Opinion | American history can be painful. The Smithsonian should embrace it. – The Washington Post

Good foreign policy depends on good information

Readers also discuss a new way to address Confederate memorials, socialism in New York City and the Smithsonian.

Regarding the Aug. 13 news article “Rubio recasts beliefs with cuts to human rights reports”:

I oversaw the production of the State Department’s annual human rights reports from 2009 to 2012. For almost 50 years, thousands of career diplomats have participated in the compilation of these reports, which have become the most comprehensive and reliable public assessment of human rights conditions in almost 200 countries.

Mandated by Congress in the 1970s to inform decision-making about foreign aid and trade policies, the reports have become an indispensable resource. Global leaders use them to assess risks where they conduct business. Immigration judges in the United States and elsewhere rely on them when evaluating asylum claims. Civil society activists turn to them for credible information when they operate in places where publishing criticism of government actions leads to official reprisals. Journalists and representatives of humanitarian organizations use them to orient themselves as they begin working in complex environments.

All of these benefits are now being jeopardized by the Trump administration’s decision to slash the comprehensive nature of these reports and to dramatically politicize their content. Good foreign policy depends on good information. That begins with thorough, independent accounting of the state of human rights everywhere.

Weakening this foundation risks blinding us to them. Once the credibility of our reporting is lost, it will be extraordinarily difficult to rebuild.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Opinion | American history can be painful. The Smithsonian should embrace it. – The Washington Post

#2025 #America #AmericanHistory #DonaldTrump #Health #History #HumanRightsReport #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #MandatedByCongress #Opinion #Politics #Resistance #Rubio #Science #SmithsonianInstitution #TheWashingtonPost #Trump #TrumpAdministration #USStateDepartment #UnitedStates

Human Rights only exist in the West when they can be weaponized against targets of imperialism and colonialism. When the West itself is guilty suddenly human rights cease to exist.

"The hollowed-out reports on roughly 200 countries and territories omit references to LGBTQ+ discrimination and curtail information on government abuses, including gender-based violence and government corruption. They no longer include sections focused on systemic racial or ethnic discrimination and violence, child abuse, or child sexual exploitation."

https://theintercept.com/2025/08/14/state-department-human-rights-reports/

#HumanRights #HumanRightsReport #USImperialism #Colonialism

Trump administration rewrites and scales back annual human rights report – BBC

By Tom Bateman, State Department correspondent

The Trump administration has significantly rewritten and downscaled the US government’s annual report on global human rights abuses.

The document, previously seen as the most comprehensive study of its kind by any government, significantly reduces criticism of some US allies such as Israel and El Salvador while escalating disapproval of perceived foes such as Brazil and South Africa.

Entire sections included in reports from previous years are also eliminated, dramatically reducing coverage of issues including government corruption and persecution of LGBTQ+ individuals.

State department officials say it had been “restructured” to “remove redundancies” and “increase readability”.

The report also describes the human rights situation as having “worsened” in major European democracies, including the UK, France and Germany.

The language used echoes previous criticism by the Trump administration and some US tech bosses who oppose online harm reduction laws in some European countries, portraying them as attacks on free speech.

Uzra Zeya, a former senior state department official who now runs the charity Human Rights First, accused the Trump administration of “gutting” decades of highly respected work on human rights protections and an “abandonment of core values” to the US.

“It sends a signal that there’s going to be a free pass from the United States government, that it will look the other way if a government is willing to cut deals or do the bidding of this administration,” she told the BBC.

The report accuses the UK of “significant human rights issues”, including “credible reports of serious restrictions on freedom of expression”. It also describes prosecution and punishment for human rights abuses as “inconsistent”.

Brazil, which the Trump administration has frequently criticised, was singled out in the state department report for “disproportionate action to undermine freedom of speech”.

Both the UK and Brazil have previously rejected similar criticism from the US.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Trump administration rewrites and scales back annual human rights report

#2025 #America #BBC #BBCNews #DonaldTrump #Health #History #HumanRights #HumanRightsReport #Libraries #LibraryOfCongress #Politics #Resistance #Science #Trump #TrumpAdministration #UnitedStates

#Trump #DonaldTrump #president #USA #HumanRights #HumanRightsReport
I’m not sure Trump’s administration knows what human rights are.

Trump administration rewrites and scales back annual human rights report https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwy0lejvw25o

2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

Individual, civil, political, and labor rights, as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international accords, are the focus of the yearly Country Reports on Human Rights Practices or the Human Rights Report.

Read The Report Here: https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/

#interpride #pride #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #lgbtqiaplus #queer #humanrights #humanrightsreport #statedepartment

"Human rights monitors report an average of 300 complaints of police mistreatment are filed in the country annually; these are generally investigated internally with minimal public information or oversight. Convicted police officers generally received only suspended sentences."
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RT @usembvienna
The 🇺🇸 @StateDept has released its 2022 #HumanRightsReport, covering 198 countries & territories and painting a clear picture of where human…
https://twitter.com/usembvienna/status/1637854683602509829