State Department softens human rights criticism of Trump allies | Trump administration

Donald Trump’s administration has greatly changed the U.S. government’s important report on human rights worldwide, and criticism of strong partners in some countries has greatly alleviated criticism, e.g. El Salvador And Israel’s rights groups say the history of abuse has been built.

Instead, the U.S. State Department alerted Europe’s erosion of freedom of speech and intensified criticism of Brazil South Africa – Washington has clashed with many issues.

Criticism of the government’s treatment of LGBTQ+ rights appears in the Biden Administration version of the report and seems to be largely overlooked. Washington mainly called the Russian invasion of Ukraine the “Russia-Ukrainian War”.

The report’s section on Israel is much shorter than last year’s version, without mentioning Gaza’s severe humanitarian crisis or death toll. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, about 61,000 people died due to Israeli military operations in response to the attacks of the Palestinian militant group Hamas in October 2023.

The report was delayed for months as Trump’s appointment drastically changed the earlier State Department draft, according to administration officials with anonymous conditions. The report introduces new categories such as “life,” “freedom” and “human safety.”

The 2024 report said of El Salvador: “There is no reliable report, in sharp contrast to the 2023 report, which contrasts with the report on “major human rights issues” and lists it as a credible report on illegal or arbitrary killing, torture, harsh and life-threatening prison conditions.

Since Trump took office, Washington’s bilateral relations with El Salvador have been strengthened as the administration expelled people to El Salvador with the help of President Nayib Bukele, whose country received $6 million from the United States Place immigrants in high-security tycoons.

this Trump administration Even if it selectively criticizes the state, it stays away from the traditional American democracy and human rights promotion of democracy and human rights, and is seen as interfering with its broader policies to a particular country.

One example is Europe, where Trump officials repeatedly weigh European politics to condemn their perceived suppression of right-wing leaders, including in Romania, Germany and France, and accused European authorities of reviewing views such as criticism of immigration.

For decades, the State Department’s Congress-mandated Human Rights Report has been used as a reference blueprint for global rights advocacy.

This year’s report comes after a major revamp of the department, which includes the firing of hundreds of people, many from the agency’s Office of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, which dominates the report.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote an opinion piece in April, saying the bureau has become a platform for “left-wing radicals” and said the Trump administration will reposition the bureau’s focus on “Western values.”

exist BrazilWhere the Trump administration clashed with the administration, the State Department found that the human rights situation had declined, and no significant changes were found in the 2023 report. This year’s report targeted the courts, pointing out that they had taken action to undermine freedom of speech and disproportionately suppressed the speech of former President Jair Bolsonaro and others.

Bolsonaro is about to be tried in the Supreme Court on charges He plots to violently overthrow his losses in the 2022 presidential election with allies To the left Luizinácio Lulada Silva. Trump called the case a “witch hunt” and called it a reason for Brazil’s 50% tariffs on goods.

In South Africa, the Trump administration has accused racial discrimination against the Dutch, and this year’s report says the human rights situation has worsened significantly. It said: “South Africa has taken a substantial worrying step towards land acquisition of Africa’s Dutch land and further infringes on the country’s minority groups.”

In last year’s report, the State Department found no significant changes in the human rights situation in South Africa.

Trump issued an executive order earlier this year asking the United States to Reset the Afrikaansdescribing them as victims of “violence against racially unfavorable landowners”, the allegations responded to far-right claims but were questioned by the South African government.