Costa Rica got a host of high marks on a human rights report card published recently by the United States.

This country graded well on the lack of police corruption and brutality but poorly on press freedom, jail overcrowding and sanitation, judicial process delays, child sexual exploitation and marginalization of indigenous people.

The country was hailed for not having any politically motivated disappearances and not practicing torture. Meanwhile, the United States has faced international scrutiny for endorsing controversial interrogation tactics such as waterboarding.

China lashed out yesterday at its report card from the United States which was critical of its human rights record. China accused Washington of causing the modern world's “biggest human rights tragedy” in Iraq and of hypocrisy for passing judgment on other nations, the Associated Press reported.

One of the more serious problems mentioned in Costa Rica's report included housing pretrial detainees with convicted felons, which is a violation of Costa Rica's laws. The report also emphasized that the country's “court overcrowding and antiquated legal system” greatly compromised its response to crime.

Costa Rica is weak on enforcing labor laws and has declined to enforce a 12-year-old law requiring all buildings to be handicap-accessible, states the report.

According to State Department staff, the agency has been compiling these reports since 1977.