In its annual survey of worldwide human rights practices, the State Department said Anwar's case demonstrated both a lack of judicial independence in the Southeast Asian country as well as abuses by police.

"There continued to be serious problems in the Government's human rights record in certain areas," the report said, noting though a lessening in the number of extrajudicial killings committed by the police.

It said that Anwar, a former protege of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who was sacked in 1998 after leading major anti-government demonstrations and arrested on a variety of charges including obstruction of justice and sodomy, had been prosecuted unfairly.

"For political reasons, Anwar was charged with obstruction of justice in 1998 and convicted in April," the report said, accusing the law enforcement and court officials of misconduct.

"Improper conduct by the police and prosecutors, along with many questionable rulings by the judge, denied Anwar a fair opportunity to defend himself," the report said.

It noted that Anwar was still in detention, being held without bail on the sodomy charge and that police officials had admitted to beating the former official while he was in custody.

"Police on occasion tortured, beat, or otherwise abused prisoners, detainees, and demonstrators ... Police continued to arrest and detain many persons without trial or charge," the report said.

The report, submitted to Congress by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, made clear Washington's misgivings about Malaysian justice, saying that the "impartiality of the judiciary continued to deteriorate during the year." It noted the jailing of Canadian journalist, Murray Heibert, on a contempt of court charge stemming from a report raising questions about judicial favoritism.

"The Attorney General practiced politically motivated, selective prosecution (and) many observers expressed serious doubts about the independence and impartiality of the judiciary," the report said.

It added that Kuala Lumpur "systematically curtailed freedom of expression" by clamping down on opposition media, infringed on citizens' privacy rights and said the election commission's lack of independence prevented it from properly conducting and monitoring voting.