2017 Human Rights Report

Acting Secretary of State John Sullivan.

Acting Secretary of State John Sullivan delivered on-camera remarks on the release of the 2017 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on Friday, April 20, 2018, in the Press Briefing Room at the U.S. Department of State.

Ambassador Michael Kozak from the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor will take questions in the Briefing Room immediately following Acting Secretary Sullivan’s remarks.

Promoting and defending human rights and fundamental freedoms are central to who we are as a country, and the United States will continue to support those around the world struggling for human dignity and liberty. The 2017 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices are required by U.S. law and document the status of human rights and worker rights in nearly 200 countries and territories.

The annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – the Human Rights Reports – 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.

To read the 2017 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, click here