Human rights poor in Mideast despite reform calls: HRW

Despite international and domestic calls for democratic reform in the region, the group noted in its annual report that the climate for human rights deteriorated in Iraq and Iran last year, while few if any improvements were seen elsewhere.

IRAQ: The human rights situation in Iraq "deteriorated significantly" in 2005, with rising attacks by insurgent groups targeting civilians and a high level of abductions of Iraqis and foreign nationals, the rights group said.

Civilians were further caught in the crossfire by counter-insurgency attacks by US-led and Iraqi forces, even as the country adopted a post- Saddam Hussein constitution and voted for a first full-term government.

In the wake of the abuse scandal at the US-run Abu Ghraib prison in 2004, reports of torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Iraqi custody remained "a serious concern."

IRAN: Basic human rights "deteriorated considerably" in neighboring Iran, where torture and ill-treatment are used to punish imprisoned dissidents, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said.

Freedom of expression and opinion are routinely suppressed, and amid a long-running crackdown on the media, authorities in 2005 focused on websites and Internet bloggers, sentencing at least two to prison terms for the content of their online writing.

Harassment of human rights defenders "intensified," as the regime appeared to use the "illegal detention" of one human rights lawyer as a "way to intimidate and silence" others.

SAUDI ARABIA: Authorities in the oil-rich kingdom, where reforms have been "halting and inadequate," carried out 73 executions as of late September 2005, more than double the number carried out the previous year.

Saudi Arabia held its first elections since the 1960s, but the municipal polls carried restrictions and excluded women from running for office or voting.

Women continue to be barred from working, studying or traveling without permission from a male relative.

EGYPT: The country's first multi-candidate presidential election and nationwide legislative polls were marred by allegations of fraud and violence by pro-government supporters.

Around 15,000 people remain in prison under Egypt's emergency laws, and security forces "routinely torture and mistreat detainees".

SYRIA: The assassination of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri in February 2005 increased calls for reform in Baathist-run Syria, but the human rights situation showed little improvement in 2005.

Syria's 120,000-strong Kurdish minority continued to face violence and discrimination, as a prominent Kurdish cleric disappeared and was later found dead and a Kurdish woman was beaten to death by Syrian police.

Human rights activists and political dissidents were harassed and jailed by government forces, though the government did release 312 political prisoners in March 2005.

ISRAEL AND PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: The situation in Israel and the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip continued to be "grave" in 2005, even as militant groups called a ceasefire in February that cut down on casualties.

"Israeli forces carried out "daily arrest raids and military operations in Palestinian areas ... often (failing) to demonstrate it had used all feasible measures to avoid or minimize harm to civilians."

Meanwhile, "conditions of lawlessness have increased in parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip" with Palestinian gunmen engaging in armed clashes, vigilante killings and kidnappings of foreigners.

LIBYA: Human rights conditions saw slight improvements last year in Libya, though the regime of Moamer Kadhafi continued to curb freedom of expression and bans political parties.

But due process and the death penalty remained a critical concern for international observers as five Bulgarian and nurses and a Palestinian doctor remained on death row over allegedly infecting 426 Libyan children with HIV.

Women and girls accused of immoral behavior can also be detained indefinitely in "social rehabilitation centers."

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