West 'embraces sham democracies'

by BBC (reposted)

Thu, Jan 31, 2008 7:45AM

Thursday, January 31, 2008 : The EU and the US are among those accepting flawed votes for political expediency, Human Rights Watch says.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki votes in the 27 December presidential election

HRW said Kenyan leaders believed the US would tolerate electoral fraud

Allowing autocrats to pose as democrats without demanding they uphold civil and political rights risked undermining human rights worldwide, it warned.

HRW said Pakistan, Thailand, Bahrain, Jordan, Nigeria, Kenya and Russia had been falsely claiming to be democratic.

The World Report 2008 summarises human rights issues in more than 75 nations.

'Playing along'

In the report, HRW said established democracies such as the US and members of the European Union were increasingly tolerating autocrats "claiming the mantle of democracy".

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For more information: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/...

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