State Department report highlights abuses in Iran, Cuba

After months of delay, Secretary of State John Kerry released a long-awaited report Thursday, raising concerns about human rights violations in Cuba and Iran, among other countries.

However,State Department officials, however, said the Iran talks had no effect on the timing of the release of the report. They said the delay was due to conflicts in Kerry's schedule and his leg injury in a bike accident in France.

Iran continues to severely restrict civil liberties, according to 2014 Country Reports on Human Rights Practicethe report, which . The document drew heavily on non-U.S. government sources about Iran because since the United States does not maintain an embassy in Tehran.

In the report, the State Department said the government of Iran officially announced 268 executions in 2014, though according to the Human Rights Watch World Report, the number is believed to be higher, according to the Human Rights Watch World Report. In 2012, Iran carried out more than 544 executions, second in number only to China, according to Amnesty International, which said at least 63 people were executed in public.

The report, 2014 Country Reports on Human Rights Practice, which was due to come out in February, but was delayed amid speculation that the Obama administration was concerned about its the impact on ongoing negotiations with Iran over that country's nuclear power program.

However, State Department officials, however, said the Iran talks had no effect on the timing of the release of the report. They said the delay was due to conflicts in Kerry's schedule and his leg injury in a bike accident in France.

The report also notes Cuba, saying As for Cuba, the report said the island nation has continued human rights violations, including barring its citizens' access to uncensored information and severely restricting Internet availability. The report acknowledged, however, that Cuba has indicated "a willingness to consider expanding telecommunications investment on the island," which could open up wouldcreate more Internet access in the future.

The report also notes the release of 53 political prisoners in Havana as a consequence of a the Dec. 17 agreement to re-establish diplomatic relations between the U.S. and the Cuban governments. Cuba's willingness to allow greater access to the country by the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross is also cited as progress.

Human rights have taken a turn for the worse in some regions of the world because of terrorist organizations, such as the the self-proclaimed Islamic State group, al-QaidaAl Qaeda, Boko Haram, al-Shabaab and the Nusra Front. These groups, the State Department said in the report, have "perpetrated human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law against innocent non-combatants."

More than 3.2 million people were forced to flee Syria and have been classified as refugees by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner due to the ongoing civil war. The report State Department singled out Syrian President Bashar Al Assad for his part in the bloodshed. As a result, the so-called Islamic State group was able to take advantage of this instability in Syria, gaining additional and gained territory territories and members.

U.S. allies didn't escape criticism in the report, including Saudi Arabia for its , one of the U.S.'s major allies, was criticized for theprosecution of Internet activist Raif Badawi, among other issues.

The delayed release ofthe report sparked outrage for some lawmakers, including, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who wrote in a Washington Times op-ed on June 16 that "the issue of Iran's abysmal human rights record is inextricably intertwined with its nuclear ambitions."