Source description last updated: 11 November 2020 (Addendum 2 September 2025: See also the blog post on the most recent human rights reports. This source description will soon be updated.)

Source description last updated: 6 October 2025 (See also the blog post on the most recent human rights reports. This source description will soon be updated.)

In brief: The US Department of State (USDOS) is the US federal executive department responsible for the foreign affairs of the United States.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, International Religious Freedom Reports, Country Reports on Terrorism, Trafficking in Persons Report, Background Notes (all of them are Periodical Reports)

Covered weekly on ecoi.net for countries of priorities A–E (all available countries)

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

As the USDOS website indicates, the department’s mission is “[t]o protect and promote U.S. security, prosperity, and democratic values and shape an international environment in which all Americans can thrive” (USDOS website: About the U.S. Department of State, undated).

The USDOS currently comprises 47 bureaus and offices covering regional or functional issues. These include the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL) and the Bureau of Counterterrorism (USDOS website: Bureaus and Offices, undated). As required by US statutory law, the DRL prepares for annual submission to the US Congress the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and the International Religious Freedom Report (USDOS website: 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 12 August 2025; USDOS website: International Religious Freedom Reports, undated). Aside from these reports written for Congress, the DRL publishes the annual Trafficking in Persons Report which ranks countries based on their efforts to combat human trafficking (USDOS website: 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report, undated). The Bureau of Counterterrorism publishes the annual Country Reports on Terrorism for submission to the US Congress (USDOS website: Country Reports on Terrorism, undated).

As the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) notes, the Trump Administration started a broad reorganization of the USDOS in early 2025, which according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio aimed to consolidate region-specific functions and the remove “redundant offices” and “non-statutory programs that are misaligned with America’s core national interests” (CRS, Global Human Rights: The Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, last updated 4 August 2025, p. 2). By summer 2025, key offices of the DRL had been dismantled (NYT: Human Rights Report Under Trump Blunts Language on Israel and El Salvador, 12 August 2025), including the majority of DRL regional offices staffed with personnel whose work was focused on human rights issues in specific countries (CRS, Global Human Rights: The Department of State’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, last updated 4 August 2025, p. 2). CNN reported on dismissals in July 2025 of large numbers of DRL staff who had been working on the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (CNN: State Department human rights report scaled back, omits details on abuses in politically allied countries, 12 August 2025).

According to the USDOS website, the DRL currently comprises the following three offices: the Office of International Religious Freedom, the Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, and the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (USDOS website: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, undated). The DRL currently lists the following topics as its key issues of concern: “internet freedom and technology and human rights”, “international labour affairs”, “security and human rights”, and “business and human rights” (USDOS website: Key Topics – Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, undated).

Funding:

US federal budget (USDOS, Fiscal Year 2024 Agency Financial Report, November 2024, p. 83)

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus: Africa (Sub-Sahara), East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Eurasia, Near East (northern Africa, Middle East), South and Central Asia, Western Hemisphere (Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada

Thematic focus:

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: extrajudicial killings, coercion in population control, war crimes and conflict-related abuses, freedom of the press, worker rights, disappearance and abduction, torture, protection of children, protection of refugees, acts of antisemitism and antisemitic incitement. (see, for example, USDOS: 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Algeria, 12 August 2025; USDOS: 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Democratic Republic of the Congo, 12 August 2025; USDOS: 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Turkey (Türkiye), 12 August 2025)

International Religious Freedom Reports: religious demography, government respect for freedom, societal respect for religious freedom (see, for example, USDOS: 2023 Report on International Religious Freedom: Algeria, 2 July 2024)

Trafficking in Persons Report: Prosecution of human trafficking, protection of human trafficking victims, prevention of human trafficking, profiles of victims (see, for example, USDOS, 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report: Algeria, 29 September 2025).

Country Reports on Terrorism: terrorist incidents, legislation and measures to counter terrorism (see, for example, USDOS: Country Reports on Terrorism 2023: Algeria, 12 December 2024)

Methodology:

The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices are drafted by reviewing information from sources including “foreign government officials; victims of alleged human rights abuses; academic and congressional studies; and reports from media, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).” (USDOS website: 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 12 August 2025, Appendix A: Notes on Preparation of the Country Reports and Explanatory Materials)

As for the drafting procedure of these reports, the initial drafts of each country report are prepared by the relevant US diplomatic missions based on annual guidance provided by the USDOS “annually by July for submission of updated reports in September and October. The Department of State updates these texts by year’s end. Multiple concerned bureaus and offices in the Department of State provide contributions, and the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor prepares a final draft of each country report. The U.S. Department of Labor contributes subject matter expertise to the section on worker rights.” (USDOS website: 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 12 August 2025, Appendix A: Notes on Preparation of the Country Reports and Explanatory Materials)

Information specific to the 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices published in August 2025:

The USDOS website states that the reports covering the year 2024 were “adjusted” in March 2025 as they were being prepared, amongst others to make them “more responsive to the underlying legislative mandate and aligned to the [Trump] administration’s executive orders” (USDOS website: 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 12 August 2025, Appendix A: Notes on Preparation of the Country Reports and Explanatory Materials).

The August 2025 reports covering 2024 are much shorter in length and less detailed than the previous ones published in 2024 (NYT: Human Rights Report Under Trump Blunts Language on Israel and El Salvador, 12 August 2025). According to analysis by the US broadcasting organisation National Public Radio (NPR), the country reports published in 2025 are on average only around one-third the length of those published the previous year. The reports covering Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, and El Salvador have even been shortened by 93.5 per cent, 89.3 per cent, and 77.8 per cent, respectively. (NPR, State Department slashes its annual reports on human rights, 12 August 2025)

The USDOS has also significantly reduced the types of state repression and abuse selected for coverage. NPR pointed to an internal USDOS memo instructing personnel preparing the reports to remove entire categories of human rights issues not “explicitly required” by US statutory law, including environmental justice and gender-based violence (NPR, State Department slashes its annual reports on human rights, 12 August 2025). Amongst others, the final reports no longer include sections dealing with denial of fair public trial, freedom of assembly and association, freedom of movement, elections and political participation, corruption in government, and discrimination and societal abuses of women and minorities (ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples, LGBTI persons, and persons with disabilities) (see, for example, USDOS: 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Algeria, 12 August 2025; USDOS: 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Democratic Republic of the Congo, 12 August 2025; USDOS: 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Turkey (Türkiye), 12 August 2025).

Amnesty International noted that there were also “omissions within existing sections of the report”, depending on the country (Amnesty International USA: U.S. State Department’s Human Rights Report Puts Politics Above Human Rights, 12 August 2025). Critics of the Trump administration stated that the reports were “downplaying serious reports of torture and abuse” in US partner countries like El Salvador (Washington Post: Rubio recasts long-held beliefs with cuts to U.S. human rights reports, 12 August 2025), where the USDOS found that there were “no credible reports of significant human rights abuses” (USDOS: 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: El Salvador, 12 August 2025, Executive Summary). On the other hand, Human Rights Watch (HRW) found that the human rights situations in certain other countries like Haiti, Venezuela, Honduras, Nicaragua, Nepal and Afghanistan were described by the USDOS as having significantly worsened, with large numbers of human rights violations being “credibly reported” (HRW, US: Rights Report Mixes Facts, Deception, Political Spin, 12 August 2025).

Language of publication:

English

Further reading / links:

Amnesty International USA: U.S. State Department’s Human Rights Report Puts Politics Above Human Rights, 12 August 2025
https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/u-s-state-departments-human-rights-report-puts-politics-above-human-rights/

Asylos: New USDOS reports downplay human rights abuses, raising doubts over impartiality and reliability, August 2025
https://asylos.org/new-usdos-reports-downplay-human-rights-abuses/

CNN: State Department human rights report scaled back, omits details on abuses in politically allied countries, 12 August 2025
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/08/12/politics/state-department-human-rights-violations-report

Council of Foreign Relations: The New Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 18 August 2025
https://www.cfr.org/blog/new-country-reports-human-rights-practices

Forced Migration Current Awareness: News: 2024 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 13 August 2025
https://fm-cab.blogspot.com/2025/08/news-2024-country-reports-on-human.html

HRW - Human Rights Watch: US: Rights Report Mixes Facts, Deception, Political Spin, 12 August 2025
https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/08/12/us-rights-report-mixes-facts-deception-political-spin

New Lines Institute: 2024 U.S. Human Rights Report: Omissions, Exclusions, and Obfuscations, 22 August 2025
https://newlinesinstitute.org/rules-based-international-order/2024-u-s-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices-omissions-exclusions-and-obfuscations/

NPR: State Department slashes its annual reports on human rights, 12 August 2025
https://www.npr.org/2025/08/12/nx-s1-5495621/state-department-human-rights-reports-slashed

NYT - New York Times: Human Rights Report Under Trump Blunts Language on Israel and El Salvador, 12 August 2025
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/us/politics/trump-human-rights-israel-saudi-arabia-china.html

Washington Post: Rubio recasts long-held beliefs with cuts to U.S. human rights reports, 12 August 2025
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/08/12/rubio-human-rights-reports/

 

Methodological note:

ecoi.net's source descriptions contain background information on an organisation’s mission & objective, funding and reporting methodology, as well as on how we cover the source. The descriptions were prepared after researching publicly accessible information within time constraints. Most information contained in a source description was taken from the source itself. The aim is to provide a brief introduction to the sources covered regularly, offering information on relevant aspects in one place in a systematic manner. 

All links accessed 6 October 2025, unless specifiec otherwise.