[JURIST] Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson [official profile] said in an interview with Reuters reported Monday that the US has lost international influence due to its position on the Iraq war and the its record on the rights of Guantanamo detainees [JURIST news archive], among other issues. "The Iraq war has weakened the moral authority of the United States and its allies to tackle the likes of China and Russia over their poor records on civil liberties," she said. "There's the ambivalence about torture and now we find that the Iraqis are torturing those that they have detained, so some of the reason to justify this unjustifiable war on Iraq is also fading." During an Asian tour ending Monday, President Bush [JURIST archive] urged China [JURIST report] to expand the religious, political, and social freedoms enjoyed in the country. Reuters has more.