Geneva ? The U.N. Human Rights Commission ended its annual session Friday amid criticism that its reluctance to act on China, Chechnya, Iran and Zimbabwe showed it was protecting oppressors and not the oppressed.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said the six-week meeting of the world body’s top rights watchdog was “very difficult” and “very worrying.” Robinson said she was concerned by trends to weaken the commission’s role as a defender of liberties.

During its session, the 53-member commission did not discuss China’s reported repression of the Falun Gong spiritual movement and Muslim minorities, dropped its criticism of Russian abuses in Chechnya, ended a decades-long investigation into Iran’s alleged abuses and blocked moves to examine alleged abuses in Zimbabwe.

A resolution calling for anti-terrorist measures to conform with international humanitarian law was withdrawn in the closing hours of the meeting, outraging advocacy groups.

Nongovernmental groups denounced the outcome of the meeting and criticized the fact that independent experts who monitor abuses were given only five minutes each to speak.

Evening sessions also were canceled, supposedly because of budget shortages.