WASHINGTON, August 7. /TASS/. The US Department of State in its annual human rights reports will scale back criticism of Russia, Israel and El Salvador, The Washington Post (WP) reported, citing a draft document it reviewed.

According to the newspaper, the reports for these three countries "are significantly shorter than the ones prepared last year by the Biden administration. They strike all references to LGBTQ+ (recognized as extremist and is banned in Russia - TASS) individuals or crimes against them, and the descriptions of government abuses that do remain have been softened."

"The 2024 Human Rights report has been restructured in a way that removes redundancies, increases report readability and is more responsive to the legislative mandate that underpins the report," a senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said. "The human rights report focuses on core issues," he added.

The newspaper emphasized that the Department of State normally presents its human rights reports in March or April but under the Trump administration, the report is "long-delayed."