Countries that offer state subsidies for abortion, transgender-friendly policies for children, anti-hate speech laws, and affirmative action policies will now be considered human rights violators under standards imposed by the State Department, which will affect how the agency produces its Annual Human Rights Report.
Key data
The State Department has issued new guidelines to embassies, consulates and diplomats involved in preparing its annual report on global human rights abuses, with instructions to indicate countries with state-sponsored abortion policies and report on the estimated number of abortions performed in a country per year, multiple media outlets reported.
The new guidelines also include instructions to report any workplace diversity, equity and inclusion laws, any policies that support gender transition surgeries for children, and any policies that facilitate mass migration to other countries.
Also discussed are so-called “anti-hate speech laws,” such as internet safety laws adopted by some European countries to deter hate speech online, which the human rights report will now consider violations of freedom of expression.
Tommy Pigott, deputy spokesman for the State Department, said that “destructive new ideologies have given rise to human rights violations” around the world in recent years, adding: “Enough is enough.”
Critics have claimed that Trump’s changes to the human rights report ignore long-established universal human rights standards in an attempt to advance his administration’s agenda.
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The new guidelines come months after the first human rights report was released under the Trump administration, which was found to be about a third the length of previous years’ reports and excluded issues such as poor prison conditions in El Salvador and violations of freedom of peaceful assembly in China.
Chief Critic
Uzra Zeya, a former State Department official and director of the charity Human Rights First, told the BBC that the rules reflect “staggering” animosity toward LGBTQ+ people and that “attempts to label diversity, equity and inclusion as a violation of human rights marks a new low in the Trump administration’s instrumentalization of international human rights.” Amanda Klasing of Amnesty International USA told the AFP news agency that the new standards “send the message that the United States no longer believes in the fundamental element of the human rights system it helped build.”
Key background
The Trump administration’s first human rights report was released in August and was noticeably shorter than reports in previous years, eliminating categories on restrictions on freedom of assembly, unfair elections, punishment of minorities, gender-based violence and environmental justice. Earlier this year, the State Department reportedly ordered its employees to eliminate any categories that were not explicitly required by law—Congress requires annual reporting—in an attempt to make it “more readable.” At the time, the administration was accused of weakening a report that was previously highly regarded for its fairness and completeness.
Tangent
Trump came under harsh criticism earlier this week from human rights advocates after downplaying the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. During a visit to the White House of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi ruler who, according to the CIA, approved the murder of the columnist, Trump declared: “A lot of people didn’t like this guy they’re talking about. Whether they like it or not, things happen. But (Salman) didn’t know anything about it, and we left it there.” The prince added that the journalist’s death was “a serious mistake” that the kingdom never wants to be repeated. The prince’s defense is the latest accusation against Trump for ignoring or defending human rights violations in Saudi Arabia and other countries to promote American interests, a criticism that other presidents have also received.
This article was originally published by Forbes US
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