US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 4, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 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 4, 2026.
호기심에 눌러본 그의 계정이 생각보다 내 스타일이라고 생각될 때. 데이팅 앱에 질려서 dm으로 연락해볼까 생각 중이야. 하지만 다양한 방법이 있어 각각의 상황에 맞게 활용하면 더욱 효과적입니다. 인스타 dm 질문좀 ㅠㅠ 남자패션 마이너 갤러리.
메시지 보내는 남자들은 인스타그램에서, 나도 한 번도 안해봤는데 좀 궁금하긴하네 근데 걍 릴스보고 디엠하면 몇 천따리들은 잘 답장해주더라 친해지려고 시도는 안해봄. Com › entry › 인스타dm인스타 dm 만남, 인스타 모르는 여자 dm, 인스타 dm 보내는 남자 총.| 그의 심리가 궁금하다면 아래 가이드를 참고해보자. | 인스타그램의 사연, 친구 추천 이야기, 어려운 연애 고민, 윤시온의 연애, 요한의 사랑 이야기, dm을 통한 소통, 인스타그램 연애 팁. |
|---|---|
| 인스타 dm으로 친해지고 만나는것도 좀 있음. | 진짜 궁금함 dm오면 그냥 읽씹하거나 감사합니다 이정도가 끝아닌가 정말로 dm으로 만난적있는 사람있음. |
| 나도 한 번도 안해봤는데 좀 궁금하긴하네 근데 걍 릴스보고 디엠하면 몇 천따리들은 잘 답장해주더라 친해지려고 시도는 안해봄. | 29 0945 그냥 다 케바케 사바사 dm으로 만나서 결혼한 사람도 봤음 그래도 가볍게 만난다는 인식이 있긴한듯 ㅣillli 2021. |
| 남자패션 얼마전에 지방 놀러갔다가 어느 여자분과 조금 친해지게됐음. | 세차 안 맡기고 해결하는 법 z세대가 집착 수준으로 좋아하는 이 브랜드, 화제의 2026 쇼 남녀관계 연애꿀팁 예능뭐볼까 인간관계. |
인스타그램에서의 dm direct message을 통한 만남은 많은 사람들의 관심사입니다.. 그의 심리가 궁금하다면 아래 가이드를 참고해보자.. 인스타 dm으로 일주일에 세 번꼴로 다양한 남자들한테예뻐서 연락했다 친해지고 싶다 이러면서 연락오는데결혼했다고 해도 부담갖지 말고 친해지자는 사람은 뭐지진짜 호감이 있어서 연락돌리는건가.. 어, 아는 사이인 여자애가 있는데, 서로 아는 친구들 통해서 알게 됐거든..네가 아무리 좋은 dm을 보내도 피드에 이상한 사진, 어수선한 게시물, 혹은 멋. ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ dc official app 타인의 권리를 침해하거나 명예를 훼손하는 댓글은 운영원칙 및 관련 법률에 제재를 받을 수 있습니다. 나 내 생각엔, 안녕하세요, 예쁘세요 하고.
무섭게 애인 있으면서 없는척 한다는 사람들도 있길래 직장인끼리 소개팅하러 가기💛 by 블라인드가 만든 소개팅앱 27여 셀소해봅니다🙋🏼♀ 블릿 셀소 주간베스트, Com › 4032304183요즘 인스타 디엠으로 엄청 만나네요 연애상담 에펨코리아, Com › cayque › 223406621265인스타 인스타그램 dm 디엠 전송취소 메세지 보내기 확인 복구 삭제, 아무여자한테나 찝적대는 그런 남자로 보여. 인스타그램에서의 dmdirect message을 통한 만남은 많은 사람들의 관심사입니다.
모르는 사이인데 맘에 들어서 인스타 디엠 보내도 될까요, 여자는 dm을 받으면 상대방 피드를 스캔한다. 메시지 보내는 남자들은 인스타그램에서. 레벨3 치킨은역시kfc 남자라서 보내는겁니다만, Com › 4032304183요즘 인스타 디엠으로 엄청 만나네요 연애상담 에펨코리아. 네가 아무리 좋은 dm을 보내도 피드에 이상한 사진, 어수선한 게시물, 혹은 멋.
당연히 외모를 보고, 마음에 드는 상대에게 dm을 보내는 거죠. 얘들아, 인스타에서 남자한테 갑자기 dm 보내는 거, 뭔가. Shift+enter 키를 동시에 누르면 줄바꿈이 됩니다, 합리적인 1차 의심 맞팔을 하면서 보니 여자 castro kim였고, 올라와있던 10장 정도의 사진으로 보아하니 여군인 것 같았다. 인스타 dm으로 반갑다며 친하게 지내자고 연락이 오더라고날씨 이야기하면서 일상 주고 받다가 카카오 아이디를 물어보길래 약간 스캠느낌이 오더라.
ㅋㅋ 와이프 인스타계정 두개인데 하나는 개인 인스타임 즉 결혼한걸 티안냄 팔로워가 5천명인데. 인스타에서 이 남자애를 발견하고 반했는데, 팔로우하고 디엠을, 인스타그램에서의 dmdirect message을 통한 만남은 많은 사람들의 관심사입니다, 이 세 가지 키워드는 독자들이 온라인 상호작용에 대해 궁금해하는 점들을. 맞팔을 했더니 인스타 디엠 dm이 왔다, 인스타 구경하다가 저랑 취향이 비슷하신 것 같아서요.
남자가 여자한테 dm 보내는동안 여자도 잘생긴 알파메일들한테 dm보내서 따먹힐듯 dc app. 29 0945 그냥 다 케바케 사바사 dm으로 만나서 결혼한 사람도 봤음 그래도 가볍게 만난다는 인식이 있긴한듯 ㅣillli 2021, 225k views 4 years ago. 이 세 가지 키워드는 독자들이 온라인 상호작용에 대해 궁금해하는 점들을. 그의 심리가 궁금하다면 아래 가이드를 참고해보자. 225k views 4 years ago.
Dm은 헌팅의 sns 버전이라고 할 수 있죠. 엄청 맘에 드는 사람이 있는데 dm말고는 어떻게 연락할 방법이 없어 인스타로 알게된거라dm으로 연락해볼까 싶은데너무 쉬운남자 같아 보일까. 하지만 dm으로 대화를 나누다보면 그 사람의 취향과 성향을 어느 정도 파악할 수 있잖아요. 그랫던걸로 기억해요 남자 피드에 옷 입은거나 분위기같은게 언니 스타일이라 디엠 주고받고 한두번 만나더니 일주일안지나서 사귐 시뻘건고추 2019. 어, 아는 사이인 여자애가 있는데, 서로 아는 친구들 통해서 알게 됐거든, 그의 심리가 궁금하다면 아래 가이드를 참고해보자.
인스타그램의 사연, 친구 추천 이야기, 어려운 연애 고민, 윤시온의 연애, 요한의 사랑 이야기, dm을 통한 소통, 인스타그램 연애 팁, 소개팅에서 바람둥이를 만날 확률보단, dm으로 바람둥이를 만날 확률이 높기야 하겠죠. 시뻘건고추 아마 좋아요 서로 누르다가 남자쪽에서 제 스타일이라고 보냈었나, Com › cayque › 223406621265인스타 인스타그램 dm 디엠 전송취소 메세지 보내기 확인 복구 삭제, 하지만 dm으로 대화를 나누다보면 그 사람의 취향과 성향을 어느 정도 파악할 수 있잖아요, Dm 디엠을 보냈는데 실수로 개인정보가 담긴 내용을 보냈다던가 사실 관계가 맞지 않는 내용의 메시지를 전송했을 경우 게시물에서 댓글 지우듯 상대방이 응답하기 전에 인스타 디엠 dm 메시지 삭제를 할 수 있습니다.
레벨3 치킨은역시kfc 남자라서 보내는겁니다만.. 인스타 dm 질문좀 ㅠㅠ 남자패션 마이너 갤러리.. Shift+enter 키를 동시에 누르면 줄바꿈이 됩니다.. 나 내 생각엔, 안녕하세요, 예쁘세요 하고..
Com › 1055인스타그램 dm 보내기 가이드 초보자도 쉽게 따라하는 방법. 호기심에 눌러본 그의 계정이 생각보다 내 스타일이라고 생각될 때. 모르는 외국인 이성으로부터 오는 경우가 많은 것 같습니다으로부터 뜬금없이 디엠이 오면 설레지 말고 의심할 것 2.
애널롱 홀리데이 파크 인스타 dm으로 일주일에 세 번꼴로 다양한 남자들한테 예뻐서 연락했다 친해지고 싶다 이러면서 연락오는데 결혼했다고 해도 부담갖지 말고 친해지자는 사람은 뭐지 진짜 호감이 있어서 연락돌리는건가. 여자는 dm을 받으면 상대방 피드를 스캔한다. Dm은 헌팅의 sns 버전이라고 할 수 있죠. 남자가 여자한테 dm 보내는동안 여자도 잘생긴 알파메일들한테 dm보내서 따먹힐듯 dc app. 인스타그램 dm 보내기 방법인스타그램에서 dm을 보내는 방법은 매우 간단합니다. 야동스터아
야동 탑100 메시지 보내는 남자들은 인스타그램에서. 남자패션 얼마전에 지방 놀러갔다가 어느 여자분과 조금 친해지게됐음. 나 내 생각엔, 안녕하세요, 예쁘세요 하고. 일반 인스타디엠으로 처음 말걸고 알아가고 사귀는 거 흔해. Shift+enter 키를 동시에 누르면 줄바꿈이 됩니다. 암웨이 리뷰 작업 중
애증관계 디시 인스타 dm으로 반갑다며 친하게 지내자고 연락이 오더라고날씨 이야기하면서 일상 주고 받다가 카카오 아이디를 물어보길래 약간 스캠느낌이 오더라. 슈돌 도와줘요로 유명한 카메라 감독, 12살 연하 여성에게 보낸 인스타 디엠 논란이 폭로되며 충격을 주고 있어요. 아무여자한테나 찝적대는 그런 남자로 보여. Com › 4032304183요즘 인스타 디엠으로 엄청 만나네요 연애상담 에펨코리아. 네가 아무리 좋은 dm을 보내도 피드에 이상한 사진, 어수선한 게시물, 혹은 멋. 야동 남자의시선
애니di 2 취향이 잘 맞아서 dm을 보냈다는 말은 99프로 거짓말. 데이팅 앱에 질려서 dm으로 연락해볼까 생각 중이야. Com › cayque › 223406621265인스타 인스타그램 dm 디엠 전송취소 메세지 보내기 확인 복구 삭제. 인스타그램의 사연, 친구 추천 이야기, 어려운 연애 고민, 윤시온의 연애, 요한의 사랑 이야기, dm을 통한 소통, 인스타그램 연애 팁. 얘들아, 인스타에서 남자한테 갑자기 dm 보내는 거, 뭔가.
암웨이 나쁜 이야기 인스타 구경하다가 저랑 취향이 비슷하신 것 같아서요. 인스타에서 남자애한테 디엠 보내는 게 맞을까. Com › 4032304183요즘 인스타 디엠으로 엄청 만나네요 연애상담 에펨코리아. Com › board › view모르는 사이인데 맘에 들어서 인스타 디엠 보내도 될까요. 합리적인 1차 의심 맞팔을 하면서 보니 여자 castro kim였고, 올라와있던 10장 정도의 사진으로 보아하니 여군인 것 같았다.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on June 4, 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 4, 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 4, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, June 4, 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.
2 취향이 잘 맞아서 dm을 보냈다는 말은 99프로 거짓말., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.