HRW reports manipulation of human rights report

Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned that the omission of certain sections in the US State Department's annual human rights report "and the manipulation" of abuses in certain countries "demean and politicize the report."

The document, released Tuesday, omitted several categories of violations that were common in previous editions, including those against women , the LGBTI community, people with disabilities, government corruption and freedom of peaceful assembly, HRW said in a statement.

By undermining the report's credibility, the organization continued, the Trump administration is endangering human rights defenders, weakening protections for asylum seekers, and harming the global fight against authoritarianism.

“The new State Department report is, in many ways, an exercise in whitewashing and deception,” responded HRW's Washington director, Sarah Yager.

In the 2024 report, the Trump Administration eliminated criticism of El Salvador, Israel and Russia , while intensifying censorship of Brazil and South Africa, countries considered rivals of the new Government.

HRW noted that the State Department is required to submit an annual report to Congress on the “human rights conditions” of countries and territories around the world.

But, he reiterated, this year's report "may strictly comply with minimum legal requirements, but it fails to recognize the reality of widespread human rights violations against entire groups of people in many places."

As a result, he warned, Congress now lacks a “comprehensive and broadly reliable” instrument from within the government itself to adequately monitor U.S. foreign policy and allocate resources.

The statement also emphasizes that many of the sections and human rights violations omitted from the report are "extremely important" for understanding trends and developments in human rights worldwide.

Regarding Israel, the report does not include the massive forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza, the use of starvation as a weapon of war, and the deliberate deprivation of water, electricity, and medical care, "actions that constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide," HRW also stressed in the statement.

Regarding El Salvador, where the US is sending migrants to the maximum security Cecot prison—criticized for human rights violations—no “credible reports of significant abuses” have been found.

The report also states that the human rights situation in Haiti and Venezuela is significantly worse than last year. In these countries, as well as in Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, and Afghanistan, there are credible reports of numerous human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and other ill-treatment, extrajudicial executions, and enforced disappearances, among other violations, it stated.

However, despite the Trump administration recognizing that these places are dangerous, it canceled Temporary Protected Status for Afghans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans, Hondurans, Nepalese, and Haitians, HRW argued, noting how this document has been of great benefit in many ways, including academically.

“The State Department’s human rights report has long provided a solid, though often ignored, foundation for U.S. support for the global human rights movement,” Yager noted.

However, he said the Trump administration had weaponized much of the report “to make autocrats seem more acceptable and minimize the human rights abuses that occur in these places.”