Trump Administration Downplays Human Rights Criticism in Three Allied Countries

A new round of US human rights reports is on the way, and this time they have a strikingly different tone.

According to leaked documents obtained by The Washington Post, the upcoming reports for El Salvador, Israel, and Russia are significantly shorter than before and omit a number of previously central issues such as corruption, abuses against LGBTQ+ individuals, and torture.

The official explanation from the State Department is that the reports have been “restructured for improved readability.” However, critics argue that this is systematic downplaying of American criticism toward regimes the administration views as strategic partners or ideological allies.

“Rubio has repeatedly insisted that his department has not abandoned human rights, but it is clear that this administration only cares about some people… in some countries, when it fits their agenda,” says Keifer Buckingham from the Council for Global Equality.

Reports Remove Key Allegations

The most striking example is found in the draft for El Salvador. While the Biden administration’s 2023 report documented state-sanctioned executions, torture, and life-threatening prison conditions, the new version asserts that there are no “credible reports of serious human rights violations” in 2024. At the same time, it notes that deaths in prisons are currently under government review.

Similarly, the draft on Russia fails to mention last year’s ban on LGBTQ+ organizations, which the nation’s Supreme Court labeled as “extremist.” Arrests and raids go unmentioned.

In Israel’s case, the report has been reduced from over 100 pages to just 25. All references to the corruption case involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and criticisms of the controversial judicial reform have disappeared. Amnesty International’s warnings regarding Israel’s use of facial recognition against Palestinians have also been omitted.

A New Foreign Policy Approach

The marked difference in language and content aligns with new internal guidelines within the department. According to the documents, officials were instructed to avoid mentioning corruption, discrimination, torture, and renditions to states where torture occurs. The objective: to align the reports with Trump’s foreign policy priorities, emphasizing sovereignty over universal rights.

The instructions behind the reports were, among others, drafted by Samuel Samson, a politically appointed official who, in a widely discussed article earlier this year, described Europe as an “epicenter for digital censorship and mass immigration.”

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