Country Reports On Human Rights Practices 2009

The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices are submitted annually by the U.S. Department of State to the U.S. Congress. The reports cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

110th Congress, 2nd Session. Jacket 41-228PDF or 41-228 PDF. The promotion of human rights is an essential piece of our foreign policy. This effort will be a global one that reaches beyond government alone. The reports in this volume will be used as a resource for shaping policy, conducting diplomacy, and arranging assistance, training, and other resource allocations. The reports will also serve as a basis for the U.S. Government’s cooperation with private groups to promote the observance of internationally-recognized human rights. The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices cover internationally-recognized civil, political and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These rights include freedom from torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment; from prolonged detention without charges; from disappearance or clandestine detention; and from other flagrant violations of the right to life, liberty and the security of the person.

Panama is a constitutional, multiparty democracy. In 2009 voters chose Ricardo A. Martinelli Berrocal as president in national elections that international and domestic observers considered generally free and fair. Security forces reported to civilian authorities. The principle human rights abuses reported during the year were harsh prison conditions, judicial ineffectiveness, and discrimination against various groups and individuals, including some cases of violence. Other human rights abuses included problems with freedom of the press, trafficking in persons, and child labor. The government did not actively prosecute alleged cases of corruption or abuse of authority by government officials but took steps to improve the functioning of the judiciary and penitentiary systems.

2009 Human Rights Report: China by the Department of State is an analysis of the human rights capability of China as an authoritarian country. Excerpt: "The People's Republic of China (PRC), with a population of approximately 1.3 billion, is an authoritarian state in which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) constitutionally is the paramount source of power. Party members hold almost all top government, police, and military positions. Ultimate authority rests with the 25-member political bureau (Politburo) of the CCP and its nine-member standing committee. Hu Jintao holds the three most powerful positions as CCP general secretary, president, and chairman of the Central Military Commission. Civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces."

Presents "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices," which are presented annually by the U.S. Department of State to the U.S. Congress. Explains that the reports cover individual, civil, political, and worker rights.