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As the U.N. Human Rights Council prepares to meet in Geneva next week to assess human rights conditions around the world, Freedom House has released its annual report of the world's most repressive regimes to call attention to grave violations being committed in 19 countries and territories.

"The Worst of the Worst: The World's Most Repressive Regimes" singles out eight countries that Freedom House considers to have the worst human rights records in the past year. They include Burma, Cuba, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The territories of Chechnya and Tibet, "whose inhabitants suffer intense repression," are also singled out.

In these countries and territories, "state control over daily life is pervasive and wide-ranging, independent organisations and political opposition are banned or suppressed, and fear of retribution for independent thought and action is part of daily life," says Freedom House.

Nine other countries are listed as being serious violators of human rights: Belarus, China, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Laos, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Zimbabwe. The disputed territory of Western Sahara is included in the group. Freedom House says that "while these states scored slightly better than the 'worst of the worst,' they offer very limited scope for private discussion while severely suppressing opposition political activity, impeding independent organising, and censoring or punishing criticism of the state."

Freedom House says it hopes the report will focus the U.N. Human Rights Council's attention on countries and territories that deserve investigation and condemnation for their widespread violations. The Council, which meets in Geneva, Switzerland from 18 September to 6 October 2006, includes among its 47 members three countries profiled in "The Worst of the Worst": China, Cuba and Saudi Arabia.

"The Council urgently needs to prove that it can and will act in a constructive manner in furtherance of its mandate, and will be judged on its willingness and ability to take action to address country and situation-specific human rights violations," says Freedom House.

In June 2006, the Council replaced the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, which had been heavily criticised by human rights groups for allowing repressive regimes to gain influence over the monitoring body. In many cases, these regimes used their membership in the Commission to weaken resolutions condemning their human rights records and those of their allies.

The Council is seen by many as an improvement. According to Human Rights Watch, it will have a "greatly enhanced ability to address human rights violations." The Council is mandated to meet at least three times a year, can call special sessions to discuss urgent crises, and is required to periodically review the human rights records of all U.N. member states, including the most politically powerful.

Visit these links

- Freedom House: http://www.freedomhouse.org/template...70&release=409

- Human Rights Watch: http://hrw.org/backgrounder/un/un0506/index.htm

- U.N. Human Rights Council: http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/

- U.N. Democracy Caucus: http://www.democracycaucus.net