November 4, 2004
Assessing the state
of human freedom
LeRoy Potts works on
congressionally mandated project
The protection of human rights is not only one of the grand ideals of our American society, but it is also a stated central goal of U.S. foreign policy.
Since 2002, LeRoy Potts (M.P.Aff. 1990), who is the deputy director in the U.S. State Department’s Office of Country Reports and Asylum Affairs, has been involved in a project that provides vital information to the U.S. Congress about the status of human rights around the world. Working in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Potts is the managing editor of the State Department’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. The publication—the most comprehensive report issued by the agency—is presented to Congress each February.
“We’re congressionally mandated to issue this report each year,” Potts said. “In 1976, the first year the report was released, we included 82 countries. The 2003 report covers 196 countries. The report means a lot to people who are living under repressive regimes and who are fighting for change.”
Despite the loss of moral standing by the United States when the Iraqi prisoner abuse was disclosed, Potts said he remains compelled to tell the story of abuses in other parts of the world.
“Like everyone else, I was appalled by the abuses at Abu Ghraib. Fortunately, our country has mechanisms and systems in place that allow us to bring people to justice. A lot of other countries do not,” he said.
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LeRoy Potts |
Potts acknowledged that as a country we must listen to international criticism, but that our loss of moral ground should not stop us from talking about what is going on around the globe. “It (the Abu Ghraib scandal) will not deter me from talking about the atrocities in Burma, Cuba, China and North Korea,” he said. “There are some really awful and oppressive things going on, and I am as committed as ever to get this information out.”
In addition to compiling the country reports on the status of human rights, the Office of Country Reports and Asylum Affairs issues the Annual Report on International Religious Freedom. The 2004 report, which was released on September 15, will be the last edition produced by Potts’s office. The State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom will publish the next update.
Besides the U.S. Congress, the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices is used by government agencies, academics, NGOs, activists, religious organizations and other groups. The 2003 report, which was released in February 2004, provided information about countries in Africa, East Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Eurasia, the Near East and North Africa, South Asia, and the Western Hemisphere. All the country reports have six sections that cover the following areas: respect for the integrity of the person; respect for civil liberties; respect for political rights; governmental attitudes regarding international and NGO investigation of alleged violations of human rights; discrimination based on race, sex, disability, language or social status; and worker rights.
The collection of information for the country reports is a multi-stage process, with embassies collecting the data throughout the year from a variety of sources, including government officials, jurists, the armed forces, journalists, human rights monitors, academics and labor activists.
“One of the most important things we do in our office is to compile and send out instructions to every post,” said Potts. “These are about 70 pages long, and they specify how questions are to be posed during the information-gathering phase. We try to neutralize the ability of a post to emphasize something that would make conditions in that country appear favorable when they are not, and vice versa.”
After the embassies complete the initial drafts of the reports, the text is sent to Washington, where it is reviewed by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in cooperation with other State Department offices.
Potts emphasized that his staff is committed to producing a quality product that reflects the actual situation in the countries being evaluated. According to him, the reports have now reached such a degree of accuracy that human rights watch groups have discontinued the practice of checking the information contained in the reports.
“Of course many hands touch these reports (before they are published), but that is how a bureaucracy works. It does not mean that the report is compromised,” he said. “And, of course, you hear complaints that you either overplayed something or underplayed something, but we don’t play politics. A serious issue will not be watered down. I feel good about these reports.”
Potts, who has been with the State Department since 1990, began at that agency as an analyst in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Later, from 1995 to 2002, he was an inspector in the Office of Inspector General, and, in this role, he developed strategies to solve management problems at State posts worldwide. During this time, he inspected posts around the globe, including U.S. embassies in China, Mexico, the Ivory Coast, Ghana, Namibia, Serbia, Macedonia and Albania.
Before joining the State Department, Potts was a research assistant with the Congressional Quarterly and a legislative correspondent in U.S. Senator Arlen Specter’s office.
Potts spoke to LBJ School students on October 18 as part of the student-initiated Alumni Exchanges program, which connects students with alumni via teleconference calls.
He advised students to “think hard” about the topics they would like to research for their professional reports. “Research done as part of the professional report or policy research project reports can play an important role in landing your first big job after LBJ. Moreover, it develops critical thinking and writing skills that you will rely upon throughout your careers,” he said.
In his closing remarks to students, Potts told his audience, “You’ll be very pleased with the numbers of very well-connected LBJ alumni who are willing to help you. You’re in a good place now, and you’ll be in a better place after you graduate because there are a lot of people who are more than willing to help you out.”
by María de la Luz Martínez
Related Links
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
Annual Report on International Religious Freedom
On the front line: Matt Fuller helps reconstruction team in Iraq
The immigrant labor debate: LBJ Alum weighs in on Bush proposal
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4 November 2004
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