Washington: Open to Russian report on human rights in U.S.

Washington considers reports from other countries on the situation with human rights in the United States as useful and is always open for them, a U.S. Department of State spokesman said commenting on a report from Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry published on Wednesday a report on the situation with human rights in foreign countries, including in the United States. The report in particular expresses concern over the Guantanamo prison, the freedom of speech and touches upon some mistakes made by the U.S. justice system. “These kinds of human rights reports can be a useful mechanism. But we certainly don’t regard it as interference in our internal affairs when foreign governments, individuals, or organizations comment on or criticize U.S. human rights practices,” Mark Toner, the acting spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, told a daily press briefing. The diplomat did not make any specific comments on provisions pointed out by Russia in its report, although he was particularly asked about the Guantanamo prison. He said the document is being assessed and that would take some time. “I think we can say that we will or we may examine the report to see if there’s any importance to it… We don’t put any restrictions on access to our human rights records, and, indeed, we have an extremely unfettered press and media that hold us to that,” Toner added. U.S. President Barack Obama suspended new military commissions for Guantanamo detainees in early 2009 and pledged to close the prison within a year. In March this year, however, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates revoked the suspension. There are still over 170 detainees, including a Russian citizen, at Guantanamo.