Washington  - China's human rights record worsened in 2008 as the government stepped up crackdowns on dissidents and minorities in Tibet, with abuses peaking around high profile events like the Summer Olympics, the US State Department said Wednesday.

China continued to tighten restrictions on religious freedom in Tibet and in Uighur areas, and monitor, harass and arrest political activists, journalists and lawyers, the department's annual human rights report said.

"The government of China's human rights record remained poor and worsened in some areas," the report said.

The report's release comes days after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton returned from her first trip abroad, which concluded with a stop in Beijing.

Clinton drew criticism from human rights groups after saying the United States will not allow human rights concerns to interfere with work on critical issues such as rescuing the global economy, global warming and dealing with security threats.

Clinton introduced the report at a press conference and stated her commitment to human rights without specifically addressing China.

"The promotion of human rights is essential to our foreign policy," she said.

China launched a crackdown in Tibet in February and March last year that prompted worldwide outrage only months before it hosted the Olympics. The worldwide tour of the Olympic torch was greeted in several cities with violent protests.

Among other countries, the report also faulted human rights practices in Belarus, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Syria and Russia.

The Russian government continued its "negative trajectory" by weakening freedom of expression by pressuring the news media and five journalists were killed during the year, the report said, adding that crackdowns on non-government organizations also persisted.

Security forces in the North Caucasus were responsible for killing or brutalizing political opponents. The Russian military also used indiscriminate force during the August invasion of Georgia that resulted in civilian deaths, the report said.

The report concluded that human rights abuses under Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe "increased dramatically" in 2008 along with a humanitarian crisis the further eroded life in the African country. Mugabe's government suspended the work of humanitarian organizations, which exacerbated problems associated with poor economic and food policies.

Mugabe's regime also used violence and intimidation against political opponents to prevail in his re-election, the report said. (dpa)