On September 1, the United States government rejected several recommendations from countries which suggested how the U.S. could better uphold human rights. Rejected recommendations included abolishing the death penalty, ending spying on private communications of people of the world, and allowing foreign aid to assist rape victims in war zones who need access to safe abortions.

Welcome to the latest edition of the Shadowproof Mailbag. This installment covers the first part of this, Shadowproof’s second week. I’m taking a little day trip to New York City tomorrow and Brian will be filling in for me, so we’ll have to catch up on Friday’s feedback in the next edition. Here’s some of the best reader comments and feedback we’ve received about our recent articles.

The scramble to secure a controversial trade deal known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is leading to some serious ethical conflicts for the Obama Administration. While many initial objections to TPP were due to concerns about a lack of transparency from the White House as to the contents of the agreement and how it was negotiated, a recent decision by the State Department to change a country’s ranking in a human trafficking report has human rights groups crying foul and citing TPP as the real reason for the change.