Web chats based on an ever-changing list of sensitive key words," the State Department added.

In Stalinist North Korea, "the government sought to control virtually all information," it added.

"There were no independent media, Internet access was limited to high-ranking officials and other elites, and academic freedom was repressed," it said.

"The government prohibited all but the political elite from listening to foreign media broadcasts, and violators were subject to severe punishment," the report said.

In Cuba, "the government controlled nearly all Internet access," it said.

The authorities "reviewed and censored e-mail" as well as used Internet search filters and blocked access to Web sites they opposed.

"Citizens could access the Internet only through government-approved institutions, except at Internet facilities provided by a few diplomatic missions," it added.

In Egypt, a US ally, the government has promoted use of the Internet but monitored it closely. "During the year, police harassed, detained, and allegedly abused certain bloggers and Internet activists," it added.

CHINA CALLS U.S. A HYPOCRITE OVER HUMAN RIGHTS

China accused Washington of hypocrisy on Friday for its criticism of Beijing's restrictions on the Internet and dissent, blaming the United States for the financial crisis and saying its own rights record was terrible.

In its annual survey of human rights in 194 countries issued on Thursday, the U.S. State Department criticised China, along with Cuba, Myanmar, North Korea and Russia.

China's State Council Information Office, or cabinet spokesman's office, issued its own annual assessment of the United States' human rights record in response, and this year it dwelt on America's economic woes.

"The United States not only has a terrible domestic human rights record, it is also the main source of many human rights disasters worldwide," the Chinese report said, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

"Especially a time when the world is suffering serious human rights disasters caused by the global financial crisis sparked by the U.S. sub-prime crisis, the U.S. government has ignored its own grave human rights problems and revelled in accusing other countries."

Washington has long criticised of China on human rights, and the subject has added to recent tensions with Beijing, which has also pushed back over arms sales to Taiwan and President Barack Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader.

China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since their split in 1949 amid civil war, and reviles the Dalai Lama as a "separatist" for seeking self-rule for his Himalayan homeland.

PELOSI TIBET REMARKS CONDEMNED

China's Foreign Ministry, in a separate statement, also condemned U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi for comments earlier this week honouring "the many brave Tibetans who have sacrificed their lives fighting for freedom".

"We advise the relevant U.S. congresswoman to respect the facts, abandon her prejudices and stop using the Tibet issue to interfere in China's internal affairs," spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement on the ministry's website.

China's Internet controls have also thrust Beijing into a dispute with search engine giant Google, which has said it may shut down its Chinese-language Google.cn portal and draw back from the Chinese market out of concerns over censorship and a hacking attack from within the country.

China has intensified restrictions on the Internet, imposed tight control over people seen as threats to Communist Party rule, and increased repression of Uighurs after ethnic violence and riots in Xinjiang, the country's restive far-western region, said the State Department report.

China's Communist Party authorities have shown little patience with Western criticisms of Beijing's punishment of political dissidents and protesters.

Late last year, U.S. officials decried the sentencing of prominent Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in jail on charges of "inciting subversion".

The latest Chinese counter-blast to U.S. criticisms said Washington should concentrate on "improving its own human rights." AGENCIES