Assessing the Damage From Changes to the US State Department’s Human Rights Reports

Assessing the Damage from Changes to the US State Department’s Human Rights Reports

Assessing the Damage from Changes to the US State Department’s Human Rights Reports melkumyam Thu, 08/14/2025 - 15:51 Type Policy Brief Authors (Person reference) Katie LaRoque Authors (Text) Katie LaRoque Page blocks What are the State Department’s Human Rights Reports? The annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, also known simply as the Human Rights Reports, were created by legislation passed in the 1970s. Since the first repo…

Why has the State Department scaled down its stance on human rights?

The U.S. State Department has long compiled annual reports on human rights in other countries, but the recent edition from the Trump administration looks noticeably different. This has some outside observers questioning the department's methods. After putting out these reports since the 1970s, the State Department's latest iteration includes a slew of backtracks by the Trump administration about countries that have been accused of violating huma…

US State Department Faces Backlash Over Withheld Rights Violations Data

The current US administration under Trump has attracted scrutiny over its delay in releasing annual human rights reports.    Many human rights groups have suggested that there may be an agenda behind this hesitation, as it is not common practice for the US state department to complete crucial reports and then refuse to release them to the public that funded them.    Transparency is key to confidence in the administration at a time when Trump is …