U.S. expected to scale back human rights criticism of Russia

The Washington Post reported the information.

Draft reports on the human rights situation in El Salvador, Israel, and Russia—copies of which were reviewed by the publication—are shorter than last year’s documents from the Biden administration.

Notably, all references to LGBTQ+ people and crimes against them have been removed, and the descriptions of government violations that remain have been toned down.

Leaked draft reports on El Salvador, Israel, and Russia highlight how dramatically the Trump administration is rethinking the U.S. role in promoting human rights worldwide, the publication notes.

These documents also follow internal guidance issued earlier this year by State Department leadership, which recommended that staff reduce reports to the minimum required by law and remove references to government corruption, gender-based crimes, and other violations the U.S. has historically documented.

A senior State Department official stated that the 2024 Human Rights Report was revised to eliminate redundancy, improve readability, and better align with the legal mandate on which the report is based.

The official added that the Trump administration will focus particular attention on certain issues, including the decline of freedom of speech in some countries allied with the United States.