The State Department is updating the parameters of its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices to align more closely with the Trump administration's agenda, adding new categories such as "chemical and surgical mutilation of children" and free speech violations.
According to an official, the revised reports will expand the scope of human rights concerns highlighted by the department.
State Department principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said, "In recent years, new destructive ideologies have given safe harbor to human rights violations.
"The Trump administration will not allow these human rights violations, such as the mutilation of children, laws that infringe on free speech, and racially discriminatory employment practices, to go unchecked. We are saying enough is enough."
As required by Congress, the State Department submits annual reports detailing internationally recognized human rights issues, including bans on torture; arbitrary detention; enforced disappearance; and other violations of life, liberty, and personal security.
The reports also cover rights related to freedom of expression, religion, or belief and worker protections such as freedom of association, collective bargaining, forced labor bans, child labor status, minimum employment age, and acceptable working conditions.
The official said President Donald Trump's State Department will now additionally cite human rights violations abroad that include aiding mass or illegal immigration into other countries, subsidizing abortion or abortion drugs, encouraging euthanasia, and violations of religious freedom, including antisemitism.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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