The US Department of State released its annual human rights country reports for 2018 Wednesday.
In an attempt to hold other countries accountable for their human rights records, the State Department publishes annual reports on countries around the world. The goal is to guarantee basic human rights including "freedoms of religion or belief, expression, peaceful assembly, and association" while avoiding gross violations like "extrajudicial killing, torture, and extended arbitrary detention." The US along with the UN Commission of Human Rights recognize these basic global rights as set out in the 1948 UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
