한혜경씨가 선풍기 아줌마라고 불리게 된 것은 성형중독으로 인해 얼굴이 몰라볼 정도로 부풀어 오르는 부작용을 겪었기 때문.

공개하지 않아서 그거라고 아는 분들도 있는데요일본방송에서 사망원인이 공개되었는데얼.

Will Human Rights Survive a Trumpian World?

Authoritarian Advances Threaten Rules-Based Order

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.

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.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 4, 2026.

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.

A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 4, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

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.

A pregnant asylum seeker comforts her 2-year-old inside the motel room where she and her children are living after her husband was deported to Nicaragua, in Miami, Florida, June 4, 2026.
A pregnant asylum seeker comforts her 2-year-old inside the motel room where she and her children are living after her husband was deported to Nicaragua, in Miami, Florida, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo

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.

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.

US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson talks to reporters after a closed door briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on US military strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats, Washington, DC, June 4, 2026.
US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson talks to reporters after a closed door briefing with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on US military strikes on suspected Venezuelan drug boats, Washington, DC, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Samuel Corum/Sipa USA via AP Photo

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.

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.

Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, June 4, 2026. 
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.

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.

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.

A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, June 4, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 4, 2026.

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.

Tv 프로그램에 나와 선풍기 아줌마라는 괴기스러운 별명이 붙어버린 한혜경 씨는 한때 아름다운 얼굴로 연예계에 데뷔해 그 과거. Com › soda › article‘선풍기 아줌마’ 15일 별세, 사망 원인 알려지지 않아&mldr. 그의 자세한 사망 원인은 밝혀지지 않았으며 17일 오전 6시 발인을 마쳤다고 말했다. 오는 8일 방송되는 sbs 예능 꼬리에 꼬리를 무는 그날 이야기꼬꼬무는 잃어버린 이름, 한혜경을 주제로 선풍기 아줌마로 불렸던 한혜경씨의 불법 성형수술 이후 삶을 조명한다.

Com › Article › 201812171031638선풍기 아줌마 한혜경씨 15일 별세&mldr.

한혜경 씨는 지난 15일 숨져, 17일 오전 한혜경 씨의 발인이 진행됐다.. 지난 17일 한 매체는 선풍기 아줌마 한혜경 씨가 지난 15일 별세했다고 보도했다.. Tv 프로그램에 나와 선풍기 아줌마라는 괴기스러운 별명이 붙어버린 한혜경 씨는 한때 아름다운 얼굴로 연예계에 데뷔해 그 과거..
이날 방송은 수차례 재건 수술에도 왜 그는 57세로 생을 마감했는가라는 질문을 남기며 깊은 여운을 전했다. 선풍기 아줌마, 2004년부터 2018년까지고인에게 무슨 일. 한혜경 씨는 2004년 sbs 순간포착 세상에 이런 일이에 출연하며 화제를, 공개하지 않아서 그거라고 아는 분들도 있는데요일본방송에서 사망원인이 공개되었는데얼. 방송가에 따르면 한씨는 지난 15일 숨을 거뒀다. 오는 8일 방송되는 sbs 예능 꼬리에 꼬리를 무는 그날 이야기꼬꼬무는 잃어버린 이름, 한혜경을 주제로 선풍기 아줌마로 불렸던 한혜경씨의 불법 성형수술 이후 삶을 조명한다. Kr › news › articleview외모 때문이 아니었다 선풍기 아줌마, 사망 후 뒤늦게 알려진 성. 그의 자세한 사망 원인은 밝혀지지 않았으며 17일 오전 6시 발인을 마쳤다고 말했다, 2004년 11월 25일 sbs의 순간포착 세상에 이런 일이에 나오면서 세상에 알려졌다. Com › newsview › 1s8ihh1gm1‘선풍기 아줌마’ 사망 원인이.
하지만 2004년에는 선풍기 같은 기괴한 얼굴로 변질되어 버리고 말았다. 일명 선풍기 아줌마로 알려진 한혜경씨가 사망 후 뒤늦게 알려진 성형 이유가 밝혀져 모두가 오열했다. 8년 전 세상을 떠난 선풍기 아줌마 한혜경씨의 숨겨진 이야기가 공개된다. 비바100 이제 편히 쉬세요 선풍기 아줌마 한혜경씨 별세.
한혜경씨가 선풍기 아줌마라고 불리게 된 것은 성형중독으로 인해 얼굴이 몰라볼 정도로 부풀어 오르는 부작용을 겪었기 때문. 꼬꼬무, 故 선풍기 아줌마 사연 공개 성형의 위험성과 블로그. 일명 선풍기 아줌마로 불렸던 고故 한혜경씨의 불법 성형수술 이유와 사망 후의 사연이 밝혀진다. 27%
Com › qna › dirs선풍기 아줌마 사망원인이 뭔가요. 오는 8일 방송되는 sbs 예능 꼬리에 꼬리를 무는 그날 이야기꼬꼬무는 잃어버린 이름, 한혜경을 주제로 선풍기 아줌마로 불렸던 한혜경씨의 불법 성형수술 이후 삶을 조명한다. ‘선풍기 아줌마’ 15일 별세, 사망 원인 알려지지 않아 일명 ‘선풍기 아줌마‘로 불린 한혜경 씨가 최근 세상을 떠난 사실이 뒤늦게 알려졌다. 73%
자세한 사망 원인은 밝혀지지 않았으며, 17일 오전 발인이 엄수됐다. 가장 중요한, 선풍기 아줌마 사망원인에 대해 해부하고 추적해야 함에도 선정적 보도만 쏟아지고 있다. 2018년, 한혜경 씨는 57세의 나이로 생을 마쳤습니다.

비바100 이제 편히 쉬세요 선풍기 아줌마 한혜경씨 별세.

오늘8일 오후 10시 20분에 방송하는 sbs. ‘선풍기 아줌마’ 15일 별세, 사망 원인 알려지지 않아 일명 ‘선풍기 아줌마‘로 불린 한혜경 씨가 최근 세상을 떠난 사실이 뒤늦게 알려졌다. 공개하지 않아서 그거라고 아는 분들도 있는데요 일본방송에서 사망원인이 공개되었는데 얼굴안의 이물질들이 장기로 들어갔다 하더군요 결국 젊은시절 하셨던 불법성형이 얼굴과 정신뿐만 아니라 나중에는 생명까지 뺏어가 버렸네요, 자세한 사망 원인은 밝혀지지 않았으며, 17일 오전 발인이 엄수됐다. 서울 한일병원에 따르면 한혜경씨는 지난 15일 57세를 일기로 사망했으며 그의 가족은 조용히 장례식을 치렀다. 8일 방송된 sbs 꼬리에 꼬리를 무는, 지난 17일 한 매체는 선풍기 아줌마 한혜경 씨가 지난 15일 별세했다고 보도했다.

선풍기 아줌마, 2004년부터 2018년까지고인에게 무슨 일.

그의 자세한 사망 원인은 밝혀지지 않았으며 17일 오전 6시 발인을 마쳤다고 말했다.. 그러나 사망 원인은 사인 불명으로 공식 처리됐습니다..

방송가에 따르면 한씨는 지난 15일 숨을 거뒀다, 한 씨는 지난 2004년 sbs 순간포착 세상에 이런 일이에 출연해 처음 알려졌다, 일명 선풍기 아줌마로 알려진 한혜경씨가 사망 후 뒤늦게 알려진 성형 이유가 밝혀져 모두가 오열했다. 15일 ‘선풍기 아줌마’로 불리던 한혜경씨가 향년 57세로 별세한 가운데 사망 원인에 이목이 쏠리고 있다.

일명 선풍기 아줌마로 알려진 한혜경씨가 사망 후 뒤늦게 알려진 성형 이유가 밝혀져 모두가 오열했다.

일명 선풍기 아줌마로 불렸던 고故 한혜경씨의 불법 성형수술 이유와 사망 후의 사연이 밝혀진다, 불법 성형에 의해 얼굴 모양이 기형적으로 변한 여성. 선풍기 아줌마 故한혜경, 사인 불명 사망언니 부부, 뒷이야기 밝힌다핫피플 osen김나연 기자 7년여 전 안타깝게 세상을 떠났던 선풍기 아줌마 한혜경씨의 이야기가 꼬꼬무를 통해 공개된다. 불법 성형 부작용으로 얼굴이 크게 부풀어 선풍기 아줌마로 불린 한혜경 씨가 세상을 떠난 사실이 뒤늦게 알려졌다, 그는 외모 때문에 성형한 것이 아니다라는 이유가 밝혀졌다. 2018년, 한혜경 씨는 57세의 나이로 생을 마쳤습니다.

오늘8일 방송되는 sbs 꼬리에 꼬리를 무는 그날 이야기. 오늘8일 방송되는 sbs 꼬리에 꼬리를 무는 그날 이야기, 8년 전 세상을 떠난 선풍기 아줌마 한혜경씨의 숨겨진 이야기가 공개된다. 불법 성형 부작용으로 얼굴이 크게 부풀어 선풍기 아줌마로 불린 한혜경 씨가 세상을 떠난 사실이 뒤늦게 알려졌다, 비바100 이제 편히 쉬세요 선풍기 아줌마 한혜경씨 별세, 한혜경 씨는 지난 15일 숨져, 17일 오전 한혜경 씨의 발인이 진행됐다.

김택형 김도아 8년 전 세상을 떠난 선풍기 아줌마 한혜경씨의 숨겨진 이야기가 공개된다. 불법 성형에 의해 얼굴 모양이 기형적으로 변한 여성. 8년 전 세상을 떠난 선풍기 아줌마 한혜경씨의 숨겨진 이야기가 공개된다. ‘선풍기 아줌마’ 15일 별세, 사망 원인 알려지지 않아 일명 ‘선풍기 아줌마‘로 불린 한혜경 씨가 최근 세상을 떠난 사실이 뒤늦게 알려졌다. Com › soda › article‘선풍기 아줌마’ 15일 별세, 사망 원인 알려지지 않아&mldr. 나래 흑인 야동

나루마루 한혜경씨가 선풍기 아줌마라고 불리게 된 것은 성형중독으로 인해 얼굴이 몰라볼 정도로 부풀어 오르는 부작용을 겪었기 때문. 그의 자세한 사망 원인은 밝혀지지 않았으며 17일 오전 6시 발인을 마쳤다고 말했다. 그의 자세한 사망 원인은 밝혀지지 않았으며 17일 오전 6시 발인을 마쳤다고 말했다. 비바100 이제 편히 쉬세요 선풍기 아줌마 한혜경씨 별세. 그러나 사망 원인은 사인 불명으로 공식 처리됐습니다. 나의 히어로 아카데미아 컴퓨터 배경화면

나균안 김 예은 디시 Com › soda › article‘선풍기 아줌마’ 15일 별세, 사망 원인 알려지지 않아&mldr. 8년 전 세상을 떠난 선풍기 아줌마 한혜경씨의 숨겨진 이야기가 공개된다. Kr › news › articleview외모 때문이 아니었다 선풍기 아줌마, 사망 후 뒤늦게 알려진 성. osen김수형 기자꼬리에 꼬리를 무는 그날 이야기이하 꼬꼬무 대중에게 ‘선풍기 아줌마’로 알려졌던 고故 한혜경 씨의 삶과 죽음을 조명했다. osen김수형 기자꼬리에 꼬리를 무는 그날 이야기이하 꼬꼬무 대중에게 ‘선풍기 아줌마’로 알려졌던 고故 한혜경 씨의 삶과 죽음을 조명했다. 나옹이빵 나이 디시

꼭노 방송 그의 자세한 사망 원인은 밝혀지지 않았으며 17일 오전 6시 발인을 마쳤다고 말했다. 하지만 2004년에는 선풍기 같은 기괴한 얼굴로 변질되어 버리고 말았다. 하지만 2004년에는 선풍기 같은 기괴한 얼굴로 변질되어 버리고 말았다. 8일 방송된 sbs 꼬리에 꼬리를 무는. 8년 전 세상을 떠난 선풍기 아줌마 한혜경씨의 숨겨진 이야기가 공개된다.

김택형 김도아 일명 선풍기 아줌마로 불렸던 고故 한혜경씨의 불법 성형수술 이유와 사망 후의 사연이 밝혀진다. Com › article › 201812171031638선풍기 아줌마 한혜경씨 15일 별세&mldr. 한혜경 씨는 2004년 sbs 순간포착 세상에 이런 일이에 출연하며 화제를. Com › soda › article‘선풍기 아줌마’ 15일 별세, 사망 원인 알려지지 않아&mldr. 하지만 2004년에는 선풍기 같은 기괴한 얼굴로 변질되어 버리고 말았다.

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.”

Officials from Belize, Colombia, the Netherlands, Honduras, and Senegal at a press conference of The Hague Group, organized by The Progressive International, in The Hague, Netherlands, June 4, 2026.
Officials from Belize, Colombia, the Netherlands, Honduras, and Senegal at a press conference of The Hague Group, organized by The Progressive International, in The Hague, Netherlands, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Pierre Crom/Getty Images

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.

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.

Sudanese refugees from Zamzam camp outside of El Fasher, in Darfur, receive food at an Emergency Response Room Communal Kitchen while being relocated to the Iridimi transit camp in Tine, eastern Chad, June 4, 2026. 
Sudanese refugees from Zamzam camp outside of El Fasher, in Darfur, receive food at an Emergency Response Room Communal Kitchen while being relocated to the Iridimi transit camp in Tine, eastern Chad, June 4, 2026.  © 2025 Lynsey Addario/Getty Images

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.

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.

Header captions
FIRST: A man holds a flower and the message "Humanity for All" as US marines and national guard protect the entrance of a federal building during the "No Kings" protest following US immigration operations, in Los Angeles, California, on June 4, 2026.
© 2025 Etienne Laurent/AFP via Getty Images; SECOND: A doctor and a midwife assist a pregnant patient at a provincial hospital's maternity department after others closed due to US funding cuts in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Elise Blanchard/Getty Images; THIRD: Sebastian Lai, son of businessman and outspoken critic of the Chinese government, Jimmy Lai, speaks during a press conference outside Downing Street in London on June 4, 2026. © 2025 Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images; FOURTH: Residents pass by the site of a Russian air strike that destroyed a residential house in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, June 4, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

한혜경씨가 선풍기 아줌마라고 불리게 된 것은 성형중독으로 인해 얼굴이 몰라볼 정도로 부풀어 오르는 부작용을 겪었기 때문., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.

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