US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 7, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 2026.
고양이 고양이키우기 고양이집사 귀여운고양이 아기고양이 새끼고양이 아깽이 개냥이 먼치킨 먼치킨고양이 브숏 냥팔 냥팔맞팔 냥스타그램 cat kitten munchkin 아깽이 깨물기 교육 모범 수강생. 고양이, 동물, 먼치킨 고양이에 관한 아이디어를 더 확인해 보세요. Kim on novem 제품제공 베르디캣의 퓨어트릿 제품을 제공해주셔서 먹어보았습미당🖤 베르디캣은 오랜기간 집사들이 직접 연구하고 개발한 브랜드라고 해요. 4h 아깽이 깨물기 교육 모범 수강생 국수🫡.
본문 보기 댓글닫기 새로고침 랙돌카페 브숏치킨 보다는 순종 브숏이나 멍치킨 추천 2022. 브리티쉬 숏헤어 마이너 갤러리 커뮤니티 포털 디시인사이드. 펫샵에서 며칠전에 데려온 실버태비 브숏+먼치킨이긔.Kim on novem 제품제공 베르디캣의 퓨어트릿 제품을 제공해주셔서 먹어보았습미당🖤 베르디캣은 오랜기간 집사들이 직접 연구하고 개발한 브랜드라고 해요. 자꾸 질문해서 미안한디 따로 눈여겨본건 랙돌인데 브숏에비해 랙돌도 좀 건강이 위험한 편일까요. 이아이는 우리집 도숏 먼치킨 믹스고 이름은 치즈야지금 7살이고 우리집 첫아이야내 로망묘가 치즈냥이랑 먼치킨이었어서 데려왔, 유튭 쇼츠에 나온 대박인가 걔도 그런것 같고난 먼치킨 자체가 인간 왜소증이랑 동일한 병의 일종이라생각해서 먼치킨, 4h 아깽이 깨물기 교육 모범 수강생 국수🫡. 고양이 고양이키우기 고양이집사 귀여운고양이 아기고양이 새끼고양이 아깽이 개냥이 먼치킨 먼치킨고양이 브숏 냥팔 냥팔맞팔 냥스타그램 cat kitten munchkin 아깽이 깨물기 교육 모범 수강생.
귀여운 우리집 고양이 먼치킨 너무너무 귀여워 사진을 방출해보도록 했다.. 유전병에 취약하다고 들었는데, 브숏먼치킨도 캐터리가 있나..
사진많음주의 우리집 먼치킨들 자랑 집고양이 미니 갤러리. 보통 먼치킨 숏레그standard munchkin cat라고 부른다, 1,354 likes, 8 comments munchkin, 펫샵에서 며칠전에 데려온 실버태비 브숏+먼치킨이긔, 본 갤러리는 국제고양이협회the international cat association, tica에서 개시하는 품종 고양이 묘주오너라면 누구든지 이용할 수.
더라고 근데 이것도 더 커야 올라가지 지금은 못올라가더라 슬라이더만 탈 수 있더라고 ㅋㅋ 먼치킨은 캣타워사주려면 비싼거 사줘야하더라, Tiktok에서 고양이 먼치킨 키우면 안되는 이유 관련 동영상을 찾아보세요, 프롤로그 블로그 냥냥이 백과사전 9개의 글 목록열기. 보통 먼치킨 숏레그가 롱레그보다 분양비가 2배 이상 차이가 나는데 비싸도 대부분 숏레그들이 먼저 분양된다. 유명 인플루언서나 일반 반려인들이 올리는 브리티쉬숏헤어 먼치킨 콘텐츠는 폭발적인 반응을 얻으며, 품종에 대한 인지도를 높이는 데 크게 기여합니다.
펫샵에서 며칠전에 데려온 실버태비 브숏+먼치킨이긔. Rid on novem 소중한 내 배쨜 관리하기 . 본문 보기 댓글닫기 새로고침 랙돌카페 브숏치킨 보다는 순종 브숏이나 멍치킨 추천 2022. 아깽이 개냥이 귀여운고양이 고양이 아기고양이 새끼고양이 먼치킨 먼치킨고양이 브숏 집사 냥스타그램 냥팔 냥팔맞팔 고양이키우기 munchkin cat kitten catlover 국수좋은날 facebook 국수좋은날 10h 아기고양이의 밀당🥹.
보통 먼치킨 숏레그가 롱레그보다 분양비가 2배 이상 차이가 나는데 비싸도 대부분 숏레그들이 먼저 분양된다.. 브숏 14개월차 성장끝난듯ㅠ 메인쿤 마이너 갤러리.. 군산사교적이며 호기심 많은 반려묘 먼치킨 브숏 골드 소개해요 feat..
나도 무조건 먼치킨뿐이야 생각으로 돌아다녔는데 우리애한테 딱 꽂혀서 폴드 데려옴. 도움말 도움말 라이센스 반려묘추천 페르시안강아지 브리티시쇼트헤어먼치킨 브숏성묘 동물판매허가번호 323000004520200032 반려묘추천 페르시안강아지 브리티시쇼트헤어먼치킨 브숏성묘 반려묘추천 페르시안강아지 브리티시쇼트헤어먼치킨 브숏성묘. 브숏 vs 페르시안 브리티쉬 숏헤어 마이너 갤러리, 먼치킨분양 제일 사랑스러운 브숏먼치킨 네이버 블로그 반려동물이야기 252개의 글 목록열기, 브숏믹스먼치킨 드디어 데려왔어요 행벅♡ 메인쿤 마이너.
우유 사랑️ 고양이 먼치킨 먼치킨숏레그 브숏 catlover. 사진많음주의 우리집 먼치킨들 자랑 집고양이 미니 갤러리, 브숏이랑 먼치킨 cy ay 기다렸기 때문에 오래 걸렸어요 ㅜㅜ 랙돌. 동장단족몸통이 길고 다리가 짧은 체형, Com › reel › 2004354276824194집사 밥먹는건 꼭 직관해야되는 국수☺️. 문의 050713777551, 위치는 네이버 왕발고양이 검색.
본 갤러리는 국제고양이협회the international cat association, tica에서 개시하는 품종 고양이 묘주오너라면 누구든지 이용할 수 있습니다. 형들 펫샵에서 먼치킨 데려왓는데 집고양이 미니 갤러리. 야옹이 갤러리는 생물 관련 디시인사이드 갤러리 중 하나로, 주로 약칭인 냥갤이라고 불린다. 고양이분양🤍랙돌, 브리티쉬숏헤어, 먼치킨 분양 왕발. 아깽이 개냥이 귀여운고양이 고양이 아기고양이 새끼고양이 먼치킨 먼치킨고양이 브숏 집사 냥스타그램 냥팔 냥팔맞팔 고양이키우기 munchkin cat kitten catlover 국수좋은날 facebook 국수좋은날 10h 아기고양이의 밀당🥹.
구독 브로 후기 디시 고양이 먼치킨 개냥이 아깽이 냥이 귀여운고양이 고양이일상 고양이키우기 냥팔 냥스타그램 캣스타그램 냥팔맞팔 집사소통 먼치킨 먼치킨고양이 브숏 munchkin cat kitten catlover 국수좋은날 facebook 국수좋은날 3h . 1,354 likes, 8 comments munchkin. 보통 먼치킨 숏레그standard munchkin cat라고 부른다. 고양이 국수좋은날 귀여운고양이 새끼고양이 아깽이 개냥이 냥이 냥팔 냥팔맞팔 냥스타그램 캣스타그램 캣맘 고양이일상 고양이키우기 먼치킨 먼치킨고양이 브숏 브숏고양이 cat catlover kitten munchkin cutekitten. 야옹이 갤러리는 생물 관련 디시인사이드 갤러리 중 하나로, 주로 약칭인 냥갤이라고 불린다. 광주 쉬멜
곽유연 사건 야옹이 갤러리는 생물 관련 디시인사이드 갤러리 중 하나로, 주로 약칭인 냥갤이라고 불린다. 네이버에서 그린웨일 캣타워 먼치킨전용으로 샀는데 먼치킨전용 50000원에옵션 이것저것 추가하니까 780만원인가. Com › reel › 3836474139979968facebook. 고양이 먼치킨 개냥이 아깽이 냥이 귀여운고양이 고양이일상 고양이키우기 냥팔 냥스타그램 캣스타그램 냥팔맞팔 집사소통 먼치킨 먼치킨고양이 브숏 munchkin cat kitten catlover 국수좋은날 facebook 국수좋은날 3h . 보통 먼치킨 숏레그가 롱레그보다 분양비가 2배 이상 차이가 나는데 비싸도 대부분 숏레그들이 먼저 분양된다. 교내사생 애니
곽혈수 편의점 브숏 먼치킨 고양이는 먼치킨과 브리티쉬 숏헤어 품종을 교배하여 탄생한 고양이로, 짧은 다리와 빵빵한 얼굴, 뾰족한 귀를 가지고 있어서 매우 귀엽고 사랑스러운 품종입니다. Com › 브숏먼치킨고양이특징브숏 먼치킨 고양이 특징 및 유전병 총정리 위드포우. Tiktok에서 고양이 먼치킨 키우면 안되는 이유 관련 동영상을 찾아보세요. Com › mgallery › board입양 종 추천 메인쿤 마이너 갤러리. 브숏 먼치킨 고양이는 먼치킨과 브리티쉬 숏헤어 품종을 교배하여 탄생한 고양이로, 짧은 다리와 빵빵한 얼굴, 뾰족한 귀를 가지고 있어서 매우 귀엽고 사랑스러운 품종입니다. 광주 허그 룸 디시
과즙세연 모음 고양이, 동물, 먼치킨 고양이에 관한 아이디어를 더 확인해 보세요. 먼치킨분양 제일 사랑스러운 브숏먼치킨 네이버 블로그 반려동물이야기 252개의 글 목록열기. Com › zngjwm1742 › 223703184790브숏먼치킨 짧은 다리를 가진 브리티시 네이버 블로그. 상위1% 예쁘고 건강한 고급 품종 혈통묘 전문. 깜찍이 ️ 이렇게 예쁜 미모를 압도하는 개냥이 성격 😘 블루골드 먼치킨 왕자님 보러 오세요 먼치킨숏레그 먼치킨고양이 브리티쉬먼치킨 블루골드먼치킨 먼치킨고양이분양 먼치킨분양 먼치킨 ay12 ay11 cutecat munchikincat 고양이릴스 고양이영상.
곽혈수 사건 요약 Enjoy heartwarming moments between cats and milk in this adorable video featuring 브숏 디시 and 바미군 우유. 솔직히 펫샵에서 오래 안나가서 깎아준다고 싸게 데려왔는데. 동장단족몸통이 길고 다리가 짧은 체형. 형들 펫샵에서 먼치킨 데려왓는데 집고양이 미니 갤러리. Com › board › viewㄱㄷ남친이 브숏 캐터리에서 사오고 싶대요 단체발작 실시간 베스.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on June 7, 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 7, 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 7, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, June 7, 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.
나도 무조건 먼치킨뿐이야 생각으로 돌아다녔는데 우리애한테 딱 꽂혀서 폴드 데려옴., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.