"Whatever you do, don't mention the war" (in Lebanon)

Human rights? What human rights? In the spirit of the US government’s decision to highlight Venezuela and Burma (whilst giving Afghanistan a mere mention and more or less ignoring Colombia) in its annual drug trade report we now find the British Foreign office issuing their annual human rights report and neglecting to mention the bombing of Lebanon. In their defence they did tick off:

• Guantánamo as "unacceptable"
• Highlighted alleged abuses in Iraq including the use by US forces of phosphorus weapons
• Abuses in Afghanistan including suppression of women's rights
• Criticised the Israeli security wall, lack of respect of human rights in the occupied territories and targeted killings
• Devoted seven pages to American favourite Uzbekistan

The full report (PDF -13 meg) may be found here.

Also, if you are planning on travelling to the US the Foreign Office also offers a handy, dandy Combating Torture Handbook. Never know when that might be useful!