In response to the U.S. State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Amanda Klasing, Amnesty International USA’s national director of government relations and advocacy said the following:
“With the release of the U.S. State Department’s human rights report, it is clear that the Trump Administration has engaged in a very selective documentation of human rights abuses in certain countries.
“In addition to eliminating entire sections for certain countries – for example discrimination against LGBTQ+ people – there are also arbitrary omissions within existing sections of the report based on the country.
“We have criticized past reports when warranted, but have never seen reports quite like this. Never before have the reports gone this far in prioritizing an administration’s political agenda over a consistent and truthful accounting of human rights violations around the world – softening criticism in some countries while ignoring violations in others. The State Department has said in relation to the reports less is more. However, for the victims and human rights defenders who rely on these reports to shine light on abuses and violations, less is just less.
“Secretary Rubio knows full well from his time in the Senate how vital these reports are in informing policy decisions and shaping diplomatic conversations, yet he has made the dangerous and short-sighted decision to put out a truncated version that doesn’t tell the whole story of human rights violations. This sends a chilling message that the U.S. is willing to overlook some abuses, signaling that people experiencing human rights violations may be left to fend for themselves.
“Failing to adequately report on human rights violations further damages the credibility of the U.S. on human rights issues. It’s shameful that the Trump Administration and Secretary Rubio are putting politics above human lives.”
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