While publicly espousing the cause of democracy, Washington, London and others were happy to deal closely with "despots masquerading as democrats", such as Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, Russia's Vladimir Putin and Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, the group said.

HRW singled out the UK government as a concern for its policy of deporting terrorism suspects to countries with repressive regimes if assurances are given the detainees will not be tortured or otherwise mistreated. This "handy device" had now been borrowed by the US to justify renditions, while Russia and other nations were also happily trying it out, the group said.

The report detailed abuses in more than 75 countries and territories, covering perennial rights pariahs such as North Korea, Burma and China as well as the US and EU. It criticised Israel for blockading Gaza in response to rocket attacks, describing this as "collective punishment of Gaza's civilian population in violation of international humanitarian law".

But HRW's primary target this year was what it views as the hypocrisy of western nations condemning democratic violations only when expedient.

"Rarely has democracy been so acclaimed yet so breached, so promoted yet so disrespected, so important yet so disappointing," HRW's executive director, Kenneth Roth, said in an introduction to the 569-page document. This "pseudo democracy" had seen leaders in countries such as Egypt, Nigeria and Ethiopia recognised abroad for their popular mandates despite elections plagued by fraud, intimidation or other flaws.

"It seems Washington and European governments will accept even the most dubious election so long as the 'victor' is a strategic or commercial ally," Roth said, calling the promotion of democracy "a softer and fuzzier alternative to defending human rights".

President Bush had even praised Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup, for placing Pakistan "on the road to democracy", Roth noted.

Roth said the current violence in Kenya, prompted by the seemingly rigged election on December 27 which returned President Mwai Kibaki to power, could be traced back to overseas reluctance to challenge a similarly flawed poll in Nigeria 10 months earlier. "Nigeria's leader came to power in a violent and fraudulent vote, yet he's been accepted on the international stage," he said. He said it led Kenya to believe fraud would be tolerated in the presidential election.

The report castigated the UK for its policy of allowing terrorism suspects to be transferred to the care of brutal regimes on receipt of what the group termed "empty promises of humane treatment".

At a glance

Among the countries highlighted by Human Rights Watch for particularly poor human rights records were:

· North Korea Human rights were summed up simply as "abysmal"

· Burma A "deplorable" record with a "denial of basic freedoms"

· Zimbabwe "Torture in police custody is common"

· China The government "continues to deny or restrict its citizens' fundamental rights"

· Afghanistan More than six years after the US invasion, life for the average inhabitant "remains short, miserable, and brutal"