WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is scaling back the State Department’s annual Human Rights Report and placing a new focus on restrictions on freedom of expression by U.S. allies as well as adversaries.
The reports, which are widely anticipated and read around the world, have been composed by U.S. diplomats under congressional mandate for almost 50 years as a measure of countries’ adherence to internationally recognized human rights. The report for last year, which normally would have been released in the spring, has already been delayed by months.
“The 2024 Human Rights Report has been restructured in a way that removes redundancies, increases report readability and is more responsive to the legislative mandates that underpin the report,” a senior State Department official said Wednesday in a briefing to reporters.
“We call out certain abuses that we think deserve highlighting, but just because we focus on one instance does not mean that we are not aware of other instances of human rights abuses,” the official added, noting that all 198 countries and territories were listed in the reports.
The delay follows dramatic cuts to the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, including the elimination of almost every office as part of the mass reorganization of the agency earlier this year.
The official dismissed concerns about staffing shortages and said the draft version that had been received from the Biden administration prioritized things “the American people rejected,” noting that “the process of revising and ensuring that the report is readable and is factually based took several months.”
The official said the report is still being finalized but would be transmitted to Congress “in the near future.”
When the 2024 report is released it will reflect the values of this administration, the official said, including concerns about a global threat to freedom of expression.
“Governments around the world continue to use censorship, arbitrary or unlawful surveillance and restrictive laws against disfavored voices, often on political and religious grounds,” the official said.
The official cited Vice President JD Vance’s controversial speech to the Munich Security Conference in February, during which he accused European Union leaders of suppressing free speech, particularly that of far-right groups.
“We are committed to having frank conversations with our allies, our partners and also our adversaries, to promote freedom of expression around the world,” the official said.
The report will also focus on the right to life, “the most cherished fundamental human right of all,” the official said.
“When governments are using means to hurt life, to destroy life, whether that be through war, whether that be through transnational repression, whether that be through extrajudicial killings, those are issues that we’re going to raise.”
The official declined to directly address whether the report would address other human rights concerns such as government corruption and restrictions on participation in the political process, the denial of freedom of movement or peaceful assembly and access to free and fair elections.
