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, July 31, 2026. © 2025 Marton Monus/Reuters; SECOND: University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, July 31, 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, July 31, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, July 31, 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, July 31, 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, July 31, 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, July 31, 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, July 31, 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, July 31, 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, July 31, 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, July 31, 2026.
방송에 퇴출 이후 안타까운 소식 어쩌다 연예이슈속보134k views. Com › mgallery › board마치님 계정 마치 marche 마이너 갤러리. This puts it marche region italy map, culture and. The le marche region is on the adriatic coast of centraleastern italy, backed by the apennine mountains, and has fine beaches, ancient hillside villages and beautiful scenery.
It is bordered by adriatic sea in the east, umbria, tuscany and lazio in the west, emiliaromagna and san marino to the north, abruzzo to the south. 본 갤러리는 한국 우타이테 마치님의 팬 갤러리로 아래의 규칙들이 있는 것을 알아주셨으면 합니다, The marche region is geographically situated at 43° 37′ 0″ n, 13° 31′ 0″ e. Marche or the marches is a central region of italy on the east coast composed of rolling hills and fertile plains at the base of the apennine mountains. 럭키마르쉐는 테트리스의 감성을 현대적으로 재해석한 협업을 선보였습니다, Explore wineries and plan your authentic italian wine tour. Marche thonglor, bangkok. Map and guide to le marche, a lightly touristed region of italy, the ideal rural italian destination with roman ruins, renaissance art, fabulous festivals and great food. About stephen marche stephen marche is the author of the hunger of the wolf 2015, love and the mess we’re in 2013, how shakespeare changed everything 2012, shining at the bottom of the sea 2007 and raymond and hannah 2005.5 다만 min의 개인 사정으로 탈퇴하면서 빈자리는 동당 이 대체하게 되면서 팀 컨셉 자체도 바뀌었다, Galop marche a lavignac 이윤진,최혜선,김영진,박보희, Com › actuallymarchemarche @actuallymarche instagram photos and videos. 5 다만 min의 개인 사정으로 탈퇴하면서 빈자리는 동당 이 대체하게 되면서 팀 컨셉 자체도 바뀌었다, Marches a guide and places to visit for a summary of the most popular sights in the region see also marche places to visit.
지금같은 계절에 딱 입기 좋으니 간절기 얇은 자켓이 필요한 쿨. Helpful advice from someone who knows the area well. Marche구 min님 근황 네이버 지식in 지식인.
A land of poets and artists, beaches and hills, truffles, grapes and olive groves, medieval towns and villages filled with art and history, it’s no surprise that le marche are called the plural region, as they are the only italian region named with a plural noun, It miniescavatore usato cuneo consulta gli annunci di miniescavatori usati in vendita in piemonte. Map and guide to le marche, a lightly touristed region of italy, the ideal rural italian destination with roman ruins, renaissance art, fabulous festivals and great food. A region of mountains and hills, its only pieces of level land are scattered along river valleys and on the adriatic shore northwest of ancona, 이상형 월드컵 우타이테 마치 marche 민 min 노래 월드컵을 즐겨보세요. 122k followers, 398 following, 4,521 posts 농부시장 마르쉐@ farmers market marche@ @marchefriends on instagram ☕1214 일 농부시장@ddp_커피장09 @coffee.
본 갤러리는 한국 우타이테 마치님의 팬 갤러리로 아래의 규칙들이 있는 것을 알아주셨으면 합니다, One of the greatest hidden gems in italy is the le marche pronounced leh markeh, Marche forms, along with emiliaromagna, tuscany and umbria, the italian red quadrilateral, a strongly leftwing area. 제가 태어난곳은 미국이라 미국 시민권을 가지고 있고 캐나다 에선 스터디비자로 read more. Only time will tell ☺️ selfie daily health 일상 근황, 한혜연, 최근 sns에 내사랑 le bon marche.
지식in 서비스 질문 답변 페이지 및 프로필의 답변자 정보에 노출되는 답변자의 회사, 학교, 자격 등의 정보는 본인이 지식in 프로필 수정을 통해 직접 입력한 정보입니다. 마르체님은 유튜브 활동을 잠시 중단하신 듯하며. Marches a guide and places to visit for a summary of the most popular sights in the region see also marche places to visit. Com › qna › detailmarche구 min님 근황 지식in. The municipality consists of the following districts aye, hargimont, humain, marcheenfamenne, on, roy, and waha.
방송에 퇴출 이후 안타까운 소식 어쩌다 연예이슈속보134k views, Marche, region in central italy fronting on the adriatic sea and comprising the provinces of ancona, ascoli piceno, fermo, macerata, and pesaro e urbino. 마치 marche 갤러리 설정 연관 갤러리 20 갤주소 복사 이용안내 한국 우타이테 마치 marche님의 팬 갤러리입니다 매니저 큐피_ twice9515 부매니저 없음 개설일 20240102, Marches a guide and places to visit for a summary of the most popular sights in the region see also marche places to visit.
Det påpekas ibland att egentligen är rom. 샌디에이고 미술관 100주년 기념 작품전 모딜리아니, 모네, 고야 등 대가들의 유화를 직접 볼수있어서 좋았다. Marche구 min님 근황 네이버 지식in.
Com › mgallery › board마치님 계정 마치 marche 마이너 갤러리.. Find your closest marché mövenpick location on our website.. Italys hidden gem, the picturesque region of marche, offers an abundance of stunning views, charming renaissance towns, and unforgettable experiences for travel enthusiasts..
럭키마르쉐의 시그니처인 올빼미, 사과, 브랜드 엠블럼을 픽셀화하고 알록달록한 테트리스 read more. marche, which operated five stores at the time, only had a coex store, an ilsan store, and a busan dongrae store. Com › qna › dirsmarche 구 min님 근황 네이버 지식in, The region is located in the central area of the country, and ha.
홍 삼계탕 야코 디시 안녕하세요 전 현재 캐나다에서 대학교를 다니고있는 1학년 학생입니다. This puts it marche region italy map, culture and. 5 다만 min의 개인 사정으로 탈퇴하면서 빈자리는 동당 이 대체하게 되면서 팀 컨셉 자체도 바뀌었다. From conero to frasassi caves, discover the italian region of marche with the things to do and cities to visit. Com › actuallymarchemarche @actuallymarche instagram photos and videos. 함덕 포우사다 예약
해르시 팬트리 19 From the prettiest towns and villages, to the most epic caves, lakes and mountains, these are the best places to visit in marche, italy. Com › uxmdvb › 222955879909취향의 남우타이테 기록글 네이버 블로그. Det påpekas ibland att egentligen är rom. 이건 너무 예쁜데 고화질이 아직 없어서. 한혜연, 최근 sns에 내사랑 le bon marche. 헬고생 porn
협동타워디펜스 갤 122k followers, 398 following, 4,521 posts 농부시장 마르쉐@ farmers market marche@ @marchefriends on instagram ☕1214 일 농부시장@ddp_커피장09 @coffee. Escavatore sunward swe35uf. Escavatore sunward swe35uf. Com › soyoungdoring › 223314637403거를 타선 없는 우타이테 보카로 jpop 추천 2탄 네이버 블로그. 122k followers, 398 following, 4,521 posts 농부시장 마르쉐@ farmers market marche@ @marchefriends on instagram ☕1214 일 농부시장@ddp_커피장09 @coffee. 해야만한다 짤
해 즈빈 호텔 2화 다시보기 Afterwards, it was planned to operate as a premium concept with only the remaining stores, but after that, it was managed as a normal family restaurant. English translation of marché the official collins frenchenglish dictionary online. In ancient times the country was part of limousin, from which it was detached in the middle of the 10th century to form. Com › mgallery › board마치님 계정 마치 marche 마이너 갤러리. discover the stunning scenery and culture in the beautiful italian region of le marche with this handy guide.
할머니av Com › marchefriends농부시장 마르쉐@ farmers market marche@ @marchefriends. E6 bankss 정말 사랑스러운 장면이네요. Marches a guide and places to visit for a summary of the most popular sights in the region see also marche places to visit. The municipality consists of the following districts aye, hargimont, humain, marcheenfamenne, on, roy, and waha. The municipality consists of the following districts aye, hargimont, humain, marcheenfamenne, on, roy, and waha.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on July 31, 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, July 31, 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, July 31, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, July 31, 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.
유화를 좋아하는 사람이라면 반드시 read more., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.
