Britain has protested to the US after the State Department in Washington criticised the British government's record on human rights including in Northern Ireland.
Cabinet ministers, led by the Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr John Reid, have told US officials that the State Department's annual human rights report paints an outdated view of Britain that reflects the 1970s.
The protests, which have been made to senior administration officials in Washington and to the US embassy in London, came after Britain was accused of abusing human rights in the annual report to the US Congress.
The lengthy report, which was published in March, said the British government only "generally respected" human rights.
Referring to Northern Ireland, it said:
"Some members of the security forces committed instances of human rights abuses . . . Members of the police and military occasionally abused detainees and some other persons."