The State Department’s next human rights report will move away from calling out the persecution of marginalized groups such as women, ethnic and racial minorities, people with disabilities and the LGBTQ+ community and instead focus on the “natural rights” of the individual, a senior State Department official said Thursday.

“We believe that every individual has these rights, no matter their group identity,” the senior State Department official said in a briefing to reporters.

The official spoke on behalf of the State Department on the condition of anonymity. “It’s not because of their group identity, it’s because they have had a right taken away from them, whether it’s freedom of speech, freedom religion, you name the right, we are here to protect them and to hold governments accountable.

See Full Page