US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 3, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 3, 2026.
The global human rights system is in peril. Under relentless pressure from US President Donald Trump, and persistently undermined by China and Russia, the rules-based international order is being crushed, threatening to take with it the architecture human rights defenders have come to rely on to advance norms and protect freedoms. To defy this trend, governments that still value human rights, alongside social movements, civil society, and international institutions, need to form a strategic alliance to push back.
To be fair, the downward spiral predated Trump’s reelection. The democratic wave that began over 50 years ago has given way to what scholars term a “democratic recession.” Democracy is now back to 1985 levels according to some metrics, with 72 percent of the world’s population now living under autocracy. Russia and China are less free today than 20 years ago. And so is the United States.
Of course, democracy is not a panacea for human rights violations; the US and other longtime democracies have their own histories of colonial crimes, racism, abusive justice systems, and wartime atrocities. More recently, authoritarian leaders have exploited public mistrust and anger to win elections and then dismantled the very institutions that brought them to power. Democratic institutions are crucial to represent the will of the people and keep power in check. It’s no surprise that whenever democracy is undermined, rights are too, as evident in recent years in India, Türkiye, the Philippines, El Salvador, and Hungary.
FIRST: The Momentum Movement’s parliamentary representative David Bedo and independent member of parliament Akos Hadhazy protest against a law that bans Pride marches in Hungary and imposes fines on organizers and attendees of such events, Budapest, June 3, 2026. © 2025 Marton Monus/Reuters; SECOND: University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 3, 2026. © 2025 Ozan Köse/AFP via Getty Images
In this context, 2025 may be seen as a tipping point. In just 12 months, the Trump administration has carried out a broad assault on key pillars of US democracy and the global rules-based order, which the US, despite inconsistencies, was, with other states, instrumental in helping to establish.
In short order, Trump’s second-term administration has undermined trust in the sanctity of elections, reduced government accountability, gutted food assistance and healthcare subsidies, attacked judicial independence, defied court orders, rolled back women’s rights, obstructed access to abortion care, undermined remedies for racial harm, terminated programs mandating accessibility for people with disabilities, punished free speech, stripped protections from trans and intersex people, eroded privacy, and used government power to intimidate political opponents, the media, law firms, universities, civil society, and even comedians.
Claiming a risk of “civilizational erasure” in Europe and leaning on racist tropes to cast entire populations as unwelcome in the US, the Trump administration has embraced policies and rhetoric that align with white nationalist ideology. Immigrants and asylum seekers have been subjected to inhumane conditions and degrading treatment; 32 died in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in 2025, and as of mid-January 2026, an additional 4 have died. Masked immigration enforcement agents have targeted people of color, using excessive force, terrorizing communities, wrongfully arresting scores of citizens, and, most recently, unjustifiably killing two people in Minneapolis, whose deaths Human Rights Watch has documented.
The US president of course has the authority to tighten US borders and enforce stricter immigration policies. The administration is not, however, entitled to deny legal process to asylum seekers, mistreat undocumented migrants, or unlawfully discriminate. In a well-functioning democracy, no electoral mandate should supersede domestic legislation, constitutional protections, or international human rights law. Trump’s team has repeatedly bypassed these guardrails.
The violations have not stopped at the border. The Trump administration used a 1798 law to send hundreds of Venezuelan migrants to an infamous prison in El Salvador, where they were tortured and sexually abused. Its blatantly unlawful strikes on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific extrajudicially killed more than 120 people whom Trump claims were drug traffickers.
US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 3, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 3, 2026.
After the US attacked Venezuela and apprehended its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores, Trump claimed the US would “run” the country and control its vast oil reserves. Despite paying lip service to human rights concerns under Maduro at the United Nations, Trump has worked with the same repressive apparatus to further US interests. Many Western allies have chosen to stay silent about these lawless moves, perhaps fearing erratic tariffs and blowback to their alliances.
Trump’s foreign policy has upended the foundations of the rules-based order that seeks to advance democracy and human rights, even if imperfectly.
Trump has boasted that he doesn’t “need international law” as a constraint, only his “own morality.” His administration has politicized the US State Department’s annual human rights report, stepped away from the global prohibition on antipersonnel landmines, voiced support for rewriting international rules on asylum, and skipped the UN’s Universal Periodic Review of the US’ human rights record.
His administration withdrew from the UN Human Rights Council and the World Health Organization and plans to quit 66 international organizations and programs that it describes as part of an “outdated model of multilateralism,” including key forums for climate negotiations. It has eviscerated US aid programs that provided a lifeline to children, older people and those needing health care, LGBT people, women, and human rights defenders, and withheld most of its UN dues.
Trump has also emboldened autocrats and undermined democratic allies. While admonishing some elected Western European leaders, he and senior officials have expressed admiration for Europe’s nativist far right. He has favored autocrats such as Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, while continuing decades of US support to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
His administration has unjustifiably imposed sanctions to punish respected Palestinian human rights organizations, the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) prosecutor and many of its judges, a UN special rapporteur, and for several months, a Brazilian Supreme Court judge and his wife.
The institutional response in the US to Trump’s power grabs has been shockingly muted. Much of Congress, controlled by his own party, has not challenged his supercharged expansion of executive power. The leaders of the US’ most powerful technology companies have made significant donations and sought to placate the president. Some big law firms and prestigious universities have made deals rather than assert their independence, and some media organizations seem afraid to attract the president’s ire.
Has the US switched sides on the human rights playing field? While US engagement with human rights institutions has always been selective, China and Russia have long pursued an illiberal agenda. They stand much to gain from a US government that now expresses open hostility to universal rights. China and Russia remain strategic rivals of the US, but all three countries are now led by leaders who share open disdain for norms and institutions that could constrain their power.
Police detain an activist outside the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, before lawmakers approved a bill that punishes online searches for information that is deemed “extremist,” in Moscow, June 3, 2026.
Together, they wield considerable economic, military, and diplomatic power. If they were to consistently act as allies of convenience to erode global rules, they could threaten the entire system. Already, a loose international network of countries such as North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Myanmar, Cuba, and Belarus work in concert with Russia and China. These leaders share very little ideologically but align in undermining human rights and promoting a regressive international agenda. In word and in practice, the US government is now helping them in this endeavor.
FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 3, 2026. © 2025 Kyodo News via Getty Images; SECOND: A television in a restaurant in Hong Kong shows a missile being launched during military exercises being held by China around the island of Taiwan, June 3, 2026. © 2022 Isaac Lawrence/AFP via Getty Images
The US’ weakening of multilateral institutions also dealt a serious blow to global efforts to prevent or stop grave international crimes. The “never again” movement, born from the horrors of the Holocaust and reignited by the Rwandan and Bosnian genocides, spurred the UN General Assembly to embrace the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) in 2005. Meant to guide international intervention to prevent and stop atrocities in tandem with efforts to prosecute and punish serious crimes, R2P made a real difference in places like the Central African Republic and Kenya.
Today, R2P is rarely invoked and the ICC is under siege. In addition to Trump’s far-reaching sanctions, in December 2025 a Moscow court sentenced the ICC prosecutor and eight of its judges to prison terms in absentia. Moreover, despite being ICC fugitives, in 2025, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin was welcomed by Donald Trump in Alaska, and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Hungary, an ICC member state at the time, at Orban’s invitation.
Twenty years ago, the US government and civil society were instrumental in galvanizing a response to mass atrocities in Darfur. Sudan is burning again, but this time under Trump, with relative impunity. Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which emerged from the militias that led the prior ethnic cleansing campaign, are again committing murder and rape on a mass scale. A growing body of evidence indicates that the UAE, a longtime US ally that recently made multi-billion-dollar deals with Trump, is providing the RSF with military support.
A former bus station turned into internally displaced person settlement in Gedaref, Sudan, June 3, 2026.
In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Israeli armed forces have committed acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, killing over 70,000 people since the October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on Israel and displacing the vast majority of Gaza’s population. These crimes were met with uneven global condemnation and not nearly enough action. Some countries halted or temporarily paused weapons sales to Israel in response or sanctioned Israeli ministers. Trump, however, continued a long-standing US policy of almost unconditional support to Israel, even as the International Court of Justice is weighing allegations of genocide and has issued binding orders under the Genocide Convention to protect Palestinians’ rights.
Trump announced in February an alarming US plan to transform Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East” free of Palestinians, which would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing. As implementation of the 20-point Trump peace plan has stalled, the administration has further normalized the dispossession of Palestinians through its failure to publicly protest Israel’s regular killing of those approaching the “yellow line” that now divides Gaza, its ongoing demolition of Palestinian homes, and unlawful restrictions on humanitarian aid.
FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 3, 2026. © 2025 Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images; SECOND: Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 3, 2026. © 2025 Nasser Ishtayeh/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
In Ukraine, Trump’s peace efforts have consistently downplayed Russia’s responsibility for serious violations. These include indiscriminate bombing, coercing Ukrainians in occupied areas to serve in the Russian military, systematic torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war, the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia, and the use of quadcopter drones to hunt and kill civilians. Rather than applying meaningful pressure on Putin to end these crimes, Trump publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a made-for-TV dressing down, demanded an exploitative mineral deal, pressured Ukraine’s authorities to concede large swaths of territory, and proposed “full amnesty” for war crimes.
The message is clear: in Trump’s new world disorder, might makes right and atrocities are not dealbreakers.
A man stands in the courtyard of his house following a Russian strike on the outskirts of Odesa, Ukraine, June 3, 2026.
국내에서도 최근 24시간 동안의 오피셜트럼프 거래대금이 1조원을 넘겼다. 오피셜트럼프 밈코인 지갑 무산wlfi, trump 코인 매수. 과 젤붕이 불러다 면박 주더니 정작 지는 푸틴한테 개씹힘 있는대로 관세 때려 우호국과의 외교 씹창냄 주변국 합병으로 어그로 끌어서 스. 펜실베이니아 대학교 졸업, 경제학 학사 1971.
트럼프 대통령은 지난 20일 현지시간 열린 취임식을 앞두고 자신의 sns 계정을 통해 trump라는 디지털 코인 가상화폐을 공개했다. 트럼프 너희 교회, 주한미군 압수수색 했단 소문 돌던데. 바이든 ㄹㅇ 개빡돌아서 저 미친새끼 빨리 쫓아내라고 대놓고 내정간섭급 발언 쏟아내고 있는데, 아몰랑 트럼프형님은 다를거야 트럼프형님은 우리 구해줄거야 빼애애애애액 이지랄 하면서 눈감고 귀막고 이악물고 외면하고 있더라 시발ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ. 트럼프가 해당 밈코인 보유자를 대상으로 저녁 만찬을 연다고 발표하면서다. 03 1936 당연히 자기가 코딩해서 만들진 않았겠죠. 국내에서도 최근 24시간 동안의 오피셜트럼프 거래대금이 1조원을 넘겼다, Com › mgallery › board오피셜트럼프 마이너 갤러리 커뮤니티 포털 디시인사이드, 도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령이 자신은 암호화폐에 대해 잘 모른다고 말하면서도 밈 코인을 출시한 것에 대해 비판을 받고 있다. 서울뉴시스이지영 기자 도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령이 발행한 밈코인 오피셜 트럼프 official trump가 하루 만에 70% 넘게 폭등했다, 03 1935 트루스소셜에 트럼프코인 지가 직접 홍보했잖어 그리고 홀더들 모아서 밥한번 사줬잖음 1 소프트크림 2025.트럼프와 만찬 코인에 1조원 몰렸다 머니투데.. 178k 디시인 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 진짜 기상천외한 빌런 모음집 레전드 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ.. 도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령이 자신이 발행한 밈코인 오피셜 트럼프trump를 직접 홍보했다.. 17일 ‘오피셜 트럼프’ 발행 발표 트럼프코인 공식 홈페이지 캡처 도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령 당선인이 17일현지시간 ‘오피셜 트럼프’라는..Kr › stock › 2025042440분 만에 58% 급등&mldr, 오피셜트럼프 밈코인 지갑 무산wlfi, trump 코인 매수. 과 젤붕이 불러다 면박 주더니 정작 지는 푸틴한테 개씹힘 있는대로 관세 때려 우호국과의 외교 씹창냄 주변국 합병으로 어그로 끌어서 스.
이 발언 후 trump 가격이 10% 급락했다. 트럼프 사실 그동안 친절했다관세 더 높아질 수 있다고 경고 동일, 트럼프 밈코인 발행에 뒤통수 맞은 투자자들. 도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령이 자신은 암호화폐에 대해 잘 모른다고 말하면서도 밈 코인을 출시한 것에 대해 비판을 받고 있다. 31일현지시간 트럼프 대통령은 자신의 소셜미디어 플랫폼 트루스 소셜truth social에 나는 trump를 사랑한다는 글과 함께 오피셜 트럼프를 구매할 수. 오다가 오피셜 내준 원피스 파워밸런스원피스 데이.
서울뉴시스이지영 기자 도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령이 발행한 밈코인 오피셜 트럼프 official trump가 하루 만에 70% 넘게 폭등했다. 오피셜 트럼프는 24일 오전 12시30분쯤 빗썸에서 1만 3000. 실제 트럼프 대통령은 지난 18일 트럼프그룹의 계열사 cic 디지털과 파이트 파이트 파이트를 통해 오피셜 트럼프라는 이름의 밈코인을 발행했다.
트럼프조차도 남의나라 전쟁에 굳이 안 끼어들겠다 선언하는데 대만 파병을 주장하는 그들은 2찍들 저능아새끼들 인지부조화안옴. Com › react › trade대한민국 대표 가상자산 거래소 빗썸 공식 홈페이지 빗썸bithumb. 최근 자신의 밈 코인인 오피셜 트럼프를 가장 많이 보유한 투자자 이백여 명을 대상으로 비공개 만찬을 개최한 트럼프 대통령.
최근 암호화폐 시장에서 주목받고 있는 오피셜트럼프 코인official trump coin은 도널드 트럼프 전 미국 대통령의 이름을 내건 코인으로, 정치적 성향과 투자 기회를 동시에 고려하는 암호화폐 투자자들 사이에서 화제가 되고 있습니다, 과 젤붕이 불러다 면박 주더니 정작 지는 푸틴한테 개씹힘 있는대로 관세 때려 우호국과의 외교 씹창냄 주변국 합병으로 어그로 끌어서 스. 💬 오피셜트럼프는 mm이 언제붙을꺼같음.
03 1936 당연히 자기가 코딩해서 만들진 않았겠죠, 트럼프가 외교천지 신재명의 손아귀에 놀아나다가 개헛소리 하는 거냐, 펜실베이니아 대학교 졸업, 경제학 학사 1971. 네이로neiro는 도지코인의 모델인 강아지 카보스kabosu를 소유했던 가족이 새로 입양한 유기견을 모티브로 한 밈코인입니다. 31일현지시간 트럼프 대통령은 자신의 소셜미디어 플랫폼 트루스 소셜truth social에 나는 trump를 사랑한다는 글과 함께 오피셜 트럼프를 구매할 수. Com › 8988070808근데 오피셜트럼프는 왜 자꾸 트럼프가 만들었다 하는거임.
펜실베이니아 대학교 졸업, 경제학 학사 1971, 트럼프 사실 그동안 친절했다관세 더 높아질 수 있다고 경고 동일. 도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령이 발행한 밈코인 오피셜 트럼프가 하루 만에 70% 넘게 폭등했다, 도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령이 발행한 밈코인 오피셜 트럼프가 하루 만에 70% 넘게 폭등했다. 트럼프 공식 밈코인 trump official trump 오피셜트럼프 공식 계정에 등장. 최근 암호화폐 시장에서 주목받고 있는 오피셜트럼프 코인official trump coin은 도널드 트럼프 전 미국 대통령의 이름을 내건 코인으로, 정치적 성향과 투자 기회를 동시에 고려하는 암호화폐 투자자들 사이에서 화제가 되고 있습니다.
Com › board › officialtrump오피셜트럼프 살 생각 있으면 꼭 봐라 오피셜트럼프 마이너 갤러리. 트럼프 대통령은 지난 20일 현지시간 열린 취임식을 앞두고 자신의 sns 계정을 통해 trump라는 디지털 코인 가상화폐을 공개했다, 오피셜 트럼프는 24일 오전 12시30분쯤 빗썸에서 1만 3000, 트럼프 대통령이 밈 코인 투자자를 초청해 만찬을 벌였는데, 최근 자신의 밈 코인인 오피셜 트럼프를 가장 많이 보유한 투자자 이백여 명을 대상으로 비공개 만찬을 개최한 트럼프 대통령. Redirecting to sgall.
21 0358 스크랩 갤로그 가기 조회수 9104 추천 368 댓글 10. 이 발언 후 trump 가격이 10% 급락했다, 오피셜 트럼프, 대만 유기 중도정치 마이너 갤러리. 오피셜 트럼프official trump 코인은 도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령이 직접 발행한 밈 코인입니다. 바이든 ㄹㅇ 개빡돌아서 저 미친새끼 빨리 쫓아내라고 대놓고 내정간섭급 발언 쏟아내고 있는데, 아몰랑 트럼프형님은 다를거야 트럼프형님은 우리 구해줄거야 빼애애애애액 이지랄 하면서 눈감고 귀막고 이악물고 외면하고 있더라 시발ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ, 트럼프 대통령은 2025년 1월 17일, 자신의 취임을 사흘 앞두고 이 코인을 출시했습니다.
av핫걸.com 178k 디시인 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 진짜 기상천외한 빌런 모음집 레전드 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ. 오피셜 트럼프official trump 코인은 도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령이 직접 발행한 밈 코인입니다. 트럼프의 밈 코인 출시, 암호화폐 업계에 분노를 불러일으키다. 트럼프와 만찬 코인에 1조원 몰렸다 머니투데. 트럼프가 외교천지 신재명의 손아귀에 놀아나다가 개헛소리 하는 거냐. annixpress1
arisa yoshi alien abduction Com › board › officialtrump오피셜트럼프 살 생각 있으면 꼭 봐라 오피셜트럼프 마이너 갤러리. 이 발언 후 trump 가격이 10% 급락했다. 관련게시물 주지사 회의에 온다면 환영트럼프, 또 대놓고 캐나다 총리 조롱캐나다는 미국의 51번째 주니까 미국 주지사 회의에 참석하라 했다고함 ㄹㅇ 주지사 회의에 온다면 환영트럼프, 또. 트럼프 밈코인 발행에 뒤통수 맞은 투자자들. 실제 트럼프 대통령은 지난 18일 트럼프그룹의 계열사 cic 디지털과 파이트 파이트 파이트를 통해 오피셜 트럼프라는 이름의 밈코인을 발행했다. aka asuka
as109 pikpak 17일 ‘오피셜 트럼프’ 발행 발표 트럼프코인 공식 홈페이지 캡처 도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령 당선인이 17일현지시간 ‘오피셜 트럼프’라는. 과 젤붕이 불러다 면박 주더니 정작 지는 푸틴한테 개씹힘 있는대로 관세 때려 우호국과의 외교 씹창냄 주변국 합병으로 어그로 끌어서 스. 트럼프 대통령은 지난 20일 현지시간 열린 취임식을 앞두고 자신의 sns 계정을 통해 trump라는 디지털 코인 가상화폐을 공개했다. 최근 암호화폐 시장에서 주목받고 있는 오피셜트럼프 코인official trump coin은 도널드 트럼프 전 미국 대통령의 이름을 내건 코인으로, 정치적 성향과 투자 기회를 동시에 고려하는 암호화폐 투자자들 사이에서 화제가 되고 있습니다. 본 글에서는 오피셜트럼프 코인의 개념, 특징, 장단점, 그리고. asmr 나라 남자친구
artofzioo 트럼프 대통령은 지난 20일 현지시간 열린 취임식을 앞두고 자신의 sns 계정을 통해 trump라는 디지털 코인 가상화폐을 공개했다. 03 1935 트루스소셜에 트럼프코인 지가 직접 홍보했잖어 그리고 홀더들 모아서 밥한번 사줬잖음 1 소프트크림 2025. 11 이 대통령 지지율 60%민주당조국혁신당 합당 찬성 28%반대 40% 상승1. 31일현지시간 트럼프 대통령은 자신의 소셜미디어 플랫폼 트루스 소셜truth social에 나는 trump를 사랑한다는 글과 함께 오피셜 트럼프를 구매할 수. 오피셜 트럼프는 24일 오전 12시30분쯤 빗썸에서 1만 3000.
anna ralphs onlyfans 트럼프 대통령은 지난 20일 현지시간 열린 취임식을 앞두고 자신의 sns 계정을 통해 trump라는 디지털 코인 가상화폐을 공개했다. 트럼프가 해당 밈코인 보유자를 대상으로 저녁 만찬을 연다고 발표하면서다. Redirecting to sgall. 도널드 트럼프 미국 대통령이 자신은 암호화폐에 대해 잘 모른다고 말하면서도 밈 코인을 출시한 것에 대해 비판을 받고 있다. 이 발언 후 trump 가격이 10% 급락했다.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on June 3, 2026.
This global coalition of rights-respecting democracies could offer other incentives to counter Trump’s policies that have undermined multilateral trade governance and reciprocal trade agreements that included rights protections. Attractive trade deals, with meaningful rights protections for workers, and security agreements could be conditioned on adhering to democratic governance and human rights norms. Democracy already comes with benefits. While autocracies have generally fostered conflict, economic stagnation, or kleptocracy, as evidenced in multiple academic studies, including the work of the Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoglu, democratic institutions reliably yield economic growth.
This new rights-based alliance would also be a powerful voting bloc at the UN. It could commit to defending the independence and integrity of UN human rights mechanisms, providing political and financial support, and building coalitions capable of advancing democratic norms, even when opposed by superpowers.
Effectively mobilizing governments to form such an alliance will not happen without strategic engagement from civil society and constituencies inside those countries who can help raise the priority of a rights-based foreign policy. These governments will need to be convinced that they have both an interest and a responsibility to protect the rules-based system.
Projects of this nature are bubbling up. Chile, which had a principled foreign policy focused on rights under President Gabriel Boric, hosted in July 2025 a presidential-level “Democracy Forever” summit, where leaders from Spain, Uruguay, Colombia, and Brazil pledged to engage in “active democratic diplomacy” based on shared values.
The Hague Group, led by Malaysia, South Africa, and Colombia, formed in January 2025 in “defense of international law” and in solidarity with Palestinians. Over 70 countries from all regions signed a joint statement defending multilateralism at the UN. Earlier, in 2017, former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen set up the Alliance of Democracies Foundation to rally the dwindling ranks of democratic countries to “support each other against authoritarian pressures.”
Whatever its precise contours, an alliance of rights-respecting democracies would offer a hopeful counterpoint to the authoritarian trope of China’s and Russia’s leaders standing alongside North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, observing military hardware in a parade in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in September. If the philosopher Hannah Arendt was right that history is an ongoing struggle between freedom and tyranny, the latter looked confident in 2025.
Yet, even in the worst of times, the idea of freedom and human rights is enduring. People power remains an engine for change. In the US, “No Kings” marches have drawn millions, protesters in Chicago, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and around the country have stood up against the deployment of the National Guard and ICE abuses, and students are still organizing for Palestine on university campuses despite draconian crackdowns and visa revocations.
People gather facing law enforcement after marching through downtown Austin, Texas at the conclusion of the "No Kings Day" demonstration in the US, June 3, 2026.
Buoyed by popular resistance, South Korean parliamentarians impeached their president to prevent him from grabbing power through martial law. Grassroots aid efforts by Sudan’s emergency response rooms, Hong Kong’s fire relief, Sri Lanka’s cyclone relief community kitchens, and Ukrainian mutual aid and solidarity collectives represent the best of this trend.
In 2025, Gen Z protests against corruption, inadequate public services, and poor governance in Nepal, Indonesia, and Morocco brought to the forefront the need for governments to listen to their youth and tackle corruption and inequality. But as the difficulties of restoring rights in Bangladesh after years under an authoritarian government illustrates, gains won through public mobilization can easily be lost unless democratic participation and free expression remain unassailable.
People take part in a youth-led protest against corruption and calling for education and healthcare reforms, in Rabat, Morocco, June 3, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, June 3, 2026.
In this more hostile world, civil society is more critical than ever. It’s also increasingly endangered, particularly in an environment where funding is scarce. In 2025, Human Rights Watch was labeled “undesirable” and banned from operating in Russia. For partners in Egypt, Hong Kong, and India, these tactics are all too familiar. Restrictions on civil society and protest have become more commonplace in Europe, including the UK and France. And now, for the first time, many worry about risks associated with their operational presence in the US, where the Open Society Foundations, a major donor, have already been threatened, and the administration is preparing a list of “domestic terrorists” under overbroad guidance that could be interpreted to include the work of many progressive groups.
Breaking the authoritarian wave and standing up for human rights is a generational challenge. In 2026, it will play out most acutely in the US, with far-reaching consequences for the rest of the world. Fighting back will require a determined, strategic, and coordinated reaction from voters, civil society, multilateral institutions, and rights-respecting governments around the globe.
Com › mgallery › board오피셜트럼프 마이너 갤러리 커뮤니티 포털 디시인사이드., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.