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1 1 (March 16, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govcgyu0001 and id is 1 raw text is: FF. ' ,iE S .r, i , Updated March 16, 2020 Global Human Rights: The Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices The State Department's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices are an annual U.S. government account of human rights conditions in countries around the globe. The reports characterize countries on the basis of their adherence to internationally recognized human rights, which generally refer to the civil, political, and worker rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948) and other international human rights agreements. The most recent reports cover calendar year 2019 and were issued on March 11, 2020. They provide individual narratives for nearly 200 countries and are available on the Department of State website. As with prior reports, the 2019 reports do not compare countries or rank them based on the severity of human rights abuses documented. Although the reports describe human rights violations in many countries, in introducing the reports Secretary of State Michael Pompeo specifically noted violations in China, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba. Some critics contended that the Secretary's singling out of these nations, generally perceived as U.S. diplomatic adversaries, risked politicizing the reports. In response to a related media question, Robert Destro, the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, stated that the reports were hard-hitting across the board. Some changes in emphasis and terminology in the 2019 reports were also noted in U.S. and international media coverage. Categories Covered in the 2019 Reports Integrity of the Person Civil Liberties Political Participation Corruption and Government Transparency Governmental Attitude toward Human Rights Investigations Discrimination and Societal Abuses Worker Rights Leg§',Aabive Mandate The statutory requirement for the human rights reports is found in Sections 116 and 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act (FAA) of 1961 (P.L. 87-195), as amended. Both of these provisions were first enacted via congressional amendments in the mid-1970s and have been broadened and strengthened over time through additional amendments. The 1970s was a formative period for human rights-related legislation as Congress sought to enshrine human rights as a priority in U.S. foreign policy. In 1974, Section 502B of the FAA (22 U.S.C. 2304) was enacted to withhold U.S. security assistance from governments that engage in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. The following year, Section 116 (22 U.S.C. 2151n) was added, introducing similar restrictions for recipients of U.S. development assistance. Accompanying these provisions was language requiring that the Secretary of State transmit to Congress each year a full and complete report concerning the human rights conditions of recipient countries; this language thus served as the legislative basis for the annual human rights reports. An amendment in 1979 further broadened the reporting requirement to cover all U.N. member states. Despite the legislative origin of the reports in connection with U.S. foreign assistance, the role that the reports should play with regard to foreign assistance decisions or in U.S. foreign policy generally has been the subject of continued debate (see Relationship to U.S. Foreign Policy below). In the early reports, there was concern within the State Department about publicly characterizing the human rights conditions in other countries, particularly U.S. allies. The first reports were criticized for being biased and thin on substance. Over time, with improvements in the breadth, quality, and accuracy of the reports, many observers have come to recognize them as authoritative (countries whose human rights conditions are criticized in the reports, however, often publicly defend their record and/or dismiss the reports as biased). The modern reports are cited by lawmakers, foreign governments, human rights organizations, scholars, and others. The scope of the reports has also broadened as Congress has amended legislation to add or expand human rights topics in response to evolving situations and contexts. Topics that now receive increased coverage include worker rights, the rights of sexual minorities and persons with disabilities, and corruption, among others. In addition, the reports now reference separate congressionally mandated reports on international religious freedom (IRF) and trafficking in persons (TIP). K~:> gogn, q goo g , q a S ' X

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