“Today’s report documents alarming shifts around the world that endanger human rights defenders. We have seen the dangerous consequences of this in our own offices, as Amnesty International workers around the world have been harassed, threatened, or in some cases, actually assaulted for the work that they do. The gap between the State Department’s official assessment of human rights globally and the Trump administration’s refusal to prioritize the issue in its foreign policy is outrageous.
“Also notable is that the State Department has, once again, excluded sexual and reproductive rights from its assessments, wrongfully suggesting that these are not human rights and undercutting the serious violations of those rights. Neglecting to include these rights in this assessment is an affront to women and girls, LGBT people, young people, and human rights defenders everywhere.”