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Source: Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C. 20520 Origins: Mandated by the U.S. Congress to provide an annual assessment of the human rights practices of each Member State of the United Nations, plus Taiwan. Significance: Asylum Officers and Immigration Judges rely upon State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Profiles of Asylum Claims and Country Conditions, and International Religious Freedom Reports to serve as a principal lens through which they come to understand reality on the ground in the country to which the applicant faces repatriation, and a principal standard against which to discern the meritorious nature of the claim. NOTE: Unlike State's irregularly released Profiles of Asylum Claims and Country Conditions reports, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices and International Religious Freedom reports are released annually. To obtain a copy of a Country Report on Human Rights Practices, not yet appearing on this page, contact PARDS. WARNING: Like the Department of State's International Religious Freedom and Profiles of Asylum Claims and Country Conditions reports, the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices reports are, neither complete, nor accurate. A generic PARDS critique of this series should be downloaded with, and accompany each of the reports below. This critique is a working paper, updated periodically. Detailed report-specific analysis and critiques identifying distortions written into, and significant omissions written out of individual reports are also available. For information on how to obtain a detailed, report-specific critique, contact PARDS. Unless a corrective lens (documentation, and/or expert testimony) is provided by the applicant, asylum officers and immigration judges will assume that the content of State's reports are complete and accurate. PARDS critique of D.O.S. Country Reports (rev. November 2004) (DOC, 41KB) |