The administration has been concerned that Mr. Jiang would use the battle against terrorism to justify repression in western regions, including those near Afghanistan.

Cuba uses this sense of victimization both to justify repression at home and to avoid harsh verdicts abroad.

In an interview with the author, Deborah Solomon of The New York Times Magazine wrote that American politics has frequently used fear to justify repression.

When society at large is threatened, the psychopaths presented tend to be of the most violent ilk, as if to justify social repression by exaggerating the threat.

But critics contend that the Government has long exploited the northern threat, and even exaggerated it, to justify self-serving repression.

The Congress has also said China is exaggerating the threat from terrorists in order to justify repression in the region.

His rejection of attempts to "justify" repression raises questions about whether the Kremlin is taking a tougher line against partial rehabilitation of the dictator's image.

"No matter how small it is for the military, they could use it to justify past repression."

At a minimum it would put pressure on Mr. Castro to ease the human rights abuses, by making it much more difficult for him to justify continued repression.

The international community must also be alert to opportunistic attempts by states to justify domestic repression and crackdowns by claiming that they are "fighting terrorism".