BRASILIA, March 7 (Reuters) - The Brazilian government rejected on Wednesday a human rights report by the United States government this week as illegitimate and one-sided.

The rebuff precedes U.S. President George W. Bush's meeting with his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Sao Paulo on Friday. Their talks are to focus on cooperation to forge a global ethanol market.

"The Brazilian government reiterates that it does not recognize the legitimacy of unilateral reports by countries, which use domestic criteria, often politically inspired," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Brazil was open to dialogue with all international and regional forums on human rights, the statement said.

"In the United Nations Human Rights Council we have defended the practice of impartial monitoring, such as the global report of the U.N. High Commissioner," the ministry said.

The U.S. State Department report published on Tuesday said the federal government of Brazil generally respected the human rights of its citizens. But it found "numerous serious abuses," including beatings, abuse, and torture of detainees and inmates by police and prison security forces.

The U.S. report had also found "violence and discrimination against women, sexual abuse of children, and trafficking of persons." It said "in most cases human rights violators enjoyed impunity for crimes committed."

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