United States takes another swipe at South Africa
The US State Department’s annual human rights report called out Brazil and South Africa while scaling back criticism of Israel and El Salvador, shifting its account of other nations’ abuses to align with President Donald Trump’s priorities.
The report, which is meant to serve as a record of other nations’ rights abuses, criticized South Africa for what it said was a “significantly worsened” situation in 2024 and cited steps toward “land expropriation of Afrikaners and further abuses against racial minorities in the country.”
It also said the human rights situation in Brazil “declined during the year.”
Brazil “undermined democratic debate” by limiting access to on-line content that it deemed to “‘undermine democracy,’ disproportionately suppressing the speech of supporters of former president Jair Bolsonaro,” it said.
Those changes highlighted how Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s department is shifting the emphasis of the report in keeping with Trump’s shifting disputes and alliances with other nations.
Trump and Rubio have alleged that South Africa’s land laws are unjust toward White farmers, a claim spurred by Trump’s billionaire ex-adviser Elon Musk. He has spread the conspiracy of a “genocide” against Afrikaners.
Trump recently hit Brazil with a 50% tariff and placed sanctions on a Supreme Court justice who is overseeing legal cases against Bolsonaro.
Trump has called the trial of his ally for an alleged 2023 coup attempt a “witch hunt.”
Likewise, the State Department softened prior criticism of Trump allies. For El Salvador, the report found “no credible reports of significant human rights abuses,” while at the same time stating that “the government took credible steps to identify and punish officials who committed human rights abuses.”
The previous report for El Salvador highlighted concern about conditions in the nation’s prisons after President Nayib Bukele declared a state of emergency to crack down on crime.
Amnesty International in 2022 said Salvadoran authorities “committed massive human rights violations, including thousands of arbitrary detentions and violations of due process, as well as torture and ill-treatment.”
Bukele emerged as a key Trump ally this year, opening his jails to hold alleged members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua deported from the US.
Bukele also offered to house American criminals, an offer that Rubio called “extraordinary,” and was hosted by Trump at the White House for the first visit by a Western Hemisphere leader, in April.
Last year’s report gave more detail on the number of Palestinians killed and wounded in Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The new report also removed references to the corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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