The UK government has been accused of inconsistency in its dealings with other countries over human rights.
The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee compared the boycott of the Euro 2012 football championships in Ukraine over human rights, with ministers not taking any action over the Bahrain Grand Prix.
It said Bahrain should be on a list of "countries of concern" after the "brutal" suppression of protests.
But the Foreign Office insisted the UK had a "strong record" on human rights.
UK ministers declined to visit Ukraine for matches involving England this summer, following the imprisonment of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko.
The government came under pressure to support calls for a boycott of the Formula One Grand Prix in Bahrain in April amid fears that it could be a catalyst for a renewed crackdown on protesters, following actions last year.
Prime Minister David Cameron refused, arguing "Bahrain is not Syria" and that a process of reform was under way - although ministers have since acknowledged that progress has been "minimal".
The committee said: "We find it difficult to discern any consistency of logic behind the government's policy in not taking a public stance on the Bahrain Grand Prix but implementing at least a partial boycott of the 2012 Uefa Football Championship matches played in Ukraine."
It added: "Given the Bahraini authorities' brutal repression of demonstrators in February and March 2011, we believe that Bahrain should have been designated as a country of concern in the FCO's [Foreign and Commonwealth Office] 2011 report on human rights and democracy.
"It is inevitable that the UK will have strategic, commercial or security-related interests which have the potential to conflict with its human rights values.
"In our view, it would be in the government's interest for it to be more transparent in acknowledging that there will be contradictions in pursuing these interests while promoting human rights values.
"The government's role should be publicly to set out and explain its judgements on how far to balance the two in particular cases, having taken into account the need to adapt policy according to local circumstances and developments."
A Foreign Office spokesman said it welcomed the report and its acknowledgement of the UK's "strong record in upholding human rights across the world".
He added: "Human rights are essential to and indivisible from our foreign policy objectives. They are part of our national DNA and are woven deeply into the decision-making processes of our foreign policy at every stage.
"We cannot achieve long-term security and prosperity unless we uphold our values. We promote human rights painstakingly and consistently. Our starting point for engagement on human rights with all countries is based on what is practical, realistic and achievable, although we are always ready to speak out as a matter of principle."
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