US - continuing to normalize corruption
Again, the US is back in the news, not for leading on anti-corruption, but for weakening human rights reporting obligations. The Intercept just reported on changes to reporting by the US Department of State, specifically to the “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.” These are annual documents, “required by law to be “a full and complete report regarding the status of internationally recognized human rights” in nearly 200 countries and territories worldwide. They are used “by the U.S. Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches as a resource for shaping policy and guiding decisions, informing diplomatic engagements, and determining the allocation of foreign aid and security sector assistance,” according to the State Department.” Unfortunately, going forward from this year, they will no longer include valuable information nor will they highlight governments for abuses like restrictions on free and fair elections, significant corruption, or serious harassment of domestic or international human rights organizations. There are also other serious elements which will not be included, making it easy for all governmental branches to ignore inconvenient human rights violations.
Why is this important? This is one more step in minimizing the importance of reporting in all areas of government. What this will mean is that decision makers will no longer be able to rely on reporting and will need to seek the support of activists when attempting to develop information on the true status of rule of law in many countries. This article is a reminder that at present the US does not value the state of human rights or rule of law. At least for now we know that we must keep a vigilant eye on the reporting and not allow violations of human rights and rule of law to go unnoticed.
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