US rights report accused of omissions, political spin

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration’s 2025 human rights report omits key abuses, misrepresents records of certain governments, and undermines US credibility, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Tuesday.

The State Department’s “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” released August 12 and covering 2024, excludes categories standard in past editions, such as women’s rights, LGBT protections, disability rights, corruption, and freedom of peaceful assembly. HRW said the report also downplays violations by allied governments.

“The State Department’s new human rights report is in many places an exercise of whitewashing and deception,” said Sarah Yager, HRW’s Washington director.

The omissions, HRW warned, strip Congress of a trusted oversight tool and obscure trends in global rights abuses.

On Israel, the report fails to address mass forced displacement in Gaza, alleged use of starvation as a weapon, and destruction of essential infrastructure, which HRW says amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide.

It also downplays abuses in countries such as El Salvador, Hungary, and Russia, omitting or softening reports of extrajudicial killings, political imprisonment, and curbs on civil society.

While sections cite credible United Nations and NGO findings, HRW said US policies often contradict them — such as deportations to South Sudan and Rwanda despite documented abuses.

The State Department has issued annual human rights reports since the 1970s under the Foreign Assistance Act, intended to guide foreign policy and ensure US aid does not support rights violators. In past decades, the reports have been key in asylum decisions, sanctions, and diplomatic engagement.

HRW warned the new report’s omissions could endanger activists and asylum seekers by denying abuses in countries where deportations are planned.

“The Trump administration has now turned much of the report into a weapon that makes autocrats seem more palatable,” Yager said.

This is an edited version of the report that was published by Human Rights Watch on Aug. 12, 2025