State Department slashes its annual reports on human rights

Source: NPR

State Department slashes its annual reports on human rights

AUGUST 12, 20251:46 PM ET
HEARD ON ALL THINGS CONSIDERED
By Graham Smith, Michele Kelemen, Nick McMillan, Alyson Hurt
Audio will be available later today.

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The State Department seal is seen on the briefing room lectern at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 31, 2022.
Mandel Ngan/AP

The State Department released its long-awaited reports on international human rights Tuesday, and they drastically reduce the types of government repression and abuse that the United States under President Trump deems worthy of criticism.

The agency said the "streamlined" human rights reports adhere more closely to what's required to be in them by law. But critics say the reduced content lets authoritarians off the hook.

The new report on El Salvador drops references to poor prison conditions — simply saying in the executive summary, "There were no credible reports of significant human rights abuses." The same blanket assurance appears in the executive summary for Hungary, and gone is extensive documentation of government corruption there. Violations of the freedom to peacefully assemble in China are gone.

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Read more: https://www.npr.org/2025/08/12/nx-s1-5495621/state-department-human-rights-reports-slashed