Meanwhile the State Department has criticized the U.S.-backed Iraqi government in its annual report on the state of human rights around the world. Iraqi police units were accused of carrying out “threats, intimidation, beatings, and suspension by the arms or legs, as well as the reported use of electric drills and cords and the application of electric shocks.” The report also strongly criticizes the state of human rights in Iran, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela, Zimbabwe, China and Cuba among other countries. The State Department report, however, is coming under criticism itself by human rights groups. William Schulz of Amnesty International said, “This report by the U.S. government provides a thorough review of today’s human rights practices around the globe, except for one glaring omission–its own record.” Schulz went on to say “The United States government considers itself a moral leader on human rights issues, but its record of indefinite and arbitrary detentions, secret 'black sites' and outsourced torture in the 'war on terror' turns it from leader to human rights violator.”