Asylum Research Centre, ‘Comparative Analysis of U.S Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (2016-2019)’, 2020
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Asylum Research Centre, ‘Comparative Analysis of U.S Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (2016-2019)’, 2020.
Asylum Research Centre’s (ARC) research report, a Comparative Analysis of U.S Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, identifies serious omissions of human rights issues and inadequately substantiated reports of improvements in the U.S. State Department’s country reports.
ARC compared the State Department’s assessment of the situation in Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and Sudan in 2016, the last year of President Obama’s administration, with the subsequent reports produced by President Trump’s administration covering events in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The content changes identified by ARC were not consistent with the situation on the ground as documented by other sources and have the effect of downplaying the seriousness of the human rights situations in these countries. The principle changes related to women’s rights, civil and political rights, and issues relating to LGBTI persons.