Toothless Human Rights Reports Will Give Free Pass to Autocrats

Washington, DC – Human Rights First is alarmed by media reports of dramatic cuts to the U.S. Department of State’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (Human Rights Reports). According to people who have reviewed State Department documents, this year’s Human Rights Reports will not report on governments that deny freedom of movement and peaceful assembly to their citizens, hold political prisoners without due process, or restrict free elections. Sections on government corruption and violence, as well as discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, women, and the disabled, have reportedly been scrubbed. The elimination of this and other crucial reporting would be a gift from the Trump administration to authoritarian leaders–and aspiring autocrats–in the countries and territories covered in the reports. 

“The contemplated gutting of the Human Rights Reports will undermine fundamental human rights, degrade U.S. foreign policy, and give a massive pass to human rights violators worldwide,” said Scott Busby, a Senior Advisor to Human Rights First.

Since their creation in the late 1970s and following years of detailed critiques by Human Rights First and other human rights organizations, the Human Rights Reports have become one of the most comprehensive and detailed records of the human rights situation in every country and territory in the world. As Congress originally intended, they provide crucial information that informs U.S. decision-making on foreign and security assistance as well as asylum and refugee claims around the world. They are also an integral component of U.S. diplomacy. Due to their detail, many other governments, international institutions, academic researchers, and media organizations have come to rely on them. Any reduction in reporting will significantly detract from all of these efforts. 

We are particularly concerned to learn that the coming reports fail to include:

• Reporting on prison conditions in El Salvador, where the Trump administration has sent people without due process
• Reporting on government corruption in Hungary, where the State Department just announced, without explanation, the lifting of sanctions on an allegedly corrupt top official
• Information on countries that forcibly return refugees and asylum-seekers to places where they may face torture or persecution
• Any mention of the restrictions on or harassment of human rights organizations

We urge Secretary Marco Rubio and the Department of State to change course and restore the missing information before the projected May publication of the reports. If they do not, Congress should mandate the inclusion of all vital information. 

To speak with Busby or other Human Rights First experts, please contact Press@HumanRightsFirst.org.