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Human Rights and The National Day of Action [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-04-18
The State Department is changing how the way we look at other countries. It's also indicative of how our government looks at itself.
We will no longer criticize other countries for a number of human rights abuses in annual reports on international human rights.
Politico reported March 19th that there would no longer be sections in the reports on the rights of women, the disabled, LGBTQ+ and more.
They're called Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. They were mandated by the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. They are meant to be guidelines about what a country is like to determine what U.S. government assistance is necessary and viable to be delivered, and what leverage can be used to increase human rights in the country.
You can still get the reports at the State Department for the years 1999-2023. Pick a year, read the preface, then pick a country.
With the massive erosion of human rights in the U.S. since Trump took office, it's no surprise that these reports would no longer look at things Trump has done to remove our own rights, in other countries.
What agency delivered most of the aid we're talking about? USAID. The agency's website, USAID.gov, is a husk of what it was. Just a nasty notice of shutdown and a link to the only thing left, their Office of Inspector General, which now rules over nothing.
There is now a real question if the reports will cover the topics required by the Foreign Assistance Act. We have wonder about this year's report for 2024. Comparing a country in the 2024 report against the 2023 report will be an eye opener.
Donald Trump has courted dictators to talk about trade. Talking about human rights violations gets in the way of business. Witness his meeting with the dictator of El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele.
During Trump's first term, women's rights were scaled back in these reports to eliminate information on abortion access in countries.
The reports are widely used by other countries, advocacy organizations, lawyers and others who have been able to consider it reliable and fact-based. No longer.
People are wondering if the Trump version of the report will include detail of abuses by our friends, as well as enemies. The line between allies and enemies has become blurred with Trump's affinity for authoritarians. How likely will there be criticism of Russia, Hungary, Argentina, El Salvador, and more?
According to Politico, some sections have been removed completely and limit the number of examples of human rights abuses under those sections left.
The section that covered women used to include rape, domestic violence, reproductive rights, genital mutilation and discrimination. Now it will just be called "Coercion In Population Control."
Discrimination against indigenous people, the disabled, and corruption in government are gone, along with LGBTQ+.
There is still a section on freedom of the press but restrictions to internet access are gone.
Privacy violations are gone. So are coercion by involuntary medical and psychological practices.
There is one outline for all countries, so this affects the report for all of them.
Prison abuses are minimized. No wonder after the El Salvador prison crisis.
"You also can't overestimate the damage it will do to (the) credibility if the Trump administration edits are seen to diminish --- not just the scope of what are defined as human rights --- but also if those edits are seen to play favorites," said Christopher Le Mon, former Deputy assistant secretary in the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor.
You can expect more emphasis on religious freedom and the right to own property.
There will still be sections on war crimes, genocide, anti-semitism, workers rights, and child marriage. But personal freedom of speech is de-emphasized.
Sexual exploitation of women and children are gone and the denial of political rights to minorities.
How do we rate ourselves as a democracy and how do other countries with rating systems see us now?
Project Democracy sees real problems here:
Project Democracy rating.
Germany rates a 1.5. United Kingdom scores a 1.7. Canada is a 1.5. We need to move to Canada. No, the answer is to get rid of Trump and fix our country.
Data from The Economist Intelligence Unit was visualized by Axios in a world map.
The Democratic Erosion Consortium had their own take of the EIU data.
When you've 33% of the population subscribing to authoritarianism, things don't look well.
On The Economist Democracy Index we're 28 out of 167 countries and dropping fast.
We have a chance to change things. We saw the Tesla Takedowns. We saw the April 5th and April 12th Hands Off! protests. We watched Bernie Sanders and AOC and their Fighting Oligarchy Tour.
Tomorrow, April 19th, protests are organized by 50501. 50 Protests, 50 States, 1 movement. But there are hundreds planned. It's a National Day of Action. There is an estimate of 11 million people taking part. 3.5% of the U.S. population. 525 protest locations are planned.
There is a petition to impeach Donald Trump at ImpeachTrumpAgain.org.
At FreeSpeechForPeople.org, is another impeachment movement.
The Libertarian Party of Travis County, Texas has passed a resolution to impeach Trump.
We're not just fighting for our human rights. We're fighting for the right to talk about them, without repression. By fighting for ourselves, we're fighting for world human rights.
Saturday is not the end, but the continuation of the fight against everything Trump has done. Every weekend there will more people taking part. Have fun and stay safe.
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