Trump administration rewrites and scales back annual human rights report

The Trump administration has significantly rewritten and downscaled the US government's annual report on global human rights abuses.

The state department document, previously seen as the most comprehensive study of its kind by any government, significantly reduces criticism of some US allies such as Israel and El Salvador while escalating disapproval of perceived foes such as Brazil and South Africa.

Entire sections included in reports from previous years are also eliminated, dramatically reducing coverage of issues including government corruption and persecution of LGBTQ+ individuals.

State department officials say it was "restructured" to "remove redundancies" and "increase readability".