Human rights are central to United States foreign policy not only because they are a moral imperative but also because they are central to any effort to establish and maintain a democratic. peaceful. stable society. Those who ignore or repudiate human rights are sowing the seeds of instability. rebellion and violence. It is therefore disturbing that human rights concerns are often subordinated to other concems. such as trade. cooperation on terrorism. immigration control. or selling military equipment. in the name of maintaining relations with countries of high importance to U.S. strategic goals. This misses the point. The most important U.S. interest is the promotion of freedom and democracy and longterm stability. We are strong enough. and we are prosperous enough that we have no need to accept blood money or to send refugees back to persecution or to seek our alliances among regimes that murder and torture their own people. The Country Reports are among the most important tasks undertaken by the Department of State. These reports allow the United States an opportunity to bear witness. to reassert fundamental principles. and also to examine its own conscience about whether its foreign policy comports with these principles.
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