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1 1 (April 10, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govelga0001 and id is 1 raw text is: a Congressional Research Service informing the legislative debate since 1914 Updated April 10, 2023 Global Human Rights: The Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices Introduction 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 civil, political, and worker rights set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights agreements. The most recent reports cover calendar year 2022 and were issued on March 20, 2023. The reports provide individual narratives on countries and territories worldwide and are available on the Department of State website. In remarks introducing the reports, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that in 2022, in countries across every region, we continued to see a backsliding in human rights conditions- the closing of civic space, disrespect for fundamental human dignity. As with prior reports, the 2022 reports do not compare countries or rank them based on the severity of human rights abuses documented. At the same time, in a preface to the 2022 reports, Blinken stated that some of the reports illustrate violations and abuses that are appalling in their scale and severity. Blinken noted in particular death and destruction arising from Russia's war against Ukraine, state violence against protestors and citizens in Iran and Burma, genocide and crimes against humanity ... against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups in China's Xinjiang region, and the Taliban's oppressive and discriminatory measures against women and girls, among other highlighted country situations. Broad Topics Covered in the 2022 Reports Integrity of the Person Civil Liberties Political Freedoms Corruption and Government Transparency Governmental Posture toward Human Rights Investigations Discrimination and Societal Abuses Worker Rights L egi sli ve M a ndat e The foundational 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. Section 502B of the FAA (22 U.S.C. §2304), added in 1974 and substantially strengthened in 1976, sought to withhold U.S. security assistance from countries the governments of which engage in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights. Section 116 (22 U.S.C. §2151n), added in 1975 and also strengthened in the years following, imposed similar restrictions for recipients of U.S. development assistance. Contained within these provisions was language requiring that the Secretary of State transmit to Congress each year a report on the human rights conditions of recipient countries; an amendment to Section 116 in 1979 broadened the reporting requirement to cover all other foreign countries. This language thus served as the legislative basis for the State Department's annual human rights reports. Despite the legislative origin of the reports in connection with U.S. foreign assistance, the role that the reports should play with regard to assistance decisions or U.S. foreign policy more broadly has been the subject of debate (see Relationship to U.S. Foreign Policy below). Evolution of the Reports In the early reports, there was concern within the State Department about publicly characterizing the human rights conditions in other countries, particularly that of U.S. allies. The first reports were criticized for lacking objectivity and being 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. At the same time, countries whose human rights conditions are criticized in the reports often publicly defend their record and/or dismiss the reports as biased. The State Department has gradually broadened the scope of the reports to add or expand coverage of certain topics, sometimes due to congressional amendments to the statutory requirements or other directives, such as those accompanying State Department appropriations bills. In addition, the reports now reference separate congressionally mandated reports on international religious freedom (IRF) and trafficking in persons (TIP). Most recently, topics that have received new or increased coverage in the 2021 and/or 2022 reports include transnational repression, threats and violence against human rights defenders, and abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex individuals. Members of Congress have at times introduced bills that would further amend the FAA to require new or additional coverage related to these or other specific issues (or permanently mandate coverage that is currently included in practice). Drafting and Review Process The State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) coordinates the drafting and

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