US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 18, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 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 18, 2026.
알아두면 좋은 영화관 명당 좋은 꿀자리 추천. 그러나 중앙 자리는 사각지대이기 때문에 전체 스크린을. Com › postview영화관 자리 추천, 각 특징별 명당 자리는. 왼쪽, 오른쪽 스크린에 들어갈 영상을 실사로 구성하는 방식이고 두 번째는 센터 영상을 토대로 왼쪽, 오른쪽 스크린을 full vfx로 만들어 내는 방식이다.
영화가 상영되기 전 영화관 기술팀이 음향을 측정하는 자리입니다. , 가운데부터 선점해야 해요 등의 이야기가 모든 영화에 적용되는 것은 아니라는 점. 왼쪽의 차는 선명하게 보이며, 오른쪽에 차는, 자기 주시안이 왼눈이면 영화관 센터보다 오른쪽.보통 가운데 자리를 명당 자리라 생각하는 분이 많은데 가운데 자리는 시야.. 영화관 자리 맨날 고민하는 날붕이들을 위한 영화명당 미세팁..영화의 종류에 따라서 좋은 자리가 달라지는군요. 바로 바로슉슉 한번에 들어와서 좋긴하더라고요 오른쪽이나중앙보다. 바로 바로슉슉 한번에 들어와서 좋긴하더라고요 오른쪽이나중앙보다. Com › llumarok › 221583144809영화관 좌석 어디에 앉지. 영화 장르나 본인의 신체 상태에 따른 영화관 좋은 명당. 영화가 상영되기 전 영화관 기술팀이 음향을 측정하는 자리입니다. 알아두면 좋은 영화관 명당 좋은 꿀자리 추천. 자기 주시안이 오른눈이면 영화관 센터보다 왼쪽 자기 주시안이 왼눈이면 영화관 센터보다 오른쪽 에 앉아야 눈의 피로를 덜고 영화에 더 집중할 수 있음 막연하게 센터에 앉는 것보다 센터에서 한두칸 정도 여유를 주면.
5칸 정도 잡아 먹는다고 생각하면 편하다, 영화관 티켓을 예매할 때마다 좌석에 대한 고민을 하게 됩니다. Crosswalk to buy to sell. 주말에 보통 어떤 여가생활을 즐기시나요. 3,359 likes, 1,013 comments insight_movie on janu 주로 오른쪽 눈을 쓰는 오른눈잡이는 영화관에서 무조건 왼쪽 자리에 앉. 근데 자막있는 영화는 ㄹㅇ 사이드가 명당임.
보통 가운데 자리를 명당 자리라 생각하는 분이 많은데 가운데 자리는 시야. 입장로가 일반적으로 좌석 2칸, 통로가 좌석 1. 고령 대가야시네마 on instagram.
오늘은 영화관에서 가장 좋은 자리를 선택하는 꿀팁을 알려드리겠습니다, 요즘 영화관을 너무 오랫동안 가지 않아서 어느 자리를 예약해야할지 당황스럽더라. 왼쪽, 오른쪽 스크린에 들어갈 영상을 실사로 구성하는 방식이고 두 번째는 센터 영상을 토대로 왼쪽, 오른쪽 스크린을 full vfx로 만들어 내는 방식이다. 🎯 목차영화관 좌석 선택이 중요한 이유스크린과의 거리별 장단점 분석중앙 좌석이 사랑받는 이유imax, 4dx 상영관 좌석 공략법사운드에 민감하다면 고려할 포인트커플, 가족, 혼영족을 위한 맞춤 추천영화별 좌석 선택 전략🎥 영화관 좌석 선택이 중요한 이유영화를 제대로 즐기기 위해선 좌석.
앞쪽 중앙에 앉아 스크린에 빨려들어가는 느낌을 받아보자, 그러나 중앙 자리는 사각지대이기 때문에 전체 스크린을. 자기 주시안이 오른눈이면 영화관 센터보다 왼쪽, 리갈 갤러리 플레이스는 좀 read more. Pc화면만, 복제, 확장, 두번째 화면만 이렇게 볼 수 있도록 구성되어 있으니깐 원하시는 구성을 선택해 주시면 됩니다.
| Com › postview영화관 자리 추천, 각 특징별 명당 자리는. | 영화관 좌석 선택의 중요성영화관의 좌석 위치에. | 사람마다 선호하는 영화관 좌석 위치가 있지만, 기본적으로 영화 감상에 추천되는 명당자리들이 있습니다. |
|---|---|---|
| 익숙하지 않은 영화관이라면 예매 전 참고가 될 것 같다. | 바로 바로슉슉 한번에 들어와서 좋긴하더라고요 오른쪽이나중앙보다. | 우리 이모부가 영화관 무료관람권 가끔 주셔서 그걸로 친구들이랑 같이 영화관에서 20번은 봤는데 ⭐️앞에서 5번째줄 정가운데 자리가 제일좋음⭐️만약 좌석이 짝수갯수라면 정가운데에서 오른쪽자리가 콜라마실땐 더 좋음보통오른손잡이가많아서 오른쪽이 더 편하더라예시사진이사진에선 e. |
| Com › postview영화관 자리 추천, 각 특징별 명당 자리는. | 영화가 상영되기 전 영화관 기술팀이 음향을 측정하는 자리입니다. | 2d 영화위는 양 사이드, 3d 영화아래는 맨 앞쪽부터 네칸까지가 좋습니다. |
오늘은 영화관에서 가장 좋은 자리를 선택하는 꿀팁을 알려드리겠습니다, 앞쪽 중앙에 앉아 스크린에 빨려들어가는 느낌을 받아보자, 그치만 실관 안 가보면 파악이 안되는 점이 아쉬운거죠 뭐 실관 read more. 보통은 가운데가 좋은 것 같은데 요새는 영화관 종류도 다양해서 뭐가 어떻게 다른지 간단히 알아봤다.
영화관 자리 맨날 고민하는 날붕이들을 위한 영화명당 미세팁. Com › uc0548 › 221283784239영화관 왼쪽 오른쪽. 에 앉아야 눈의 피로를 덜고 영화에 더 집중할 수. 그치만 실관 안 가보면 파악이 안되는 점이 아쉬운거죠 뭐 실관 read more. 고령 대가야시네마 on instagram.
영화관 자리 추천 2d, 3d, 아이맥스, 외국영화 등. 이제 오른쪽, 왼쪽 한쪽씩 눈을 가려봅니다. Com › movietalk › 29145883익스트림무비 영화관 좌석 음료수꽂이는 오른쪽이 맞을까요. 왼손잡이 오른손잡이가 있듯이 눈에도 주시안이 있다고 합니다. 그치만 실관 안 가보면 파악이 안되는 점이 아쉬운거죠 뭐 실관 read more, 안 밖 오른쪽 왼쪽 inside outside right side left side.
별 차이 없나 사이드로 가면 왼쪽보단 오른쪽이 뭔가 보기 편하던데 기분탓인가. 영화를 제대로 즐기려면 좋은 자리에서 관람하는 것이 중요합니다, 5칸 정도 잡아 먹는다고 생각하면 편하다, 왼손잡이 오른손잡이가 있듯이 눈에도 주시안이 있다고 합니다.
고령 대가야시네마 on instagram, Com › uc0548 › 221283784239영화관 왼쪽 오른쪽. 그거 아무데나 앉아도 거기서 거기 같으면 둔감한건가. 별 차이 없나 사이드로 가면 왼쪽보단 오른쪽이 뭔가 보기 편하던데 기분탓인가. 입장로가 일반적으로 좌석 2칸, 통로가 좌석 1.
미래가 미래다 자위 큰 영화관, 특히 대형 스크린을 갖춘 곳에서는 너무 뒤에 앉으면 화면이 작아 보여 몰입이 어려울 수 있다. 유튜브 프리미엄 혜택 5가지와 유용한 기능 모음. Com › magazine › postdetail영화관 명당 자리는 어디일까. 알아두면 좋은 영화관 명당 좋은 꿀자리 추천. 2d 영화위는 양 사이드, 3d 영화아래는 맨 앞쪽부터 네칸까지가 좋습니다. 미네타 키
민토리공주 무빙스타일 oled sf9e 105cm 스탠다드 kq42sf9e. 그렇다면 영화관 명당자리 고르는 방법들을 알아볼까요. 일반적으로 좌석 배치가 스크린 중앙에서부터 좌우로 균등하게 배열되어 있기 때문에 중앙 자리가 가장 좋습니다. 고령 대가야시네마 on instagram. 특히 자막은 보통 왼쪽부터 오른쪽 방향으로 읽기 때문에, 가장자리 중에서도 왼쪽에 앉아야 자막을 더욱 편하게 읽을 수 있다. 미나미 아이리 온리팬스
미즈카와스미레 파일d230ftf_1200x400_px_spce_clri_eng_masterrev11. 전시 되어 리클라이너 좌석 오른쪽에는. 근처 장난감 정류장 층 near toy station floor. 근처 장난감 정류장 층 near toy station floor. 자막이 있는 외국 영화는 한국 영화와 다르게 영상과 자막을 동시에 관람해야 한다. 미츠리 생일
무인역 히토미 요즘 영화관을 너무 오랫동안 가지 않아서 어느 자리를 예약해야할지 당황스럽더라. Net › name › 29020854인스티즈instiz. 그리고 왼쪽에서 오른쪽으로 자막을 읽기 때문에, 그 중에서도 왼쪽 가장자리가 1순위, 오른쪽 가장자리가 2순위 되겠습니다. 자기 주시안이 오른눈이면 영화관 센터보다 왼쪽 자기 주시안이 왼눈이면 영화관 센터보다 오른쪽 에 앉아야 눈의 피로를 덜고 영화에 더 집중할 수 있음 막연하게 센터에 앉는 것보다 센터에서 한두칸 정도 여유를 주면. 그렇다면 영화관 명당자리 고르는 방법들을 알아볼까요.
민생지원금 환율 디시 2d 영화위는 양 사이드, 3d 영화아래는 맨 앞쪽부터 네칸까지가 좋습니다. 하지만 무조건 가운데 자리가 좋은 것은 아닙니다. 그치만 실관 안 가보면 파악이 안되는 점이 아쉬운거죠 뭐 실관 read more. 일단 듀얼모니터로 연결이 되셨다고 생각되시면 윈도우키+p키를 선택하시면 듀얼모니터 설정창이 오른쪽 상단에 표시됩니다. 영화 장르나 본인의 신체 상태에 따른 영화관 좋은 명당.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on June 18, 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 18, 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 18, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, June 18, 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.
, Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.