Globe Trot: State Department downplays annual human rights report

STATE DEPARTMENT: Suppose the alleged custodian of human freedom gave its annual human rights report, and no one came? That’s about what happened on Friday when the State Department released its annual report, normally a significant press event highlighted by the secretary of state, only Rex Tillerson was a no-show. The report comes at a time of rising abuses in the Philippines and among areas controlled by Islamic State, and amid a global migrant crisis spawning violence and migrant trafficking. Religious freedom advocates voiced concern that downplaying such trends could lead also to downplaying persecution and threats to religious freedom.

IMMIGRATION: The new Trump executive order on immigration comes with a FAQ sheet, which will go a long way in addressing concerns that led to chaos and confusion the last time around. Iraq has been dropped from the list of countries blocked from immigrant visas, and all valid visa holders and those already granted refugee status (within spelled-out parameters) can still come to the United States.

The new order may satisfy the concerns of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals but possibly not the 9th Circuit. Already the ACLU has announced it will sue (more here), calling it “a new Muslim ban executive order.”

RUSSIA: There’s more we don’t know than we do about President Donald Trump’s wild claims over the weekend he was wiretapped by former President Barack Obama. An Obama spokesman and director of national intelligence James Clapper denied the claim, but Clapper famously denied in 2013 knowing about the NSA’s extensive surveillance program. Still, Trump has produced no evidence, and a federally ordered wiretap comes with a high legal bar (thanks mostly to Democrats who wanted to stop former President George W. Bush surveillance on suspected terrorists):

In a national security probe, investigators seeking a wiretap must convince a judge there is probable cause that a target for surveillance is an agent of foreign intelligence, and that the main purpose of the surveillance is to obtain foreign intelligence information. Investigators sometimes face a higher bar if the target is an American citizen.

Trump is asking the FBI to disclose details, and the FBI has asked the Justice Department to reject the claim, which Trump today is rejecting. That leaves a lot for Congress to sort out, and GOP lawmakers might be slow to launch a major investigation so early in a Republican administration. On the overall question of wiretaps and Russian interference in the U.S. election, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said: “I’m not going to be part of a cover-up, or part of a witch hunt.”

NORTH KOREA: It’s that kind of Monday when Pyongyang test-fired four ballistic missiles—an “extremely dangerous action,” according to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe—and it’s item No. 4 on my list today.

UNITED KINGDOM: Two street preachers have been convicted of abusive criminal behavior for quoting the King James Bible.

GERMANY: Chancellor Angela Merkel visited North Africa last week in an effort to stem another burgeoning migrant flow to Europe, while Turkish officials are turning up the heat—pressuring the EU to uphold its end of a bargain made last year to supply aid to Turkey in exchange for Turkey stopping migrant sea crossings.

ISRAEL/WEST BANK: Hotel owners in Bethlehem have hired grafitti artist Banksey to decorate a soon-to-open property that fronts the Israeli security wall dividing the city. The “Walled Off Hotel” will start taking reservations later this month.