The State Department opposes criticism of its change in the process of reporting human rights abuses.
NPR reported last week that the Trump administration is reducing its annual report intended to notify Congressional decisions on allocating foreign aid to the country, claiming that the State Department is “changing its minds about what it calls human rights.”
Fox News Digital reportedly restructured its 2024 Human Rights Report and instead of a “laundry list of politically biased demands and claims,” it was restructured to remove redundancy, improve readability and focus on human rights abuses.
Rubio announces closure of State Department efforts “were supposed to have already died”
State headquarters building in the Foggy Bottom district of Washington, DC on April 15, 2025 (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)
“NPR’s report that the State Department is reducing its human rights report is misleading and false,” a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital. “This year’s amendments are important to remove report redundancy, improve readability, maintain consistency in US law, and focus on human rights issues rather than political bias.”
Fox News Digital reportedly restructured the report “responds to the legislative mandate that underpins the report” and “doesn’t reflect changes in US policies that promote respect for human rights around the world or in certain countries.” The State Department specifically sought to streamline the report to better fit the statutory requirements under both Republican and Democrat administrations.
NPR and Politico reported an internal memo that ended in January but allegedly presented the 2024 human rights report coordinated under the new administration, but no longer includes mentions of diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) or abuse regarding discrimination or abuse against the LGBTQ+ community.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will listen as President Donald Trump meets El Salvador President Naive Buquer in his elliptical office on April 14, 2025 (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The State Department’s “Global Engagement Centre” has been accused of accusing Americans of closing the door
Annual reports, known as “national reports on human rights practices,” usually appear in March or April. The NPR said there is no section this year calling for the country to “force the return of refugees or asylum seekers to their home countries” or “serious harassment of human rights groups.” NPR also highlights that previous reports include “involuntary or forced medical or psychological practices,” “arbitrary intentional or illegal interference with privacy,” “serious restrictions on internet freedom,” “broad gender-based violence,” and “violence or threat of violence targeting people with disabilities,” but the new reports emphasize that this is not the case.
Paul O’Brien, executive director of Amnesty International, criticized the changes under the Trump administration. He told NPR: [pressure] Other countries that retain their rights to guarantee civil and political freedom, namely the ability to express themselves, to express themselves, to gather, to protest, to organize themselves. ”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio sits with President Donald Trump at the Cabinet meeting at the White House on April 10, 2025 (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
During President Donald Trump’s first term, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited what he classified as “human rights spread” at the global stage.
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“We wanted to go back to the original principles and return to the Bill of Rights, focusing on founding documents, the Declaration of Independence, and what is at the heart of American understanding of rights,” he said in July 2020.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversees changes in the department during Trump’s second term. Last week he announced the closure of the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI), previously known as the Global Engagement Centre (GEC).
Daniel Wallace is a news and political reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and to X:@danimwallace.
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