Indeed, Jose Miguel Vivanco, director of Human Rights Watch-Americas, says he has evidence in contradiction of what the army says showing that, in some of Colombia's most violent areas, military units directly promote or support paramilitary activity.

ECONOMIST: Colombia��s drug-bedevilled hopes of peace

Another respectable human-rights monitoring group, Helsinki Watch, says that giving electric shocks to prisoners' genitals, beating the soles of their feet, sexual abuse, putting prisoners on blocks of ice and hanging them by the arms, are all methods still used.

ECONOMIST: Human rights in Turkey

Referring to a report compiled by human rights group, British Irish Rights Watch, had been handed into the government more than a year ago he said it had still not elicited "the kind of detailed response which all concerned are entitled to expect".

BBC: Commission support for murder inquiry

According to Helsinki Watch, a human-rights group, 60% of male inmates in Hungarian prisons are Gypsies, 12 times the national average.

ECONOMIST: Europe��s spectral nation

When she speaks about democracy and human rights each weekend, soldiers sent to watch the crowd often seem to be listening to her instead.

CNN: MYANMAR

On Mr Khatami's watch, Iran's human-rights record has become a bit less appalling.

ECONOMIST: Showdown or backdown? | The

But watch out for one annual event: a lot of NGOs and human rights organisations will take a keen interest in the report of the Combined Committees on Arms Exports Controls, which will be published on Friday.

BBC: Week ahead