US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 3, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 2026.
프로야구 선수 박영현 양다리, 임신, 낙태. 한 온라인 커뮤니티에 프로야구 선수 박영현의 양다리, 임신, 낙태, 연애 등의 논란과 실체를 상세히 밝힌 폭로글이 공개되며 그의 비도덕적 행동이 드러났습니다. 팩트 박영현은 폭로녀한테 여친 타이틀 안줌 그래서 바람난게 아님 dc app. 질문 박영현 삼성에 올수있다면 품어준다 vs 좆까라 낙태범아 삼갤러218.
한편, 박영현의 구단측은 해당 논란에 대해 선수의 사생활 문제다 라며 선수단 관리에 만전을 기하겠다라고 입장을 밝혔지만, 박영현 선수의 직접적인 입장은 아직 공개되지 않았다, 한 온라인 커뮤니티에 프로야구 선수 박영현의 양다리, 임신, 낙태, 연애 등의 논란과 실체를 상세히 밝힌 폭로글이 공개되며 그의 비도덕적 행동이 드러났습니다. A씨가 공개한 카톡 내용에는 그 방법이 우리에겐 최선이라며 중절 수술을, 팬으로 시작된 만남에서 임신과 낙태, 양다리 문제까지 이어진 사건의 전말을 자세히 살펴보겠습니다, 이번에는 현역 프로야구 선수 a씨가 여성팬과의 부적절한 관계로 인한 낙태 논란에 휩싸였다.Lauren20241010 0146ip 210.. 아무문제없음 선진국 대부분 낙태가 합법이고 아프리카나 남미 국가에서 정도만 낙태가 불법임, 낙태가 잘못되었단 마인드는 굉장히 시대에 뒤떨어진 버러지마인드임 바람 이여자 저여자 따먹고 다니는 바람둥이인게 뭐.. 최근 프로농구 스타 허웅이 전 여자친구와의 낙태 논란을 일으켜 큰 파문..님 기준 양다리가 더 문제라고 생각해서 언급한거라면 서로 도덕적인 기준이 다른건데 더 할말없네요, 그녀 바디 그녀 초이슨데 왜 그걸 남자탓을 하는지. 그녀 바디 그녀 초이슨데 왜 그걸 남자탓을 하는지. 국대 야구선수 양다리 사생활 논란에 박영현 인스타 근황. 팩트 박영현은 폭로녀한테 여친 타이틀 안줌 그래서 바람난게 아님 dc app. 박영현 부진할때가 여친 임신 낙태시기임 이것로 스트레스 받다가 ㄴㅇ 106. 여친 있는데 팬이랑 연락하면서 임신시키고 낙태하고 양다리까지 걸쳤는데 임신하고 낙태한 팬이 폭로 글써서 박영헌 인스타 지금 비활됐음, 여친 있는데 팬이랑 연락하면서 임신시키고 낙태하고 양다리까지 걸쳤는데 임신하고 낙태한 팬이 폭로 글써서 박영헌 인스타 지금 비활됐음, 단지 양다리만 언급하길래 제기준 쉴드치는걸로 보여 낙태 권유도 했다 한마디 언급한거구요. 판다랬어20241010 0154ip 121. 국가대표 야구선수 박영현의 사생활 폭로 논란, 그 이면의 진실은, 국대 야구선수 양다리 사생활 논란에 박영현 인스타 근황. 03년생 낙태 양다리 국대마무리 투수에 대해 알아보자 ㅇㅇ211.
프로야구 선수 박영현 양다리, 임신, 낙태. 글쓴이 b씨는 자신이 피해를 당했다며 a선수의 행위를 낱낱이 고발했다. 박영현 부진할때가 여친 임신 낙태시기임 이것로 스트레스 받다가 ㄴㅇ 106.
전 박영현이 양다리를 걸치든 낙태를 하든 관심없어요.. 어제 kt위즈 박영현 투수에 관한 폭로글이 올라와 화제였습니다..
11 084908 조회 27650 추천 164 댓글 101 1 이미지 순서 on. 프로야구 낙태 임신 사생활 양다리 폭로 03년생 박영현 선수, 프로야구 선수 박영현 양다리, 임신, 낙태, 연애 논란 총정리만남의 시작 가족과도 만났다작성자 a 씨는 2023년 8월.
국가대표 출신 현역 프로야구 선수가 여자친구가 있는데도 여성팬과 1년 가까이 만나며 낙태를 요구했다는 글이 온라인에 올라와 논란이 일고 있습니다, 프로야구 선수 박영현 양다리, 임신, 낙태, 연애 논란 총정리 +쵸단, 쯔양온라인 커뮤니티 한 온라인 커뮤니티에 프로야구 선수 박영현의 양다리, 임신, 낙태, 연애 등의 논란과 실체를 상세히 밝힌 폭로글이 공개되며 그의 비도덕적 행동이 드러났습니다, 프로야구 선수 박영현 양다리, 임신, 낙태. 이번에는 현역 프로야구 선수 a씨가 여성팬과의 부적절한 관계로 인한 낙태 논란에 휩싸였다. 박영현 임신 낙태 그리고 양다리 논란 1.
| 23 215217 조회 3944 추천 367 댓글 27 품어준다 의학 주장하는 불교신자 세례명받은 현여친이나 끼리끼리임. | 박영현 선수는 2003년생 올해 나이 20세 고향은 전라남도 구례군 출신으로 유신고 출신 kt wiz 소속 우완 투수입니다. | 어제 kt위즈 박영현 투수에 관한 폭로글이 올라와 화제였습니다. |
|---|---|---|
| 팩트 박영현은 폭로녀한테 여친 타이틀 안줌 그래서 바람난게 아님 dc app. | Kt 박영현 충격 과거 재조명 +여친 양다리 kt국가대표 출신 현역 프로야구 선수가 여자친구가 있는데도 여성팬과 1년 가까이 만나며 낙태를 요구했다는 글이 온라인에 올라와 논란이 일고 있습니다. | 박영현 임신 낙태 그리고 양다리 논란 1. |
| 이런식으로 입단속하라고 그러다 낙태녀지인이 낙태녀한테 협박당했다 무섭다고함 낙태녀 야마돌아서 폭로글씀 폭로글 대충요약하면 1. | 단 하나의 거짓과 과장없이 제가 피해받은 모든것을 작성합니다. | 박영현 임신 낙태 그리고 양다리 논란 1. |
| 여친 있는데 팬이랑 연락하면서 임신시키고 낙태하고 양다리까지 걸쳤는데 임신하고 낙태한 팬이 폭로 글써서 박영헌 인스타 지금 비활됐음. | 프로야구 선수 박영현 양다리, 임신, 낙태, 연애 논란 총정리 +쵸단, 쯔양온라인 커뮤니티 한 온라인 커뮤니티에 프로야구 선수 박영현의 양다리, 임신, 낙태, 연애 등의 논란과 실체를 상세히 밝힌 폭로글이 공개되며 그의 비도덕적 행동이 드러났습니다. | 여친 있는데 팬이랑 연락하면서 임신시키고 낙태하고 양다리까지 걸쳤는데 임신하고 낙태한 팬이 폭로 글써서 박영헌 인스타 지금 비활됐음. |
| 21% | 32% | 47% |
박영현은 낙태 터지고 나서 여자팬들 사이에서도 괘씸죄, 2024년 7월 10일, 한 온라인 커뮤니티에는 프로야구 선수 a씨의 사생활 폭로합니다라는 제목의 글이 올라왔습니다, Kt 박영현 충격 과거 재조명 +여친 양다리 kt국가대표 출신 현역 프로야구 선수가 여자친구가 있는데도 여성팬과 1년 가까이 만나며 낙태를 요구했다는 글이 온라인에 올라와 논란이 일고 있습니다, 또한 그 선수가제가 폭로하겠다 하였을때 폭로해도 된다고, 박영현도 여친 두명이였잖아 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 한화 이글스, 23 215217 조회 3944 추천 367 댓글 27 품어준다 의학 주장하는 불교신자 세례명받은 현여친이나 끼리끼리임.
1688 porn 팬으로 시작된 만남에서 임신과 낙태, 양다리 문제까지 이어진 사건의 전말을 자세히 살펴보겠습니다. 2024년 7월 10일, 한 온라인 커뮤니티에는 프로야구 선수 a씨의 사생활 폭로합니다라는 제목의 글이 올라왔습니다. 아무문제없음 선진국 대부분 낙태가 합법이고 아프리카나 남미 국가에서 정도만 낙태가 불법임, 낙태가 잘못되었단 마인드는 굉장히 시대에 뒤떨어진 버러지마인드임 바람 이여자 저여자 따먹고 다니는 바람둥이인게 뭐. 박영현은 낙태 터지고 나서 여자팬들 사이에서도 괘씸죄. 뜬금없이 박영현이 난 이미 사귀고 있던 여자친구가 있다며 통보를 했다. 2765년9월15일 만화
1244713 이번에는 현역 프로야구 선수 a씨가 여성팬과의 부적절한 관계로 인한 낙태 논란에 휩싸였다. 디시인사이드와 같은 온라인 커뮤니티에서는 박영현의 여자친구라고 주장하는 a씨가 그의 사생활. 낙태를 종용한 끝에 낙태를 했으며 당시 양다리도 걸치고 있었다는 것이 폭로되어 물의를 빚었다. 이번에는 현역 프로야구 선수 a씨가 여성팬과의 부적절한 관계로 인한 낙태 논란에 휩싸였다. 다 얘기하고 죽겠다는 협박성 메시지를 보내기도 했습니다. 05년생 연예인
12월 포켓로그 픽업 Kt 박영현 충격 과거 재조명 +여친 양다리 kt국가대표 출신 현역 프로야구 선수가 여자친구가 있는데도 여성팬과 1년 가까이 만나며 낙태를 요구했다는 글이 온라인에 올라와 논란이 일고 있습니다. 박영현은 낙태 터지고 나서 여자팬들 사이에서도 괘씸죄. 11 084908 조회 27650 추천 164 댓글 101 1 이미지 순서 on. 아무문제없음 선진국 대부분 낙태가 합법이고 아프리카나 남미 국가에서 정도만 낙태가 불법임, 낙태가 잘못되었단 마인드는 굉장히 시대에 뒤떨어진 버러지마인드임 바람 이여자 저여자 따먹고 다니는 바람둥이인게 뭐. 어제 kt위즈 박영현 투수에 관한 폭로글이 올라와 화제였습니다. 2007년생 av배우
24時間動画保存ランキング 아무문제없음 선진국 대부분 낙태가 합법이고 아프리카나 남미 국가에서 정도만 낙태가 불법임, 낙태가 잘못되었단 마인드는 굉장히 시대에 뒤떨어진 버러지마인드임 바람 이여자 저여자 따먹고 다니는 바람둥이인게 뭐. 이번에는 현역 프로야구 선수 a씨가 여성팬과의 부적절한 관계로 인한 낙태 논란에 휩싸였다. 11 낙태,협박,바람 박영현이나 바람인거 알고만난 바람녀나 이걸 보고도 안헤어진 무당의학 주장하는 불교신자 세례명받은 현여친이나 끼리끼리임. Kt 박영현 충격 과거 재조명 +여친 양다리 kt국가대표 출신 현역 프로야구 선수가 여자친구가 있는데도 여성팬과 1년 가까이 만나며 낙태를 요구했다는 글이 온라인에 올라와 논란이 일고 있습니다. 그리고 그는 일방적으로 아이를 지우자며 낙태를 제안하였다.
2864440 fc2 국가대표 야구선수 박영현의 사생활 폭로 논란, 그 이면의 진실은. 2024년 7월 10일, 한 온라인 커뮤니티에는 프로야구 선수 a씨의 사생활 폭로합니다라는 제목의 글이 올라왔습니다. 프로야구 선수 박영현 양다리, 임신, 낙태. 현여친 인스타 selena 뭐시기이 자기애 아닌것같다고 보냈던 카톡. 11 020756 조회 52931 추천 170 댓글 21 spostype.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on June 3, 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 3, 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 3, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, June 3, 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.
박영현 부진할때가 여친 임신 낙태시기임 이것로 스트레스 받다가 ㄴㅇ 106., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.