Official Reports

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices

The Country Reports on Human Rights Practices are submitted annually by the U.S. Department of State to the U.S. Congress. The reports cover internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

International Religious Freedom Report

The report describes the status of religious freedom in each foreign country, government policies violating religious belief and practices of groups, religious denominations, and individuals, and U.S. policies to promote religious freedom around the world. It is submitted in compliance with the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

Trafficking in Persons Report

The Secretary of State submits the annual “Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000: Trafficking in Persons Report” to Congress. This report covers “severe forms of trafficking in persons” defined as:

“(a) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or (b) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.”

Fiscal Transparency Reports

The Fiscal Transparency Reports are submitted annually by the U.S. Department of State to the U.S. Congress. Covering 141 countries (those that could receive U.S. foreign assistance), it is a tool to identify deficiencies and support needed changes.

Country Reports on Terrorism

This report is submitted in compliance with Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656(f) (the “Act”), which requires the Department of State to provide Congress with a full and complete annual report on terrorism for those countries and groups meeting the criteria of Section (a)(1) and (2) of the Act. (Previously Patterns of Global Terrorism)

Report of the Commission on Unalienable Rights

USAID Civil Society Organization Sustainability Index

The Civil Society Organization Sustainability Index (CSOSI) has been used since 1997 to assess the sustainability of the CSO sector. The Index has expanded considerably since its inception – it went from covering 18 countries in the Europe and Eurasia Region, to covering over 60 countries in different regions around the world.

Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The U.S. Record

This report is submitted to the Congress by the Department of State in compliance with Section 665 of P.L. 107-228, the Fiscal Year 2003 Foreign Relations Authorization Act, which was signed into law on September 30, 2002. It requires the Department to report on actions taken by the U.S. Government to encourage respect for human rights. This report complements the annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.