The US State Department has dismantled its Human Rights Reporting Gateway (HRG), a critical online portal designed to receive allegations of human rights violations by foreign military units supplied with American weapons. Established in 2022 under the Leahy Law, the HRG served as the sole public channel for organizations and individuals to report serious abuses directly to the US government. Its removal has sparked widespread condemnation from human rights advocates and lawmakers, including Tim Rieser, a former senior aide to Senator Patrick Leahy, who described the move as a clear violation of legal mandates. Rieser warned that the deletion undermines the US government’s ability to hold foreign security forces accountable, potentially enabling continued support for units involved in heinous crimes. The State Department, however, maintains that it continues to receive reports of human rights violations and adheres to its legal obligations. The HRG’s elimination follows a broader restructuring of the State Department under Secretary Marco Rubio, which has included layoffs and the scaling back of human rights monitoring offices. Critics argue that these changes reflect a shift away from promoting human rights, aligning instead with the Trump administration’s ‘America First’ foreign policy. The HRG had previously facilitated reports of abuses, including allegations of excessive force by Colombian security forces during 2021 anti-government protests and incidents involving US-armed Israeli Defense Forces in the occupied West Bank. Amnesty International, which had prepared submissions for the portal, expressed concern over the loss of this critical reporting mechanism. Charles Blaha, former Director of the Office of Security and Human Rights, emphasized that the removal severely weakens the government’s ability to deter abuses, leaving no established channel for reporting violations. The US remains the world’s largest provider of military aid, raising questions about the accountability of foreign units receiving American support.
US axes website for reporting human rights abuses by US-armed foreign forces
