The U.S. Department of State is reported to make strong criticisms against the governments of South Africa and Brazil in its annual human rights report. Earlier, it was reported that criticisms of human rights regarding El Salvador, Israel, and Russia will be significantly reduced, leading to controversy over excessive political influence in the report.
According to the Washington Post (WP) on Nov. 11, the 2024 human rights report is said to include key issues such as the "persecution of white farmers" by the South African government and the "suppression of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro" by the leftist Brazilian government.
This report is considered a highly influential document that the U.S. government submits to Congress every year, assessing the human rights situation by country and used as key evidence in domestic and international legal procedures such as asylum hearings and deportation trials.
The report is said to specifically contain concerns about the South African government's land expropriation policy, echoing President Trump's repeated emphasis on the "genocide" of white farmers in South Africa. Previously, President Trump has continuously claimed that South Africa is seizing white land and that white people in South Africa are being subjected to genocide.
In a summit meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in May, he raised these allegations and also pushed for the expulsion of the U.S. ambassador to South Africa, the suspension of aid, and the granting of refugee status to white South Africans.
The report also reveals separate items detailing cases of anti-Semitism within South Africa.
The Brazilian report claims that the leftist government excessively suppressed the freedom of expression of supporters of former President Bolsonaro, noting instances where Alexandre de Moraes, a Supreme Court Justice who led the Bolsonaro investigation, suspended over 100 X (formerly Twitter) accounts.
Former President Bolsonaro has completely denied allegations that he conspired for a coup after losing to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the 2022 election, having previously requested support from his close ally, President Trump.
Along with the content, the drafting process also appears to be problematic. According to an anonymous source quoted by WP, some expressions in the report and inaccuracies provoked backlash from senior officials at the State Department, leading to a scenario where an appointee by President Trump completely rewrote the report after the drafting team disbanded.
Some voices point out that President Trump's influence has been excessively reflected. Uzra Zeya, former Deputy Minister for Human Rights at the State Department, criticized, "Secretary of State Marco Rubio is distorting human rights policy to protect political allies and target critics."
Earlier, WP reported that the U.S. Department of State softened its expressions regarding human rights abuses in Israel, El Salvador, and Russia in this report and also reduced the quantity. For example, while the human rights abuse cases in Israel in the 2023 report, drafted during the previous Biden administration, accounted for over 100 pages, the draft this year was notably reduced to 25 pages.