• Press Release

Trump Administration Literally Trying to Erase Human Rights

May 3, 2017

Just days after marking Trump’s first 100 days in office by detailing 100 ways his administration has threatened human rights, Amnesty International again reacted to new actions by the Trump Administration that appear to push human rights to the sidelines.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told State Department staff today that the United States will no longer insist that other countries adopt values that respect human rights, saying “values” are separate from “policies.”

And Mother Jones today reported that a key position on the National Security Council has dropped “human rights” from its title.The “special assistant to the president for multilateral affairs and human rights” who helped craft policies related to human rights will now be known as “special assistant to the president for multilateral affairs.”

“The Trump Administration is literally trying to erase human rights before our very eyes,” said Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International USA. “His own actions and those of his staff show a dangerous disregard for freedom, justice and equality throughout the world. It is more critical than ever that we stand up and fight back against any effort to erode human rights at home or abroad.”