The State Department’s annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices document the human rights situation in 199 countries and regions around the world. Every year, diplomats and staff at U.S. embassies and consulates work with human rights activists, governments, non-governmental organizations, and colleagues in Washington to confirm the facts and draft the reports. While we discuss the human rights situation in a country with host government officials as part of our regular diplomatic engagement throughout the year, and welcome those governments’ thoughts on the status of human rights in the United States, the actual reports released to the host governments and the public at the same time. As mandated by Congress, the U.S. government uses the Human Rights Reports as part of our foreign policy formulation, including our decision making on foreign assistance. The Human Rights Reports are also used by asylum judges and lawyers in the United States, and are a reference for governments, civil society, scholars, journalists, and others around the world.
See the full report at http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm#wrapper, and the Armenian report at http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/humanrightsreport/index.htm?year=2013&dlid=220251#wrapper.
