US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 5, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 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 5, 2026.
야마다야는 가이세키 코스요리로 정평이 나 있는 곳입니다. 예고편보다 재밌는 영화 소개 비즈니스 문의 leecine2020@naver. 또한 오다 에이이치로의 소년만화 정발판에선 환수종이라고도 쓰인다. Y semi progre magdalena merbilháa carga contra francisco undurraga, futuro ministro de cultura influencers en incendios otakin asegura que se manchaban con cenizas y buscaban señoras para grabar contenido banco negó devolución de 0 mil a cliente por cuento del tío alegando entrega de claves suprema ordenó tramitar reclamo minsal llama a no consumir.
높은 인지도는 광고 섭외로 이어지고 있다.. 만약 등록이 가능하다면 다른 국민카드 등록할 필요가 없고해외에서 비자카드를 써야 한다면 별도.. 설아의 과식 아메쨩の小説 pixiv 설아의 과식 하이퍼방귀폭풍설사여중생.. 12궁 기호, 일본 인형, 오타쿠 룸에 관한 아이디어를 더 확인해 보세요..
이제는 일본 발음을 딴 ‘심익현’이라는 한국명으로 더 자주 불린다. 일본 tv ㄷㅇㅍ으로 보는거 요샌 너무 끊겨서 보기 힘드네, 단점 한발뺴는건 아니기에 결국은 한발빼는 유흥을 다시 찾게됨. 6 1925 일본 하루종일 집에 있다가 편의점 가려고 나왔는데 1 1924. 쇼타임이 명목상으로 메인인 가게이고 폐점 한시간쯤. 높은 인지도는 광고 섭외로 이어지고 있다.
한국인 가능 소프랜드, 안마데리버리, 호텔헬, 풍속 에스테틱 등 다양한 풍속이 있으며, 귀여운 타입, 청초한 타입, 통통한 타입, 유부녀 타입 등 다양한 장르의 여성을 read more.. 체력 팔팔한 스무살짜리 여자애들이나 이쪽 일에 노하우가 상당한 업소 출신 아가씨들은 전날까지 클럽 read more..
일본 누나들 있는 ㅇㅍ hsv 마이너 갤러리. 제천일본여성출장만남ㄹ r인 hnk5577제천노콘출장ㅣ, 화상 연고 드럭스토어같은데선 안팔고 제대로된 약국에 가야되지.
또한 오다 에이이치로의 소년만화 정발판에선 환수종이라고도 쓰인다. 요샌 다시보기도 버퍼가 심해서 보다 처음으로 돌아가고 하는 ㅠㅠㅎ. → 출근할 경우 평균적으로 5명 가량. Yesbet yes bet은 암호화폐 bitcoin 결제를 허용합니다 우리는 bitpoly payment gateway를 이용하며, 회원님의 결제를 안전하게 처리할 수 있습니다 암호화폐 입금 시 네트워크수수료 외 별도의 수수료는 발생하지 않습니다. 본지 꽤 오래돼서 정확하진 않아 ㅠㅠㅠ나 일드도 즐겨보는데 심지어 드라마에서도 그대로 나오더라.
| 지하1층이건 4층이건 2시간간격으로 세번 진행되는. | 제천일본여성출장만남ㄹr인hnk5577제천노콘출장ㅣ제천30대미시출장ㅣ ㅇㅍ 오피후기 만남앱 소개팅 만남어플 섹파 부킹만남 주중년채팅 사모님. | It is commonly used in informal conversations, particularly in text messages or online chats, to express disagreement or denial. | 현재 강남 ㅇㅍ업소에서 돈만내면 부를 수 있다는 일본 유명. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 일본내국인 개인, 법인이 일본 국외에서 해외 법인을 설립하고, 일본의 법 체계에서 벗어나 일본에. | 6 1925 일본 하루종일 집에 있다가 편의점 가려고 나왔는데 1 1924. | 일본 스케줄 관계로 1월 30일에 출국해서 졸업식에는 참석하지 못했지만, 모교에 영상편지를 남겼다고 한다. | 시스템 입장료 15000엔으로 스트립바 입장. |
| ㅇㅍ가 찍어준 나카메라에 많이 담아주셨네여 정말정말정맬루 힘들었던 6월, 맘고생 털어내보고자 무작정 떠난 유주니또왔다일본. | Y semi progre magdalena merbilháa carga contra francisco undurraga, futuro ministro de cultura influencers en incendios otakin asegura que se manchaban con cenizas y buscaban señoras para grabar contenido banco negó devolución de $740 mil a cliente por cuento del tío alegando entrega de claves suprema ordenó tramitar reclamo minsal llama a no consumir. | 인터넷의 보급으로 av 컨텐츠들을 스트리밍 방송 이나 데이터 다운로드 형태로 제공하기도 한다. | , bbc와 abc는 애석함을 표하다 혹은 언짢음을 표하다라는 뜻의 express regret over를 사용했다. |
| 제천일본여성출장만남ㄹ r인 hnk5577제천노콘출장ㅣ. | 아따아따에 단비도 교복입고 다니고, 엄마도 정장 입고 유치원 면접 봤던거 같음. | , bbc와 abc는 애석함을 표하다 혹은 언짢음을 표하다라는 뜻의 express regret over를 사용했다. | 일본 누나들 있는 ㅇㅍ hsv 마이너 갤러리. |
| 단점 한발뺴는건 아니기에 결국은 한발빼는 유흥을 다시 찾게됨. | 인터넷의 보급으로 av 컨텐츠들을 스트리밍 방송 이나 데이터 다운로드 형태로 제공하기도 한다. | 8월 29일 부모님과 직접 다녀갔다고 한다. | 또한 오다 에이이치로의 소년만화 정발판에선 환수종이라고도 쓰인다. |
아주 오래전부터 플레이해왔던 유저로써 앞으로도 새로운 문제가 많이 나오면 좋겠다, 예고편보다 재밌는 영화 소개 비즈니스 문의 leecine2020@naver. ㅇㅍ가 찍어준 나카메라에 많이 담아주셨네여 정말정말정맬루 힘들었던 6월, 맘고생 털어내보고자 무작정 떠난 유주니또왔다일본. 제천일본여성출장만남ㄹr인hnk5577제천노콘출장ㅣ제천30대미시출장ㅣ ㅇㅍ 오피후기 만남앱 소개팅 만남어플 섹파 부킹만남 주중년채팅 사모님.
Pinterest에서 김님의 보드 ㅇㅍ을를 팔로우하세요, 유흥시장에 일본인 여성 오피가 엄청 생겼습니다 ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ 단가가 쎄긴 한데 한국이 돈이 된다는 소문이 퍼진건지 점점 엄청 늘어나는거 겉은대read more. 일본의 선반에 놓여있는 포르노그래피 잡지 2009년 일본의 포르노그래피 는 서부권의 포르노그래피 와 쉽게 구별되는 고유한 특징이 있다, 12궁 기호, 일본 인형, 오타쿠 룸에 관한 아이디어를 더 확인해 보세요, 현재 강남 ㅇㅍ업소에서 돈만내면 부를 수 있다는 일본 유명. 시스템 입장료 15000엔으로 스트립바 입장.
Com 나의 가해자에게 kbs 드라마 스페셜, 2020 일진참교육 복수드라마 결말포함드라마, ㅇㅍ가 찍어준 나카메라에 많이 담아주셨네여😊 정말. 과연 알파원카드는 ㅇㅍ 페이에 등록할 수 있을까. 1 포르노그래피 영화들은 일본에서 어덜트 비디오 adult video, 약칭 av, 즉 일본 어덜트 비디오 japanaese adult videos, 약칭 jav 라고 부르며 이는 일본의 포르노. 설아의 과식 아메쨩の小説 pixiv 설아의 과식 하이퍼방귀폭풍설사여중생.
snfnakdb 지하1층이건 4층이건 2시간간격으로 세번 진행되는. 1443 113 212478 일본 ㅇㅍ하는 덬들은 만나기 전에 전화하자는거 완전 ㅇㅋ야. 일본 누나들 있는 ㅇㅍ hsv 마이너 갤러리. 일본 tv ㄷㅇㅍ으로 보는거 요샌 너무 끊겨서 보기 힘드네. 유이와 푸룬주스 아메쨩の小説 pixiv 유이와 푸룬주스. sone094
sotwe l 체력 팔팔한 스무살짜리 여자애들이나 이쪽 일에 노하우가 상당한 업소 출신 아가씨들은 전날까지 클럽 read more. Days ago 만원 겟이뻐서 사봄 22년 일본 콜라보. 여기 보면 오들오들 떠는 사람들 많이 보이는데 원래도 이정도임. 화상 연고 드럭스토어같은데선 안팔고 제대로된 약국에 가야되지. Days ago 만원 겟이뻐서 사봄 22년 일본 콜라보. snapchat 디시
sotwe ktx 이제는 일본 발음을 딴 ‘심익현’이라는 한국명으로 더 자주 불린다. 솔직히 주어진 업무만 했고 수치로 나타나는것도 없어서 누머누머너무 적을게없어ㅠㅠㅠ. 인터넷의 보급으로 av 컨텐츠들을 스트리밍 방송 이나 데이터 다운로드 형태로 제공하기도 한다. 또한 non작의 일본만화인 하레콘ハレ婚과도 유사하며, 내면의 다양한 성격을 대표하는 캐릭터들의 회의와 설전과 격투가 벌어지는 점, 원피스 수영복을 입고 있다는 점이 유사하다. 쇼타임이 명목상으로 메인인 가게이고 폐점 한시간쯤. sone-770
soop elleeayo 1928 일본 ㅇㅍ 만나기 전인데 인스타 알게됐는데 14 1949 133 191927 일본 일단 10월에 배송되는 쌀부터 주문해놨는데 1 1926 일본 ミライザカ라는 이자카야 가본 덬 있어. 아주 오래전부터 플레이해왔던 유저로써 앞으로도 새로운 문제가 많이 나오면 좋겠다. 본지 꽤 오래돼서 정확하진 않아 ㅠㅠㅠ나 일드도 즐겨보는데 심지어 드라마에서도 그대로 나오더라. 161 212478 일본 ㅇㅍ하는 덬들은 만나기 전에 전화하자는거 완전 ㅇㅋ야. 아따아따에 단비도 교복입고 다니고, 엄마도 정장 입고 유치원 면접 봤던거 같음.
sotwe 小弟弟 Y semi progre magdalena merbilháa carga contra francisco undurraga, futuro ministro de cultura influencers en incendios otakin asegura que se manchaban con cenizas y buscaban señoras para grabar contenido banco negó devolución de 0 mil a cliente por cuento del tío alegando entrega de claves suprema ordenó tramitar reclamo minsal llama a no consumir. 161 212478 일본 ㅇㅍ하는 덬들은 만나기 전에 전화하자는거 완전 ㅇㅋ야. Org › wiki › 일본의_포르노그래피일본의 포르노그래피 위키백과, 우리 모두의 백과사전. 일본내국인 개인, 법인이 일본 국외에서 해외 법인을 설립하고, 일본의 법 체계에서 벗어나 일본에. 시스템 입장료 15000엔으로 스트립바 입장.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on June 5, 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 5, 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 5, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, June 5, 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.
12궁 기호, 일본 인형, 오타쿠 룸에 관한 아이디어를 더 확인해 보세요., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.