Human Rights

The House is set to vote Friday on legislation placing sanctions on Russian officials involved in human rights abuses.

GOP House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen said the Human Rights Council "remains as dictator-friendly as ever."

The State Department issued a tough and lengthy condemnation of Bahrain's crackdown on protesters Wednesday, saying the United States is “deeply concerned” by the U.S. ally's decision to outlaw public gatherings.

“Freedoms of assembly, association and expression are universal human rights,” department spokesman Mark Toner said. “We urge the government of Bahrain to uphold its international commitments and ensure that its citizens are able to assemble peacefully and to express their views without fear of arrest or detention.

“We urge the government of Bahrain to work with responsible protest leaders to find a way for peaceful and orderly demonstrations to take place. The decision to curb these rights is contrary to Bahrain's professed commitment to reform and will not help advance national reconciliation nor build trust among all parties. We also urge the opposition to refrain from provocations and violence; violence undermines efforts to reduce tensions, rebuild trust and pursue meaningful reconciliation in Bahrain.”

The Obama administration is preparing a statement addressing the ongoing crackdown against pro-democracy protests by U.S. ally Bahrain amid increasing international condemnation, a State Department official told The Hill on Wednesday.

The Persian Gulf kingdom, which is home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, banned all public demonstrations on Tuesday. It also threatened legal action against protest supporters amid intensifying complaints of discrimination against the Sunni-ruled country's Shiite majority. Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid bin Abdulla al-Khalifa justified the decision by accusing protesters of fomenting violence and disrupting the economy.

The State Department and the U.S. embassy in Manama have so far declined to comment. The department, by contrast, vocally condemned the death of a Bahraini policeman earlier this month when his patrol came under attack by rioters.

Top Obama administration officials have told the United Kingdom that the country's last remaining resident still at Guantanamo Bay could be set free under the new defense spending bill, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia native Shaker Aamer was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and has been at Guantanamo Bay (GTMO) since 2002. He is one of 56 detainees cleared for release by the executive branch who have so far failed to meet the requirements imposed by Congress in annual spending bills.

“Senior U.S. officials have confirmed that the National Defense Authorization Act 2012 has the potential to make Mr. Aamer’s release more likely than the act of the previous year, but no releases have yet taken place under that act and the criteria for the national security waiver remain unclear,” Hague told the British Parliament. “We will certainly be pursuing this with the reelected or incoming U.S. administration.”

"Bring it on," a spokeswoman said in response to a 56-page Kremlin report detailing social ills in America. 

A conservative Catholic group is making an issue out of the almost 18 months it took President Obama to pick an ambassador for international religious freedom after his inauguration.

In a “Religious Freedom” scorecard unveiled Friday, The Catholic Association gives Obama an “F” on seven religious issues, including support for religious liberty around the world. Republican challenger Mitt Romney gets “A+”s across the board, notably for vowing to “stand up and protect religious freedom wherever it is threatened.”

The group's main focus is the healthcare law's contraception mandate, but the lengthy time it took the president to nominate the country's top advocate for religious rights across the world has long been a sore point for conservatives. Obama finally nominated Suzan Johnson Cook, the president of the Hampton Ministers Conference, in June 2010.

House Republicans blasted President Obama on Tuesday for issuing an executive order aimed at eradicating trafficking by federal contractors or subcontractors, arguing that it's a sign that Obama would rather politicize the issue rather than work with Congress on more effective legislation.

Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said Obama's decision to issue an executive order similar to his bill, the End Human Trafficking in Government Contracting Act, would undermine his bipartisan bill that has been the subject of months of work in Congress.

Leaders from both parties came together to present Suu Kyi with the Congressional Gold Medal – Congress's highest civilain honor.

Italy’s highest criminal court has upheld the conviction of 23 Americans tried in absentia for the CIA’s program of extraordinary rendition, The Associated Press reports.

The ruling on the appealed case marks the end of a three and a half year trial that is the first of its kind anywhere in the world.