22사단에서 집단괴롭힘에 앙심을 품은 병장이 총기를 난사하여 다수의 사망자를 발생시킨 임병장 사건과 더불어 대한민국을 뒤흔든 충격적인 사건으로.

임병장 은 이 오후2시부터 오후7시55분까지 주간 경계근무를 마치고 복귀한 후 gop에 장전되어있는 k2소총을 아군 초병을 향해 난사했다.

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 3, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, June 3, 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 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.

A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 3, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, June 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 2026.

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.

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 3, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, June 3, 2026.

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.

내가 다른 중고딩동창한테 물어보니까 아무도 왕따시키지 않았는데 자기혼자 피해망상 같은거에 사로잡힌거 같다고 하더라. 16 1442 prince 게다가 22사단 내에서 자살도 터져서 완전 곱창났지. 2014년 6월 21일 오후 8시 15분 경 강원도 고성군에 위치한 대한민국 육군 제22보병사단 제55연대 gop에서 발생한 군무이탈 및 총기난사 사건. 임레이너 사건 이후에 군대 좀 클린해짐.

혹시 임병장 맨날 추천 주작질하는 일뽕 갓본의 형이나 동생일지도 총기난사 그거 서든어택때문에 일어나는거 아니냐, 02 2126 뢰오 임병장이랑 윤일병이 14년도 쯤인데 4, 결국 2014년 6월 26일 임 병장이 입대하기 전에 국내 fps 게임, 2014년 6월 21일 오후 8시 15분 경 강원도 고성군에 위치한 대한민국 육군 제22보병사단 제55연대 gop에서 발생한 군무이탈 및 총기난사 사건, 대법원 전원합의체주심 박상옥 대법관는 19일 상관살해 등. 상관 1명을 포함해서 5명을 살해하고 7명에게 부상을 입혔다. 2014년 육군 22사단 일반전초gop에서 총기를 난사해 장병 5명을 살해하고 7명을 다치게 한 임아무개24 병장에게 대법원이 사형을 선고했다. 강원도 22사단의 ‘gop일반전초 총기 난사‘ 사건의 범인 임 병장의 유서가 최초 공개됐다. 요새 물어보니까 아는동생은 분대에 3명이 ㄹㅇ 총기엄금 수준의 빙신이라 그거 케어하다 죽을맛이라던데 8 내친구 임병장 있는 육군교도소에서 군생활 했는데 거기서는 조용하고 말도 잘듣고 그냥 평범해보였다던데 1, Com › narcoking › 223199473579임병장 총기 난사 사건, 전역을 3개월 남겨두고 총기난사. 나는 옆에서 좀 떨어진 대대였는데 위병소 근무스고 있는데 55연대에서 싸이렌울림.

임병장 임도빈 2014년 6월 21일 오후 8시 15분 보통이라면 집에서 가족과 저녁식사 후 드라마를.

대법원 전원합의체주심 박상옥 대법관는 19일 상관살해 등.. Com › 3883146723dp를 보고 생각나서 쓰는 총가난사 임병장 썰..
그 중에는 강요로 피해자를 폭행한 맞선임 이 모 일병도 포함된다. 나는 11군번이라서 맨날 쳐맞고 일하고 무시당하고 진짜 개좃같았는데. 나도 탈영병 땜에 보초 선적잇는데 웃긴게 총만주고 총알이랑 방탄복 지급 안하더라 부족한건지 뭔지 안줌 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ ㅈㄴ 어이없엇음. 실제 사진가지고 무슨 만우절 운운하는지. 임레이너 사건 이후에 군대 좀 클린해짐.

Com › Mgallery › Board싱붕이 2014년 임병장 총기난사 썰ssul 싱글벙글 지구촌 마이너.

Com › narcoking › 223199473579임병장 총기 난사 사건, 전역을 3개월 남겨두고 총기난사, 22사단에서 집단괴롭힘에 앙심을 품은 병장이 총기를 난사하여 다수의 사망자를 발생시킨 임병장 사건과 더불어 대한민국을 뒤흔든 충격적인 사건으로. 강원도 22사단의 ‘gop일반전초 총기 난사‘ 사건의 범인 임 병장의 유서가 최초 공개됐다. 제22보병사단 총기난사 사건 r73 판. 아무튼 총격사건 당일 얘기를 하자면 read more, 상관 1명을 포함해서 5명을 살해하고 7명에게 부상을 입혔다.

Com › 3883146723dp를 보고 생각나서 쓰는 총가난사 임병장 썰.

전역을 불과 3개월 앞둔 병장이 저지른 사건이라 충격을 주었다. 인접부대인 22사단에서 병사 한명이 총기난사후 도주했고 진돗개 하나가 발령됐다는거야 처음에는 전투준비태세인가 했는데 훈련 한다는 예고도 없었고 너무 꼭두새벽이라 뭐지 시발. 22사단에서 집단괴롭힘에 앙심을 품은 병장이 총기를 난사하여 다수의 사망자를 발생시킨 임병장 사건과 더불어 대한민국을 뒤흔든 충격적인 사건으로. 2014년 6월 21일 오후 8시 15분 경 강원도 고성군 에 위치한 대한민국 육군 제22보병사단 제55연대 gop 에서 발생한 군무이탈 및 총기난사 사건.

임레이너 사건 이후에 군대 좀 클린해짐. 임병장 총기난사사건 n시인 네이버 블로그. 2014년 6월 21일 22사단 gop 총기난사 사건동료 부대원들과 간부들의 오랜 시간 따돌림으로 쌓인 원한이 쌓이고 쌓인 상태에서초소 벽면에 그려진 자신을 비하하는 그림을 보고 폭발하여 벌어진 총기 난사 사건. 인접부대인 22사단에서 병사 한명이 총기난사후 도주했고 진돗개 하나가 발령됐다는거야 처음에는 전투준비태세인가 했는데 훈련 한다는 예고도 없었고 너무 꼭두새벽이라 뭐지 시발.

혹시 임병장 맨날 추천 주작질하는 일뽕 갓본의 형이나 동생일지도 총기난사 그거 서든어택때문에 일어나는거 아니냐.

제12보병사단 훈련병 사망 사건 r721 판, 난 그때 옆에 12사단 복무했고 월북가능성 있다고 dmz 매복에서 못나왔었는데. 석 달 뒤면 전역할 아들이 동료 병사 5명을 총으로 쏴 살해하고, 탈주했다는 것, 27 1501 ㅇㅇ는 갤러리에서 권장하는 비회원 전용, 2014년 6월 21일 22사단 gop 총기난사 사건동료 부대원들과 간부들의 오랜 시간 따돌림으로 쌓인 원한이 쌓이고 쌓인 상태에서초소 벽면에 그려진 자신을 비하하는 그림을 보고 폭발하여 벌어진 총기 난사 사건, 2014년 6월 21일 오후 8시 15분 경 강원도 고성군 에 위치한 대한민국 육군 제22보병사단 제55연대 gop 에서 발생한 군무이탈 및 총기난사 사건.

인접부대인 22사단에서 병사 한명이 총기난사후 도주했고 진돗개 하나가 발령됐다는거야 처음에는 전투준비태세인가 했는데 훈련 한다는 예고도 없었고 너무 꼭두새벽이라 뭐지 시발.. 임병장 임도빈 사건은 2014년 6월, 강원도 고성군 육군 22사단 gop에서 수류탄을 터뜨리고 막사에서 총기를 난사한 사건이다.. 뢰오 ㅋㅋ지가 겪은 군생활만 군생활이고 1 팬아메리칸항공 2022.. 실제 사진가지고 무슨 만우절 운운하는지..

임병장 총기난사사건이 2014년 6월에 터졌고 윤일병사건이 2014년 4월 이 두사건 이후로 군대가 바뀌었다는 이야기듣고 입대했지만 선임 둘다 기분이 좆같으면 후임 패버리기 2 새우깡갈매기 2021, 요새 물어보니까 아는동생은 분대에 3명이 ㄹㅇ 총기엄금 수준의 빙신이라 그거 케어하다 죽을맛이라던데 8 내친구 임병장 있는 육군교도소에서 군생활 했는데 거기서는 조용하고 말도 잘듣고 그냥 평범해보였다던데 1. 일명 22사단총기난사 사건, 혹은 임병장총기난사 사건이라고 불리는 사건이었습니다, 싱글벙글 싱붕이 2014년 임병장 총기난사 썰ssul.

이사건으로 중징계까진 안갔지만 화장실 청소 근신 1주였던걸로 기억함, 460번 지방도 도고터널 근처 군용버스. 제22보병사단 총기난사 사건 r73 판, 02 2126 뢰오 임병장이랑 윤일병이 14년도 쯤인데 4, 피해자들 대부분 주간 근무자들이였으며 임병장 은 k2소총과 실탄75여발 등을 가지고 탈영을 해버렸다. 뢰오 ㅋㅋ지가 겪은 군생활만 군생활이고 1 팬아메리칸항공 2022.

혼딸파티 나무위키 피해자들 대부분 주간 근무자들이였으며 임병장 은 k2소총과 실탄75여발 등을 가지고 탈영을 해버렸다. 임병장 임도빈 2014년 6월 21일 오후 8시 15분 보통이라면 집에서 가족과 저녁식사 후 드라마를. 27 1500 ㅇㅇ 내친구 고성 민통선 안쪽이 고향인데 걍 그런갑다 하고 학교댕겼다함 04. 임병장 임도빈 2014년 6월 21일 오후 8시 15분 보통이라면 집에서 가족과 저녁식사 후 드라마를. 2014년 6월 21일 오후 8시 15분 경 강원도 고성군에 위치한 대한민국 육군 제22보병사단 제55연대 gop에서 발생한 군무이탈 및 총기난사 사건. 해병 sotwe

한국어 포르노 02 2125 뢰오 14년도에 22사 총기난사 사건 28사 의무병 살인사건 있었다 felipao 2022. 임병장 총기난사사건 n시인 네이버 블로그. 27 1501 ㅇㅇ는 갤러리에서 권장하는 비회원 전용. 아무튼 총격사건 당일 얘기를 하자면 read more. 2014년 6월 21일 22사단 gop 총기난사 사건동료 부대원들과 간부들의 오랜 시간 따돌림으로 쌓인 원한이 쌓이고 쌓인 상태에서초소 벽면에 그려진 자신을 비하하는 그림을 보고 폭발하여 벌어진 총기 난사 사건. 호시 루베 빨간약

한예나 kemono 그 중에는 강요로 피해자를 폭행한 맞선임 이 모 일병도 포함된다. 총기난사 사건때문에 개고생한 ssul 1편. 결국 2014년 6월 26일 임 병장이 입대하기 전에 국내 fps 게임. 임병장이 55연대 였는데 여기가 쥐오피 타는 부대임. 임병장 총기난사사건이 2014년 6월에 터졌고 윤일병사건이 2014년 4월 이 두사건 이후로 군대가 바뀌었다는 이야기듣고 입대했지만 선임 둘다 기분이 좆같으면 후임 패버리기 2 새우깡갈매기 2021. 행돌 저격 프로지망생

해연 갤 요도 드라이 27 1500 ㅇㅇ 내친구 고성 민통선 안쪽이 고향인데 걍 그런갑다 하고 학교댕겼다함 04. 디시인사이드 뉴스에는 임 병장이 옆구리에 총을 쏴 자살을 시도했다는 오보가 여전히 메인에 걸려있다. 요새 물어보니까 아는동생은 분대에 3명이 ㄹㅇ 총기엄금 수준의 빙신이라 그거 케어하다 죽을맛이라던데 8 내친구 임병장 있는 육군교도소에서 군생활 했는데 거기서는 조용하고 말도 잘듣고 그냥 평범해보였다던데 1. 전역을 불과 3개월 앞둔 병장이 저지른 사건이라 충격을 주었다. 임병장 임도빈 2014년 6월 21일 오후 8시 15분 보통이라면 집에서 가족과 저녁식사 후 드라마를.

허벅지 av 상관 1명을 포함해서 5명을 살해하고 7명에게 부상을 입혔다. 임병장 은 이 오후2시부터 오후7시55분까지 주간 경계근무를 마치고 복귀한 후 gop에 장전되어있는 k2소총을 아군 초병을 향해 난사했다. Net › 3576460942014년 발생한 5명이 죽은 임병장 사건 dogdrip. 02 2125 뢰오 14년도에 22사 총기난사 사건 28사 의무병 살인사건 있었다 felipao 2022. 전역을 불과 3개월 앞둔 병장이 저지른 사건이라 충격을 주었다.

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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 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 3, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

22사단에서 집단괴롭힘에 앙심을 품은 병장이 총기를 난사하여 다수의 사망자를 발생시킨 임병장 사건과 더불어 대한민국을 뒤흔든 충격적인 사건으로., 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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