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# 					2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices			

Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor

							The annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – the Human Rights Report – cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international agreements. The U.S. Department of State submits reports on all countries receiving assistance and all United Nations member states to the U.S. Congress in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Trade Act of 1974.						

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													Preface											

            -  Preface   
            -  Country Reports                -  Africa (Sub-Saharan) 
              -  East Asia and Pacific 
              -  Europe and Eurasia 
              -  Near East (Middle East and North Africa) 
              -  South and Central Asia 
              -  Western Hemisphere 
            -  Notes on Preparation of the Country Reports and Explanatory Materials 
            -  Reporting on Worker Rights 
            -  Additional Resources 
            -  FY 2023 Foreign Assistance Actuals 
            -  UN General Assembly Third Committee Votes 
            -  Universal Declaration of Human Rights 
            -  Errata 
            -  Overview and Acknowledgements 

							Preface					

As mandated by Congress, every year since 1977, the State Department’s dedicated public servants in U.S. missions abroad and in Washington scrupulously examine, track, and document the state of human rights in nearly 200 countries and territories around the world.  In compiling these “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices,” commonly known as the Human Rights Report (HRR), we have drawn from a variety of credible, fact-based sources, including reporting from government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and media.  The HRR helps connect U.S. diplomatic and foreign assistance efforts to the fundamental American value of protecting and promoting respect for human rights for all, while helping to inform the work of civil society, human rights defenders, scholars, multilateral institutions, and others.

The President’s Summit for Democracy underscores the United States’ commitment to advancing respect for human rights, and to the promotion of democracy as the most effective system of government to secure them.  We are pleased the third Summit for Democracy took place this year under the Republic of Korea’s leadership.  Through the Summits for Democracy, the United States and other participating governments, along with partners from civil society, youth, and other stakeholders, seek to cement progress in human rights, foster democratic reforms, expand space for independent media, advance women’s rights, combat corruption, and make technology work for democracies and their people, not misused by malign actors as a tool of repression.

The year covered by this HRR coincided with the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).  In commemoration of the anniversary, the United States made several new commitments, including to renew investments around the world in democracy and human rights, to help protect human rights defenders online, and to advance racial and gender justice in the United States.

In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, one of the authors of the UDHR, “The destiny of human rights is in the hands of all our citizens in all our communities.”  We hope that this Report proves a useful contribution to that shared global effort, by chronicling both sobering developments in specific countries, as well as evidence of progress.

The Kremlin’s disregard and contempt for human rights are on full display in its war against Ukraine.  Russian forces employ violence against civilians as a deliberate tool of warfare.  The Report highlights documentation of human rights violations and abuses – some amounting to crimes against humanity – throughout the second year of Russia’s brutal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine.  Civilians, including Ukrainian children, have suffered egregious abuses by Russian forces and other Russian officials.  Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been transferred within Russia-occupied parts of Ukraine and/or deported to Russia, in many cases taken from their parents or lawful guardians and forced to take Russian names and citizenship.  Russia is cracking down on its own citizens, bringing spurious criminal charges against hundreds of Russians who have spoken against Putin’s war of aggression.

Across Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces have unleashed horrific violence, death, and destruction, including mass killings, unjust detentions, rape, and other forms of gender-based violence.  In December, I determined that members of both forces engaged in war crimes, and that members of the Rapid Support Forces and allied militia engaged in crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.  Elsewhere in Africa, Uganda’s government took aim at the human rights of all Ugandans, enacting a broad, draconian anti-LGBTQI+ legislation, including the death penalty for “serial offenders.”

The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza continues to raise deeply troubling concerns for human rights.  Hamas’ brutal terrorist attacks on October 7 killed around 1,200 people, took approximately 230 Israeli and foreign hostages, and included appalling abuses, including gender-based violence and sexual violence.  As Israel exercises its right to self-defense, we have made clear that it must conduct military operations in accordance with international law and take every feasible precaution to protect civilians.  We continue to urgently raise concerns surrounding the deaths of and injuries to tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, including women, children, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable persons.  We repeatedly have pressed concerns about Palestinian civilians’ access to humanitarian assistance, displacement of the majority of the population of Gaza, and the unprecedented number of journalists killed.  We have repeatedly condemned Hamas’ abhorrent misuse of civilians and civilian infrastructure as human shields and its continued refusal to release all hostages.  We also continue to condemn the record levels of violence in the West Bank, including attacks by violent extremist settlers against Palestinian civilians.

The Report illuminates the ongoing and brutal human rights abuses in Iran, where the regime’s violent repression of its citizens occurs at home and even abroad, including through acts of transnational repression targeting the regime’s perceived dissidents and critics.  Iranian women and members of marginalized communities continue to suffer disproportionately from the regime’s human rights violations and abuses.  Once detained, many prisoners have been harshly punished and even executed for spurious or unjust reasons.

The Report illustrates the Taliban’s systemic mistreatment of and discrimination against Afghanistan’s women and girls.  The Taliban have issued over 50 decrees and edicts that effectively erase women from public life.  Credible sources cited in the Report describe how the military regime in Burma continues to use brutal violence against the general population to consolidate its control, killing more than 4,000 people and detaining more than 25,000.

The Report documents ongoing grave human rights abuses in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).  For example, in Xinjiang, the PRC continues to carry out genocide, crimes against humanity, forced labor, and other human rights violations against predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and members of other ethnic and religious minority groups.

In Cuba, more than 1,000 political prisoners are reportedly unjustly detained and subjected to harsh treatment; their family members are targets of threats as well.  In Nicaragua, the Ortega-Murillo regime closed more than 300 civil society organizations in 2023, bringing the number of shuttered organizations to more than 3,500.  The regime also stripped more than 300 individuals of their citizenship and is holding more than 100 political prisoners in appalling conditions.

Yet, encouraging developments also can be found in this Report.  For example, although members of marginalized and minority communities continued to suffer disproportionately from human rights violations and abuses in 2023, several countries made important progress.  Kenya affirmed that freedom of expression and of assembly extend to LGBTQI+ persons. Japan enacted a bill to promote understanding of LGBTQI+ issues.  LGBTQI+ persons in Estonia and Slovenia now benefit from legislation recognizing marriage equality.

To advance the rights and freedoms of persons with disabilities, the Ministry of Education in Jordan appointed 600 individuals to implement inclusive education programming across the country to ensure children with disabilities could attend school and have the necessary support to enable their learning.

The Report also notes advances in implementing labor reforms in Mexico, where workers are overcoming obstacles to organizing and starting to improve working conditions.  As I noted when I helped launch the Biden-Harris Administration’s Global Labor Directive at APEC in San Francisco, advancing labor rights globally boosts American workers and bolsters middle class aspirations here at home.

This Report could not have been compiled without the selfless work of human rights defenders, independent journalists, and other civil society leaders whose daily work to advance human rights is an inspiration to us all.  I hope that the honest and public assessments of human rights abuses, as well as the reports of progress, reflected in these pages gives strength to these brave individuals across the globe who often put their lives at risk to improve conditions in their own countries, and, ultimately, make the world a freer, safer place for us all.

Antony J. BlinkenSecretary of State

							Country Reports					

### Africa (Sub-Saharan)

### East Asia and Pacific

### Europe and Eurasia

### Near East (Middle East and North Africa)

### South and Central Asia

### Western Hemisphere

-  							Appendix A														Notes on Preparation of the Country Reports and Explanatory Materials						  
Acts of Congress mandate the annual submission of the *Country Reports on Human Rights Practices*.The *Country Reports* cover internationally recognized human rights, including those set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other human rights instruments, as well as worker rights.These include its prohibition on torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment and prohibitions on arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, and other violations or abuses of the right to life, liberty, and the security of person.They also include certain other rights, such as the right of peaceful assembly and the rights to freedom of expression, association, and religion or belief.

Furthermore, the reports cover key internationally recognized worker rights issues, as required in the Trade Act of 1974, such as the right to freedom of association, the right to bargain collectively, the prohibition of forced or compulsory labor, the status of child labor practices, the minimum age for employment of children, discrimination with respect to employment, and acceptable work conditions.

The *Country Reports*rely on information available from a wide variety of credible 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).Particularly helpful for citation are domestic and international NGOs.The *Country Reports* cover human rights practices in foreign countries and territories worldwide.They do not describe or assess the human rights implications of actions taken by the U.S. government or its representatives.

To comply with the congressional requirement for reporting on human rights practices, the Department of State provides guidance to U.S. diplomatic missions 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 to material in section 7 on worker rights (see appendix B for more detail).

The Department of State strives to make the *Country Reports* comprehensive, objective, and uniform in scope.We seek a high standard of consistency in the reports, despite the multiplicity of sources and the diversity of countries covered.For purposes of focus and streamlining, the reports select illustrative examples of alleged abuses or violations and follow up in most instances only on the previous year’s high-profile unresolved allegations.

In recent years, the Department of State’s annual instructions on the update of the *Country Reports* removed the requirement that information be provided even when no abuse or violation was alleged.This change allowed the reports to increase the focus on reported violations and abuses.An example is information on prison conditions when there have not been allegations of conditions amounting to human rights violations or abuses.If there has been no allegation concerning, for example, the unavailability of potable water in a prison, then the report need not include information on that condition.If, however, an allegation is made regarding the absence of potable water, that allegation would raise concerns regarding prison conditions amounting to a human rights violation or abuse and would thus be mentioned.

The Department of State’s annual instructions sharpened the focus on reports of violations and abuses of internationally recognized human rights, and each government’s actions regarding such violations and abuses.For example, the executive summary of each report is sharply focused on credible reports of significant violations and abuses of internationally recognized human rights.These include reports of extrajudicial killing, torture, harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, and serious restrictions on freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, association, and religion or belief, as well as bias-motivated crimes of violence and similar abuses.The summary does not include many other common issues, such as overcrowding in prisons and societal discrimination, but these matters continue to be covered in the body of the reports.

As in 2022, there is attention to reporting threats and violence against human rights defenders, particularly those exercising their civil and political rights to advocate for the environment and land as well as for Indigenous peoples’ rights.

In 2023, some section numbers are different than in 2022.For example, “Transnational Repression” is now its own section, 1.f., consisting of five subsections on politically motivated reprisal against individuals located outside the country.“Property Seizure and Restitution” is also now its own section, 1.g.In section 1.h., “Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence,” the 2023 reports include information about the use of technology to arbitrarily or unlawfully surveil or interfere with the privacy of individuals (e.g., citizens, civil society, journalists, members of minority groups).

The 2023 report deletes “Civil Judicial Procedures and Remedies” in Section 1 and “Restrictions on Academic Freedom and Cultural Events” in Section 2.Related human rights abuses and violations continue to be covered in other sections of the report, as applicable.

For 2023, section 6 continues to contain information on abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex individuals, while deleting “Sexual Harassment” (now part of “Other Forms of Gender-based Violence or Harassment),” “Gender-based Sex Selection,” and “Displaced Children” as distinct sections.

While the reports continue to report on societal conditions, including discrimination, that can affect the enjoyment of internationally recognized human rights, we have reduced the amount of statistical data in the subsections of the report illustrating those conditions.In the age of the internet, the underlying data are generally available.

Evaluating the credibility of reports of human rights violations and abuses remains difficult.Most governments and opposition groups deny they commit human rights violations or abuses and occasionally go to great lengths to conceal any wrongdoing.There may be few eyewitnesses to specific alleged violations or abuses.Frequently, eyewitnesses are intimidated or prevented from reporting what they know.On the other hand, individuals and groups opposed to a government may have incentive to exaggerate or fabricate abuses.In similar fashion, some governments may distort or exaggerate abuses attributed to opposition groups.The Department of State seeks to identify those groups (for example, government forces) or individuals for whom available, credible evidence indicates probable involvement in human rights violations or abuses or other problematic conduct.

Many governments that profess to respect human rights may in fact secretly order or tacitly condone violations or abuses.Consequently, the *Country Reports* look beyond statements of policy or intent to examine reports of what a government did, or did not do, to protect human rights and promote accountability, including the extent to which the government investigated, brought to trial, or punished those responsible for any violations or abuses.

The *Country Reports* describe facts relevant to human rights concerns as reported by the sources identified above.Notwithstanding terms that may be used in them, the *Country Reports* do not state or reach legal conclusions with respect to domestic or international law.

Occasionally a report may state that a country “generally respected” the rights of individuals.The Department of State uses the phrase “generally respected” because the protection and promotion of human rights is a dynamic endeavor.It cannot be stated with absolute accuracy that any government always respects these rights without qualification, even in the best of circumstances.Accordingly, reports use “generally respected” as a phrase to describe countries that attempt to fully protect and promote human rights.

Because the Secretary of State designates foreign groups or organizations as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) on the Department of State FTO list, the reports describe as “terrorists” only those groups on the current FTO list.

The following notes on specific parts of each country report provide an overview of the key problems covered, but they are not intended to be comprehensive descriptions.

**Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings:**Includes killings ordered by governments or committed by governments without fair trial guarantees, including when there is evidence of a political motivation.This subsection also includes illustrative, well-known examples of killings by police or security forces and deaths that resulted from excessive use of force or other abuses of human rights, including as it relates to equal protection of law.

While the subsection generally excludes combat deaths and killings by nonstate actors, it does cover killings by such actors as opposition groups or terrorists or widespread killings by criminal groups.Killings by terrorist or other nongovernmental groups are covered following the description of government abuses.In optional section 1.i., used for countries engaged in conflict, the reports cover allegations of civilian casualties, detention-related abuses, including torture, and other abuses by the government’s armed forces or other state organs or by nonstate armed groups operating within that state.

**Disappearance:**Covers cases in which the government may be involved in the detention, abduction, or disappearance of individuals and refuses to acknowledge the detention of those persons or to account for their whereabouts or fate.This includes cases in which the disappeared person has not been found.Cases eventually classified as killings after the bodies of missing persons are discovered would be covered in the previous section, while those eventually identified as having been arrested or otherwise arbitrarily or unlawfully held in detention may be covered in section 1.d., Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.

**Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and Other Related Abuses:**Covers torture, defined in the Convention against Torture, article 1, as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind.”

The U.S. government understands that the definition of torture is intended to apply only to acts directed against persons in the offender’s custody or physical control.The United States understands that mental pain or suffering refers to prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from:

(1) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering;

(2) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality;

(3) the threat of imminent death; or

(4) the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality.

Cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment is defined in the Convention against Torture, article 16, as acts that do not amount to torture as defined by article 1, when committed by or at the instigation of, or with the consent or acquiescence of, a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.The U.S. government understands the term “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” to mean the cruel, unusual, and inhuman treatment or punishment prohibited by the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

The subsection discusses reported occurrences without analysis of whether they fit any precise definition, and it includes reported uses of physical and other force that may fall short of torture but may constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.This subsection may include reports of mistreatment that may not constitute torture or other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.Furthermore, it covers prison and detention center conditions and deaths in such facilities due to poor conditions or mistreatment.

**Arbitrary Arrest or Detention:**Includes reports of cases in which detainees are held arbitrarily or unlawfully, such as being held without being charged or, if charged, without being brought promptly before a judicial authority with power to determine the lawfulness of the detention or without trial within a reasonable time.

**Denial of Fair Public Trial:**Notes whether there is an independent and impartial judiciary free of corruption and political influence and whether trials are fair and public and afford criminal defendants the minimum fair trial guarantees recognized internationally as necessary for a criminal defense.The subsection Political Prisoners and Detainees covers persons convicted, imprisoned, or detained essentially for political beliefs or nonviolent acts of dissent or expression, particularly based on overly broad and sweeping charges intended to stifle the exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms.

**Transnational Repression (If applicable):**Covers reports of a range of acts, including killings, kidnappings, or violence taken by states against individuals living abroad, especially political opponents, civil society activists, human rights defenders, or journalists, seeking to silence criticism and prevent them from exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms.It also includes credible information regarding a country that, during the year, attempted to misuse international law enforcement tools, such as Interpol systems, for politically motivated reprisals against individuals living outside the country and related efforts by a country to exert bilateral pressure on another country aimed at having that country take adverse action against an individual.Such action could include exerting political pressure for the return of perceived enemies located in other countries.

**Property Seizure and Restitution (If applicable):**Describes if there is a systemic failure of a government to enforce court orders with respect to restitution or compensation for the taking of private property under domestic law.This subsection is not intended to discuss or evaluate individual claims.

**Arbitrary or Unlawful Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence:**Covers whether government authorities entered homes without judicial or other appropriate authorization, and whether a government accessed, collected, or used private communications or personal data arbitrarily (such as by targeting individuals based on the exercise of their human rights) or without appropriate legal authority.This section also examines if governments have in place laws, regulations, or practices that enable them to use technology to monitor individuals arbitrarily or unlawfully, and whether any “national security” laws are used by governments to conduct arbitrary or unlawful surveillance.If necessary, this section also reports if informer systems were employed and if authorities punished family members for offenses allegedly committed by their relatives.

**Conflict-related Abuses (if applicable):**This subsection applies only to countries with reported armed conflicts and describes reported abuses in such situations.It includes reports of unlawful killings and abuses, including torture, of civilians by members of the armed forces or other state organs or by organized nonstate armed groups within the state engaged in the conflict.Any reports of the recruitment or use of child soldiers by either government forces or by other organized nonstate armed groups are discussed in this subsection.Also covered are reports of attacks on health-care facilities, ambulances, and schools, which may not themselves be characterized as human rights abuses as such.

For countries conducting military operations in another country or engaging in peacekeeping operations in another country, the reports note any human rights concerns with the subject country’s activity as well as in the report on the country where the operations took place.As a general matter, conflict-related abuses should not be characterized using the term “violations.”

If there are reports of sexual exploitation or abuse by UN or other multinational peacekeeping forces, these incidents are reported in this subsection.The incidents are included in the report on the country where the alleged abuse occurred.Also included would be investigative and, if appropriate and known, punitive action taken by the peacekeeping troop-contributing country against the alleged perpetrator.

**Freedom of Expression, Including for Members of the Press and Other Media:**Evaluates whether freedom of expression, including for media members, is respected and describes any direct or indirect restrictions, including censorship and intimidation of journalists.The subsection Internet Freedom includes discussion of monitoring or restrictions on the exercise of freedom of expression online, including the freedom to seek, receive, or impart information, ideas, and opinions.

**Freedoms of Peaceful Assembly and Association:**Evaluates the ability of individuals, including with others (such as through political parties), to exercise these freedoms.It considers instances of government failure to provide permits or licenses for meetings and demonstrations as well as information on the ability of trade associations, professional bodies, NGOs, and similar groups to register, maintain relations, or affiliate with recognized international bodies in their fields.(Section 7, Worker Rights, discusses the rights of workers to associate, organize, and bargain collectively.)

**Freedom of Religion:**Provides a hyperlink to the Department of State’s *International Religious Freedom Report*.Information on antisemitism appears in section 6 of the *Country Reports* under a heading by that name.

**Freedom of Movement and the Right to Leave the Country:**Discusses whether and under what circumstances governments arbitrarily removed persons from their territory; restricted internal and foreign travel, including for women or members of minority populations; and revoked passports.

**Protection of Refugees:**As defined in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, refugees generally are persons outside their country of nationality or, if stateless, outside their country of former habitual residence, who are unable or unwilling to return to that country based on a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.Under certain regional instruments, such as the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, the term “refugee” may also refer to persons who have fled their country because their lives, safety, or freedom have been threatened by, among other things, generalized violence or internal conflict.The Protection of Refugees section covers abuse and discrimination against refugees and asylum seekers.It also reviews the government’s extension of assistance and protection to refugees, including protection against refoulement, the provision of temporary protection, and support for voluntary repatriation, longer-term integration opportunities, and resettlement in another country.

“Protection against refoulement” refers to whether the government refrained from (1) expelling or returning a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where their life or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group; or (2) expelling, returning, or extraditing a person to another state where there are substantial grounds for believing that they would be in danger of being subjected to torture.

**Status and Treatment of Internally Displaced Persons (if applicable):**This optional section is included if there were large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in a country.It covers the causes of displacement and number of IDPs, restrictions on their movement, targeting of specific groups, and any government failure to provide protection or humanitarian assistance to IDPs.It reports if IDPs suffered abuses of their human rights and whether the government promoted the safe, voluntary, and dignified return, resettlement, or local integration of IDPs.

**Stateless Persons (if applicable):**This section is included if a country has a significant number of habitual residents who are stateless (not recognized as nationals by any state under the operation of its law).It reviews whether the government has effectively implemented laws and policies to provide such persons the opportunity to gain nationality on a nondiscriminatory basis.The section examines, among other matters, whether there is violence or discrimination against members of resident stateless populations in employment, education, housing, health services, marriage or birth registration, access to courts, or the owning of property.

**Elections and Political Participation:**Discusses whether citizens had the opportunity, without discrimination or unreasonable restrictions:to vote or to be elected in free and fair elections that are genuine, periodic, based on universal and equal suffrage, and held by secret ballot; to participate in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through chosen representatives; and to have access to public service.The subsection Abuses or Irregularities in Recent Elections and the subsection Participation of Women and Members of Marginalized or Vulnerable Groups assess whether elections were free and fair, including whether women and members of minority groups had the opportunity to participate on the same basis as men or nonminority citizens.

**Corruption in Government:**Covers allegations of corruption in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government and actions taken to combat it.

**Governmental Posture Towards International and Nongovernmental Monitoring and Investigation of Alleged Abuses of Human Rights:**Discusses whether the government permits the free functioning of local human rights groups (including by allowing investigations and the publication of the groups’ findings on alleged human rights abuses), whether these groups are subject to retaliation by government or other forces (including for their participation in international forums), and whether government officials are cooperative and responsive to their views.The section also discusses whether the government grants access to and cooperates with outside entities (including foreign human rights organizations, the United Nations and other international organizations, and foreign governments) interested in human rights developments in the country.It reports on national human rights commissions, parliamentary commissions, and relations with international human rights organizations.

**Discrimination and Societal Abuses:**Contains subsections on Women; Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination; Children; Antisemitism; Trafficking in Persons; Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics; and Persons with Disabilities.It also includes optional subsections on Indigenous Peoples, Forced Organ Harvesting, and Other Societal Violence or Discrimination.The Other Societal Violence or Discrimination subsection addresses abuses and discrimination not discussed elsewhere in the report, focusing on violence or threats of violence against such individuals and laws, regulations, and state practices denying or impeding equal access to employment, education, health care, or other governmental benefits for members of specific groups.

Reluctance to report abuse against women; children; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or intersex (LGBTQI+) persons; persons with disabilities; and members of other groups, is often a factor in the underreporting of abuses.To avoid being repetitive, we do not make this point every time we cover a particular issue, but readers should be aware that it is a significant factor in these kinds of abuses in all countries and cultures.(The *Country Reports*address allegations of abuses by government or opposition forces, such as killing, torture and other violence, or restriction of voting rights or freedom of expression that discriminate against specific groups, under the appropriate preceding sections).

**Women:**Discusses violence against women, such as domestic violence, rape, female genital mutilation/cutting, dowry deaths, and “honor killings.”Information is included on any government tolerance of, or efforts to prevent, such practices, as well as the extent to which women have access to equality of economic opportunity and protection from discrimination and sexual harassment.A subsection on reproductive rights covers maternal health issues such as maternal mortality, government discrimination or coercion in reproductive health care, unequal access to skilled health care during pregnancy and childbirth, access to emergency health care, and discrimination against women in accessing sexual and reproductive health care, including for sexually transmitted infections.

**Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination:**This subsection, introduced in 2021, covers a country’s laws to protect members of racial or ethnic minorities or groups from violence and discrimination and whether the government enforced them effectively.It reports governmental or societal violence or discrimination against members of racial, ethnic, or national minorities and official action to investigate, prosecute, and punish persons complicit in violence and abuses, whether by state or nonstate actors.The section also describes government actions to mitigate factors, such as poverty, unemployment, and societal racial and ethnic biases, that contributed to the problem and, if possible, estimates their adequacy and effectiveness.

**Children:**Discusses child abuse, child, early and forced marriage, and sexual exploitation of children.As applicable, it also addresses birth registration, access to education, and access to medical care.

**Antisemitism:**Covers reports of antisemitic activity and the government’s response.Section 2.c. on freedom of religion provides a hyperlink to the most recent *International Religious Freedom Report*, which contains material on antisemitism.

**Trafficking in Persons:**This section contains a hyperlink to the Department of State’s most recent *Trafficking in Persons Report*.

**Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics:**Notes laws and policies criminalizing and punishing consensual same-sex sexual conduct between adults and cross-dressing, including whether these laws and policies were enforced, as well as discrimination against persons engaging in such conduct, including through vague laws covering immorality.The subsection takes note of legislative and other progress towards the full enjoyment of human rights by LGBTQI+ persons.It also addresses violence and other abusive acts by state and nonstate actors targeting LGBTQI+ persons such as “corrective rape,” so-called conversion therapy practices, and unnecessary surgical procedures.The subsection reports on discrimination by state and nonstate actors against LGBTQI+ persons.It documents the targeting of LGBTQI+ NGOs and human rights defenders and restrictions on the exercise of freedoms of peaceful assembly, association, and expression with respect to LGBTQI+ issues.

**Persons with Disabilities:**Covers discrimination against persons with physical, mental, or intellectual disabilities in, among other things, access to public buildings, employment, education, housing, health care, and the provision of other government services.
 
-  							Appendix B														Reporting on Worker Rights						  
U.S. law requires annual reporting to Congress on the status of internationally recognized worker rights in countries that were eligible to receive benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences.U.S. law defines internationally recognized worker rights to include:

a) the right of association;

b) the right to organize and bargain collectively;

c) a prohibition on the use of any form of forced or compulsory labor;

d) a minimum age for the employment of children, and a prohibition on the worst forms of child labor; and

e) acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health.See 19 U.S.C. § 2464, 2467.

In addition to these rights, several U.S. free trade agreements include the “elimination of discrimination in respect of employment or occupation” in their definition of internationally recognized worker rights.The U.S. Department of Labor contributes material on worker rights for reports done in collaboration with the Department of State.

The International Labor Organization (ILO), in its 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, sets forth these principles and rights at work as follows:freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining; the elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor; the effective abolition of child labor; and the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.In 2022 the declaration was amended to include a “safe and healthy working environment.”

Each Human Rights Report (HRR) includes reporting or references to other U.S. government reports on the following topics:

a) freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining;

b) prohibition of forced or compulsory labor;

c) prohibition of worst forms of child labor and minimum age for employment;

d) discrimination with respect to employment and occupation; and

e) acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health, and the enforcement of age, hour, and occupational safety and health laws, including in the informal sector.

The HRR focuses on reporting violations and abuses of internationally recognized worker rights, including information on relevant laws and their enforcement.

The discussion is informed by internationally recognized labor rights and standards, including the conventions and recommendations of the ILO and antitrafficking provisions in the UN Organized Crime Convention Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons.Some specific guidelines derived from these are discussed below.

Freedom of Association and the Right to Collective Bargaining:“Freedom of association” includes the right of workers and employers to establish and join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization; to draw up their own constitutions and rules; to elect their representatives; to formulate their programs; to join in confederations and affiliate with international organizations; and to be protected against dissolution or suspension by administrative authority.This means a worker’s right to join a union and an employer’s right to join an employer federation.

“The right to organize and bargain collectively” includes the right of workers to be represented in negotiating terms and conditions of employment and the prevention and settlement of disputes with employers, the right to protection against interference by the government or employers, and the right to protection against acts of antiunion discrimination.Governments should promote mechanisms for voluntary negotiations between employers and workers and their organizations.Coverage of the right to organize and bargain collectively includes a review of the extent to which collective bargaining takes place and the extent to which workers, both in law and practice, are protected against antiunion discrimination.

The subsection on freedom of association also covers the right to strike.While it is generally accepted for strikes to be restricted in the public sector and in essential services, the interruption of which would endanger the life, personal safety, or health of a significant portion of the population, these restrictions need to be offset by adequate safeguards for the interests of the workers concerned (for example, mechanisms for mediation and arbitration, due process, and the right to judicial review of legal actions).Reporting on restrictions on the ability of workers to strike generally includes information on any procedures that may exist for safeguarding workers’ interests or procedures that may limit or inhibit this right.

**Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor:**Starting in 2023, the text in this section was replaced by a hyperlink to the Department of State’s annual Trafficking in Persons Report for the many countries which are covered by the report.For countries not covered, relevant information is included in this section.

“Forced or compulsory labor” is defined as work or service exacted under the menace of penalty and for which a person has not volunteered.This definition does not include “work or service” where obligations to work or serve are imposed to receive education or training.“Menace of penalty” includes loss of rights or privileges as well as penal sanctions.

The ILO exempts compulsory military service, normal civic obligations, emergencies, and minor communal services from its definition of forced labor.The ILO has also exempted certain forms of prison labor, but only to the extent that such labor is exacted because of a conviction in a court of law and carried out under the supervision and control of a public authority, and provided that the prisoner is not hired out to or placed at the disposal of private entities.

The ILO further notes that constitutional provisions concerning the obligation of citizens to work do not violate this right so long as the provisions do not take the form of legal obligations enforced by sanctions and are consistent with the principle of “freely chosen employment.”

U.S. law defines forced labor as knowingly providing or obtaining the labor or services of a person by force or threats of force, serious harm or threats of serious harm to that person or another person, abuse or threatened abuse of law or legal process, or any scheme, plan, or pattern intended to cause the person to believe that, if that person did not perform such labor or services, that person or another person would suffer serious harm or physical restraint.The UN Trafficking Protocol also addresses forced labor by requiring state parties to criminalize the recruitment, transport, transfer, receipt, or harboring of a person for the purpose of forced labor or services extracted through coercive or fraudulent means.

**Prohibition of Child Labor and Minimum Age for Employment:**A “minimum age for employment” is related to the effective abolition of child labor because it requires a minimum age for employment that is consistent with the fullest physical and mental development of children.The “prohibition on the worst forms of child labor” looks to ILO Convention 182, which defines anyone younger than age 18 as a child and specifies certain types of employment as “the worst forms of child labor.”These worst forms of labor include slavery, debt bondage, forced labor, forced recruitment into armed conflict, child prostitution and pornography, involvement in illicit activity such as drug production or trafficking, and work that, “by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.”Starting in 2023, the text in this section is replaced by a hyperlink to the Department of Labor’s Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor for those countries recently covered by the Department of Labor report.For other countries, the HRR itself reports on the issues.

**Discrimination:**Starting in 2023, information on discrimination in employment and occupation is covered as part of the overall reporting on discrimination in section 6 of the HRR, rather than reported separately in section 7.d.This allows concerns on discrimination in labor and employment rights to be presented alongside the full context of section 6 subsections detailing discrimination against women, persons with disabilities, members of racial or ethnic groups, Indigenous peoples, members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex community, and others.

Discrimination with respect to employment and occupation may be direct or indirect.Direct discrimination exists when laws, rules, or practices explicitly cite a particular ground based on race, religion, national origin, color, sex (including pregnancy), ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, HIV or AIDS status, or refugee or stateless status to deny equal opportunities for employment or vocational training, as well as any other ground for distinction determined to impair equal opportunity.The ILO has noted that indirect discrimination occurs where rules or practices appear neutral but in practice lead to unwarranted exclusions.For example, requiring applicants to be a certain height could disproportionately exclude women and members of some ethnic groups.Unless the specified height is necessary to perform the job, this could illustrate indirect discrimination.

U.S. law prohibits discrimination with respect to employment based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, genetic information, or age.Many states and municipalities also have enacted protections against discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation, status as a parent, marital status, and political affiliation.

**Acceptable Conditions of Work:**“Acceptable conditions of work” refers to the establishment and maintenance of appropriate mechanisms, adapted to national conditions, that provide for minimum working standards, namely:

wages that provide a decent living for workers and their families;

working hours that do not exceed 48 hours per week, with a full 24-hour day of rest and provisions for overtime pay;

a specified number of annual paid leave days; and

minimum conditions for the protection of the safety and health of workers.

The HRR specifies whether workers in the informal sector are covered by labor laws, and whether any other group of workers or sectors of the economy are excluded or face additional challenges.
 
-  							Appendix C														Additional Resources						  
See below for resources on some issues discussed in section 6, Discrimination and Societal Abuses, in the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.Reference does not indicate endorsement by the Department of State.
Women
UN Interagency on Women and Gender Equality:http://www.un.org/womenwatch/

UN Population Fund:https://www.unfpa.org/data/world-population-dashboard;http://www.unfpa.org/gender/index.htm and www.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/resource-pdf/Preventing_gender-biased_sex_selection.pdf

Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, U. S. Department of State:https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/bureaus-and-offices-reporting-directly-to-the-secretary/office-of-global-womens-issues

UNICEF:https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-protection/female-genital-mutilation-and-cutting/

Population Reference Bureau:http://www.prb.org

World Health Organization:http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.530?lang=en

Demographic and Health Survey:dhsprogram.com/Where-We-Work/
Systemic Racial or Ethnic Violence and Discrimination
European Roma Human Rights Center:http://www.errc.org/
Indigenous Peoples
UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights’ section on Indigenous Rights:https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/ipeoples/Pages/IndigenousPeoplesIndex.aspx
Children
UNICEF:http://www.unicef.org/ and http://mics.unicef.org/

World Health Organization:https://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/child/en/

UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict:https://childrenandarmedconflict.un.org/

Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict:http://www.watchlist.org/

**Antisemitism**

Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism:https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-civilian-security-democracy-and-human-rights/office-of-the-special-envoy-to-monitor-and-combat-anti-semitism/
Trafficking in Persons
Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, State Department:http://www.state.gov/trafficking-in-persons-report
Acts of Violence, Criminalization, and Other Abuses Based on Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics
Amnesty International:https://www.amnestyusa.org/issues/gender-sexuality-identity/

Council for Global Equality:www.GlobalEquality.org

Global Rights:http://www.globalrights.org/

Human Rights Watch:www.hrw.org/en/category/topic/lgbt-rights

OutRight Action International:https://outrightinternational.org/

International Lesbian and Gay Association – Europe (ILGA-EUROPE):www.ilga-europe.org

Mulabi (covering Latin America):http://www.mulabilatino.org/
Persons with Disabilities
Disabled Peoples’ International:http://www.dpi.org/

Disability Rights Promotion International:http://www.yorku.ca/drpi/

Administration and Cost of Elections Project:http://www.aceproject.org/

International Foundation for Electoral Systems – Democracy at Large:http://www.ifes.org

Ideanet International Disability Rights Monitor:http://idrmnet.org/

Mobility International USA:http://www.miusa.org

United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/CRPDIndex.aspx
Other Societal Violence or Discrimination
UNAIDS:http://www.unaids.org/en/regionscountries/countries

Stigma Index:http://www.stigmaindex.org/
 
-  							Appendix D														FY 2023 Foreign Assistance Actuals						  
Download Appendix D [325 KB]
 
-  							Appendix E														UN General Assembly Third Committee Votes						  
Download Appendix E [218 KB]
 
-  							Appendix F														Universal Declaration of Human Rights						  
**Preamble**

*Whereas* recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world,

Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people,

Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law,

Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations,

Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in cooperation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms,

Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge,

Now, therefore,

The General Assembly proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

**Article 1**

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

**Article 2**

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status.Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

**Article 3**

Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and the security of person.

**Article 4**

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

**Article 5**

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

**Article 6**

Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.

**Article 7**

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

**Article 8**

Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law.

**Article 9**

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile.

**Article 10**

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

**Article 11**

Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense.

No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed.Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed.

**Article 12**

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home, or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation.Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.

**Article 13**

Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state.

Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.

**Article 14**

Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

**Article 15**

Everyone has the right to a nationality.

No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor be denied the right to change his nationality.

**Article 16**

Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.

Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.

The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

**Article 17**

Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others.

No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance.

**Article 19**

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

**Article 20**

Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

**Article 21**

Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.

Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.

The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.

**Article 22**

Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international cooperation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social, and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality.

**Article 23**

Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

**Article 24**

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

**Article 25**

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age, or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance.All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

**Article 26**

Everyone has the right to education.Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages.Elementary education shall be compulsory.Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.

Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.It shall promote understanding, tolerance, and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

**Article 27**

Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits.

Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary, or artistic production of which he is the author.

**Article 28**

Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.

**Article 29**

Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.

In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order, and the general welfare in a democratic society.

These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

**Article 30**

Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group, or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein.

________________________________________

***Hundred and eighty-third plenary meeting***

***Resolution 217(A)(III) of the United Nations General Assembly,***

***December 10, 1948***
 
-  							Appendix G														Errata						  
**India Human Rights Report:**In section 1.f (Transnational Repression), deleted reference by name to the leadership of a civil society organization.

**Spain Human Rights Report:**  In Spain report in section 2.3 (Protection of Refugees/Temporary Protection), corrected an error in the number of applicants granted one-year residency permits.

**Trinidad Human Rights Report:** In Trinidad and Tobago report section 1.a (Arbitrary Deprivation of Life and Other Unlawful or Politically Motivated Killings), corrected name of a law enforcement agency.

**Burundi Human Rights Report:**In Burundi report in Section 3/Political Parties and Political Participation, removed text included inadvertently. 
 
-  							Appendix H														Overview and Acknowledgements						  Country Report Preparation
This report is submitted to the Congress by the Department of State pursuant to sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.There are requirements under 19 U.S.C. § 2464 and 2467 mandating that U.S. foreign and trade policy consider countries’ human rights and worker rights performance and that country reports on human rights be submitted to the Congress annually.

This report includes documents on several countries that do not fall into the categories established by these statutes and thus are not covered by the congressional requirement.

The report addresses situations and events in calendar year 2023 only.

The Department of State prepared this report using information from U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, foreign government officials, nongovernmental and international organizations, jurists and legal experts, journalists, academics, labor activists or other human rights defenders, and published reports.U.S. diplomatic missions abroad prepared the initial drafts of the individual country reports.

Once the initial drafts of the individual country reports were completed, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), in cooperation with other Department of State offices with relevant country and regional expertise, reviewed and edited the individual reports, drawing on its own sources of information as well as of the Department of Labor.DRL officials consulted experts within the Department of State and outside the Department on worker rights, refugee issues, police and security issues, women’s issues, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) issues, and legal matters.The guiding principles were that all information be reported factually, objectively, thoroughly, and fairly.DRL, working with other Department of State bureaus and offices, ensured that all individual reports followed the same methodology and conformed to standard format and structure.
The DRL Editorial Team
Coordinator of Human Rights Reports:Jock Whittlesey

Deputy Coordinators of Human Rights Reports:Rich Kaminski, Dan Vernon

Senior Editors:Wendell Albright, Stephen Eisenbraun, Sherri Holliday-Sklar, Victor J. Huser, Philip Kaplan, Doug Kramer, David Morris, Joseph Dean Yap

Editors:Christopher Anderson, Aaron Avery, Emily Belson, Dan Biers, Jessica Brzeski, Michael Butler, Marco Campos, Alex Cantone, Kathryn Clark, Margaret Coleman, Timothy Cox, Brian Davis, Janie Esteva, David Fabrycky, Michael Feldman, Douglas Fisk, Leslie Frazer, Natasha Gloger, Steven Glowacki, Reggie Greer, Kala Hagen, Ian Harrison, Razi Hashmi, Cassie Henriquez, Nathen Huang, Chuck Hunter, Daniel Hurley, Kate Gould, Kiril Jakimovski, Marc Koehler, Noah Krystel, Gina Lentine, Madison McClendon, Tanner McFeeters, Jose Mercado, Dave Morris, Greta Morris, Chidera Nwaubi, Daniel Ohlstein, Diana Partridge, Marie Popil, Margaret Pride, Lauren Raskin, John Rath, Ereni Roess, Megan Ross,Sarah Scarcelli Rhoden, Annelle Sheline, Wendy Silverman, Jeffrey Sizemore, Sylvia Stankova-Loomis, Stephen Stark, Jessica Stern, John Stowell, Zachary Suhr, Manushi Tanna, Margaretha Arnold Turley, C. Eduardo Vargas, Rachel Waldstein, Isaac Wang, Jason Wemhoener-Cuite, Megan Wong

Regional Bureau Coordinators:Greg Bauer, Amanda Boggs, Melissa Dymek, Dan Joyce, Anand Krishna, Nick Mancini, Yani Najarian, Sylvia Yacoub

Public Rollout Preparation:Ryan Burris, Jessica Chesbro, Karlygash Faillace, Carol Finerty, Tara Griffin, Patrick Harvey, Stephanie Kuck, Christine Leming, Eunice Mooney, Matthew Peterson, John White, Jr., Daisha Windham

Senior Technical Editor:Janine Czarnecki

Technical Coordinator:Geoffrey Palcher

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-  Reporting on Worker Rights 
-  Additional Resources 
-  FY 2023 Foreign Assistance Actuals 
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