Leaked drafts reveal Trump administration scaling back human rights criticism for Russia, Israel

Leaked drafts of the US State Department’s delayed 2024 annual human rights reports suggest the Trump administration plans to significantly reduce criticism of countries with poor human rights records, including El Salvador, Israel, and Russia. The reports have been shortened, omit references to LGBTQ+ individuals, and soften descriptions of government abuses.

The draft for El Salvador claims there were “no credible reports of significant human rights abuses” in 2024, a sharp departure from last year’s report, which documented killings, torture, and harsh prison conditions. This comes as El Salvador agreed, under Trump’s urging, to incarcerate migrants deported from the US Several Venezuelans deported to El Salvador reported beatings in prison, Caliber.Az reports via The Washington Post. 

The reports reflect internal guidance circulated by State Department leaders earlier this year directing staff to reduce content to the “minimum required” and remove references to government corruption, gender-based crimes, and deportations that could lead to torture. The guidance was authored by political appointee Samuel Samson, who also reviewed the reports for the three countries.

A senior State Department official, speaking anonymously, defended the changes: “The 2024 Human Rights report has been restructured in a way that removes redundancies, increases report readability and is more responsive to the legislative mandate that underpins the report.”

The draft for Israel, reduced from over 100 pages to 25, omits references to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial, judicial overhaul efforts, and surveillance of Palestinians. The Russian report, marked as finalised, does not mention the Supreme Court’s ban on LGBTQ+ organisations despite widespread arrests and raids in 2024.

Keifer Buckingham, former State Department official, called the omission of LGBTQ+ rights in Russia “a glaring omission,” criticising Secretary of State Marco Rubio stating that he has repeatedly asserted that his State Department has not abandoned human rights, “but it is clear by this and other actions that this administration only cares about the human rights of some people … in some countries, when it’s convenient to them.”

“The world has been a better place [for two centuries] because America has strived to defend these fundamental human rights both at home and abroad,” Rubio had previously said.

The draft reports align with a broader shift in US foreign policy under Trump, emphasising national sovereignty over universal rights. In a 2024 speech in Riyadh, Trump criticised “Western interventionists … giving you lectures on how to live or how to govern your own affairs.”

Additionally, a July cable instructed diplomats to avoid commenting on the legitimacy of foreign elections unless in the interest of US foreign policy — a departure from past practice, including Rubio’s own.

Despite this change, the Trump administration recently used the Magnitsky Act to sanction Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, accusing him of “serious human rights abuse.” The move came amid tensions over the prosecution of Trump ally Jair Bolsonaro.

The State Department has yet to officially release the 2024 human rights reports.

By Sabina Mammadli