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Reports of killings and torture by the Iraqi government and its agents increased in 2005, a US report says, reports BBC.
The state department's annual report says Iraqi police abuses included threats, intimidation and beatings, as well as the use of electric shocks.
China, North Korea, Burma, Iran, Zimbabwe, Cuba and Belarus are named as among the worst human rights offenders.
The report does not mention the US treatment of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan or Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Washington has come under strong international criticism for its treatment of prisoners and has faced calls from the UN to shut down the Guantanamo detention camp.
The report highlights abuses by Iraq's security forces, describing "a climate of extreme violence in which people were killed for political and other reasons".
The worst abuses against prisoners were carried out by police but the military was also a violator, the report says.
The report also highlights severe rights abuses in a number of other countries:
China: "there was a trend towards increased harassment, detention and imprisonment by government and security authorities of those perceived as threatening".
Iran: summary executions, different forms of torture and violence by militias with ties to the government continued.
Burma: extrajudicial killings, rape, torture and beatings of prisoners and detainees continued.
North Korea: "extrajudicial killings, disappearances, and arbitrary detention, including many political prisoners" continued.
Russia: a trend toward "erosion of the accountability of government leaders to the people", including corruption, selective law enforcement and pressure on the judiciary.
Sudan: there was evidence of continuing genocide in the western region of Darfur blamed on the government and allied militia; also serious abuses by anti-government rebels.
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