“Human rights are at a nadir in Egypt,” wrote Human Rights Watch on the eve of President Donald Trump’s Monday meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi at the White House. But

Sisi’s strongman rule, which began with a coup in 2013, is a cause for admiration not concern for the new American president, and their visit together is meant to “reboot” the US-Egypt

relationship. Trump’s welcoming of Sisi with open arms follows last week’s news that the State Department planned to support the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Bahrain without requiring the

country to improve its human rights record as the Obama administration had done. These decisions are just the latest in a series of moves that has everyone from human rights advocates to

wasn’t credible. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson chose not to personally unveil the State Department’s annual report on human rights across the globe, as his predecessors have

typically done. In February, POLITICO reported that the Trump administration was considering pulling the United States out of the UN Human Rights Council, partly because it sees the body as

overly critical of Israel. During his Senate confirmation hearing Tillerson’s responses, especially on Saudi Arabia and the Philippines, also raised red flags. Then there’s Trump’s personal

admiration for strongmen in addition to Sisi, like Putin and Duterte. Are all of the signals alarming? Not quite. In its statement on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the State

Department included a continued commitment to human rights standards, stating: “The promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as embodied in the American Declaration of the Rights

and Duties of Man and the Inter-American Democratic Charter, is a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy.” Haley slammed Russia and China when they opposed a Security Council resolution to

impose sanctions for Syria’s use of chemical weapons. At his confirmation hearing, Tillerson did make statements like: “Our moral light must not go out if we are to remain an agent of

freedom for mankind. Supporting human rights in our foreign policy is a key component of clarifying to a watching world what America stands for.” And the US hasn’t left the UN Human Rights

Council, at least not yet. Trump officials have clearly given verbal support to international human rights but is that commitment anything more than lip service? If words spoke louder than

actions, Trump’s record might be viewed more favorably. For those keeping score, the list of things the Trump administration has done in its first few months in office to threaten human

rights at home and abroad is a long one. Check out Columbia Law School’s Trump Human Rights tracker for more.   Taking all of this into account, what are we to make of the Trump

administration’s attitude toward international human rights? Is all of this concern exaggerated or is it time to panic? To find out, I asked some of the top human rights lawyers, experts and

advocates in the field today. Here’s what they had to say: KENNETH ROTH, executive director of Human Rights Watch > So far we’ve seen no principled commitment to promoting human > 

rights. We’ve heard broad pledges of support, but they have been > applied only for traditional adversaries or when ignoring a problem > would be too damaging even for the Trump 

administration’s > credibility. Most of the time, when any competing interest has been > at stake, human rights have been jettisoned. DAVID KAYE, UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion

and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression > I don’t know if the sky is falling, but in specific areas, I > believe there is the potential for real regression in

 the U.S. > commitment to rights and to the institutions that support the > victims of abuse worldwide. Of course, the administration is seeking > to intimidate the press (so far 

unsuccessfully, by and large) and is > taking specific steps to undermine access to information, as we see > with the limited press availabilities at State and the imminent > 

arrival of a Fox journalist as spokesperson. Nikki Haley’s swipe > at the Human Rights Council shows a total lack of awareness of the > range of things that happen in that forum, even 

if it could > genuinely use some reform. And then at the state level, we see > draconian proposals to undermine the right to protest. Does this > mean the sky is falling? I don’t 

know, but it certainly reflects > and implements a posture of disdain for the rules that govern > democratic societies. PABLO DE GREIFF, UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of

truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence > In some ways, it’s too early to tell what the final position of > the Trump administration will be regarding human rights.

 But the > fact that the executive branch of a country, which thinks of itself > as a stalwart supporter of human rights, is so ambiguous about > rights is in itself a cause for 

concern. It is worth remembering too > that U.S. self perception has not always matched reality as the > treatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib, the detentions without charges > at 

Guantanamo, and the torture of detainees in the rendition program > revealed. Still human rights and the international architecture that > sustains them does deserve much better, even 

at the rhetorical > level. As with so much else lately, human rights are spoken of in > transactional terms.  Rights and justice, however, are not akin to > goods to be traded.  As 

expressions of values, they are supposed to > provide the framework within which fair transactions between > countries, peoples, individuals, can take place.   JUAN E. MENDEZ, former

UN Special Rapporteur on Torture (2010-2016) > Of course, every day we will have something else to add to this > list.  The accusations by the Ambassador to the UN against the > 

Human Rights Council, instead of attempting to correct obvious > deficiencies, are meant to weaken or destroy the UN’s human rights > machinery of treaty bodies and special procedures,

 and leave them at > the mercy of member states with appalling human rights records, such > as Saudi Arabia, which the U.S. government refuses to criticize. >  > These 

developments are about human rights concerns as integral to > U.S. foreign policy.  But for such a policy to be effective — or > even to any good in the world — it cannot be 

disassociated from > the U.S. government’s own practices that violate human rights, > because promotion and defense of human rights abroad demands, first > and foremost, consistency

 and credibility.  In that regard, the > [draft] Executive Orders allowing for more detainees to be brought > to Guantanamo and to allow the CIA to operate black sites abroad are > 

worrisome.   >  > More specifically regarding torture, I see as positive features that > Trump’s own cabinet members have said that waterboarding and other > techniques do not 

work and are counterproductive. Hopefully, > Trump’s own words to the contrary will be yet another example of > irresponsible bluster.  Also, Congress has now outlawed any form of >

 torture or ill treatment.  And finally, even if torture were to be > brought back covertly or clandestinely, I am confident that the > public will know it instantly and will react 

with formidable > challenges to it.  Reaction by the courts and by civil society to > the immigration bans show that such backward steps towards illegal > and immoral actions will 

not stand. SARAH KNUCKEY, director of the Human Rights Clinic, and the faculty co-director of the Human Rights Institute at Columbia Law School > The Trump administration’s actions 

demonstrate disdain for human > rights across the civil, political, social, and economic rights > spectrum. In just two months, Trump’s administration has already > taken numerous 

actions that violate, undermine, or seriously risk > harming human rights around the world. His administration undermined > women’s rights by reinstating the “global gag” rule, which

> blocks funding for international NGOs providing abortion services > overseas. His administration undermined indigenous rights and risked > the right to water by advancing the 

construction of the Dakota > Access and Keystone pipelines. Privacy rights were harmed when he > took action to exclude non-US citizens from agency privacy policies. > The Muslim 

Bans violated the right to non-discrimination. A wide > range of other actions–related to transgender students, voter ID > laws, migrants without documentation, transparency 

requirements for > mining companies, as well as arms sales to Bahrain, undoing efforts > to fight climate change, inviting an anti-LGBT hate group to the UN, > failing to show up at

 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights > — all harm the protection and advancement of human rights. TYLER GIANNINI, co-director of Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program and

its International Human Rights Clinic > Human rights and advocating for their protection is all the more > important right now when the U.S. government will not be a leader on > 

this front. Human rights groups know very well what it is like to > work without a government that is friendly to human rights. That is > too often the norm and usually at the heart of

 their work. It should > not be a time to panic, but instead a time when human rights work is > going to be even more relevant and needed. JAMES SILK, director of Orville H. Schell,

Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School > It would be dangerously negligent not to see this as an uncertain > time for human rights and not to be especially 

vigilant. The > Administration has not only shown no commitment to international > law, international human rights or international cooperation, but > its acts and rhetoric have 

shown a determination to neglect and even > to affirmatively damage the most vulnerable, whether racial > minorities, people of diverse religious beliefs, children, the > disabled, 

or refugees. Human rights remains a powerful tool, > especially as a language for principled resistance to tyranny and > barbarism and for building solidarity around seemingly 

disparate > issues, as we saw so vividly in the Women’s March and have > continued to see in many forms since. I believe that we in human > rights will stay the course, not turning 

our backs on the atrocities > and poverty that already plagued the world and that will persist, > but turning some of our attention toward using human rights to hold > this 

government accountable, to build support for efforts to block > its most egregious acts, to create pressure on it to live up to our > legal and moral obligations. _IMAGE: DREW

ANGERER/GETTY_ FEATURED IMAGE: BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP, NJ - NOVEMBER 19: (L to R) President-elect Donald Trump welcomes retired United States Marine Corps general James Mattis (not pictured)

before their meeting at Trump International Golf Club, November 19, 2016 in Bedminster Township, New Jersey. Trump and his transition team are in the process of filling cabinet and other

high level positions for the new administration. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)