No. of Recommendations: 8
In the soon to be released State Department's annual reports on international human rights -- the documents, called "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices," were initially completed in January, before President Trump took office, but re-edited by the new administration -- the Trump Administration will no longer acknowledge or criticize harsh prison conditions, government corruption, restrictions on peaceful assembly, harassment of human rights organizations, participation in the political process, violence and discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, or other authoritarian conduct.
In the report on Hungary, a marked-up version of which was distributed as a model for how to apply the new directives, the section titled "Corruption in Government" is struck out. Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been called an authoritarian, and previous reports have noted restrictions to civil liberties. President Trump has called him "a great man and a great leader in Europe."
András Lederer from Hungary's oldest and largest human rights group, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, told NPR that the State Department's new policy weakens the position of human rights defenders in countries that have a problematic track record on these issues.
"You're removing pressure, and it definitely sends the message to the perpetrators that this is not important for [the U.S.] anymore," Lederer said.Huh.
I did Nazi that coming.
With Mad King Donald, the United States is now in the camp of the bad guys.
https://www.npr.org/2025/04/18/nx-s1-5357511/state... 