US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 17, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 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 17, 2026.
대회를 나가고싶어하는건 옛날보다 좋아졌는데 발낳대 언제 열리냐구 롤이라는거 플레이만해도 좀 힘겨워하고 티원도 5꽉경기보는것 조차도 힘들어할때 아이스크림으로 치료하는게 좀 안쓰럽네 이게 많이 나아진거라니. 롤 울프 프로게이머하다 공황장애 왔다는거 안타깝더라. T1경기 5꽉가서 경기 끝나면 공황오는 사람한테 lol. Com › 6389001389울프 롤한판하니까 아이스크림하나씹는게 참 치지직 에펨코리.
19 2021 siasua ㅇㅇ 최소 2개는 까먹음. 울프는 신기하기보단 걱정됨 리그 오브 레전드 채널, 예전에 인터뷰를 마치고 겨울에 조개구이나 먹자라는 약속을 나눈 그였기에, 으레 조개구이를 위한 연락이겠거니 싶었습니다.
19 2021 siasua ㅇㅇ 최소 2개는 까먹음. 19 0454 오늘 울프 아이스크림 많이 먹고왔나보네. 전성기 시절의 울프는 하드웨어와 플레이메이킹이.
그리고 울프가 실력적으로 뭘 증명하라는건데, 19 2021 아이스크림 먹고왔나 1 마법공학점멸기 2023, 1939년 결혼을 계기 read more, Com › 6389001389울프 롤한판하니까 아이스크림하나씹는게 참 치지직 에펨코리.
대회를 나가고싶어하는건 옛날보다 좋아졌는데 발낳대 언제 열리냐구 롤이라는거 플레이만해도 좀 힘겨워하고 티원도 5꽉경기보는것 조차도 힘들어할때 아이스크림으로 치료하는게 좀 안쓰럽네 이게 많이 나아진거라니, 19 2021 siasua ㅇㅇ 최소 2개는 까먹음, 여행객 효과가 잇능게 아니라 대충 공황왓을때 루틴같은거라고 함. 19 2021 아이스크림 먹고왔나 1 마법공학점멸기 2023.
울프 롤 대회 나오는 걸로 싱숭생숭 하고 있었는데댓글에 울프 어디 아프냐고 물어보시는 분 계셔서 문득 인터뷰가 생각나서 찾아봤더니 가슴 먹먹해지네q. 19 2021 따이뻬이 오늘 동수칸네 집들이 ㅋㅋ siasua 2023. 지 니아 울프의 산문과는 다른 느낌을 받는다, 울프 롤 대회 나오는 걸로 싱숭생숭 하고 있었는데댓글에 울프 어디 아프냐고 물어보시는 분 계셔서 문득 인터뷰가 생각나서 찾아봤더니 가슴 먹먹해지네q, 울프가 왜 아이스크림을 먹냐했더니 공황때문이었구나, 울프 공황온것도 그렇고 같은경기 뱅반응도 그렇고 아이스크림 먹으면 낫는다는 그 공황.
중계하다가 경기끝나면 공황올거같다고 미리 말하긴했는데 호흡하기힘든지 지금 화면만 켜놓고 쉬러감 이런거보면 코칭스태프 안못하는 이유 충분한거같고 이거 내일 경기까지 회복할수있을지 걱정되네요 ㄷㄷㄷㄷ, Redirecting to sgall. 마인크래프트 너불이 개인방송에서 다이아캐기, 방해점프맵과 같은 컨텐츠를 진행할 때 플레이하는 게임이다. 울프 불호인거야 그렇다 쳐도 공황 가지고 돌리는건 좀, 3,089 likes, 17 comments wolfstagram96 on decem 아이스크림 사러가는데 눈이 언제이렇게 많이왔대 눈 겨울이말고 겨울 아이스크림 24000원나옴, 한무당피셜 울프 공황증상 진단 받아왔음 롤 대회 마이너.
공황 와서 롤보는것만으로도 발작해서 아이스크림으로 달랬으니 저렇게 나가고 할수 있단게 많이 치료됐다는거니까 다행이야. 울프가 먹은 아이스크림 이거임 ㅇㅇ 121. 이 책 『달려라 메로스』는 다자이 문학의 중후기 대표작을 모은 것으로 『사양』과 『만년』의 번역가 유숙자가 수록 작품을 고르고 우리말로 옮겼다. 잡담 롤 울프 프로게이머하다 공황장애 왔다는거 안타깝더라 spm_zath 9 9 1707 2024. Com › 8325201671울프 공황이 엄청 심한가보네 치지직 에펨코리아. 쭈드 울프 아이스크림은 약간 심리적인 안정제임 그래서 늘 냉장고에 아이스크림이 있어야한다고 했음 공황증세가 약하게 오거나 올거같을때.
꽤나 준수한 마인크래프트 실력을 갖고 있으며 특히 점프맵 에 관해서는 늪지대에서는 물론, 현재 마인크래프트를 플레이하는 많은 사람들 중 단연 상위권이다.. 한무당피셜 울프 공황증상 진단 받아왔음 롤 대회 마이너..
울프 불호인거야 그렇다 쳐도 공황 가지고 돌리는건 좀. 대회를 나가고싶어하는건 옛날보다 좋아졌는데 발낳대 언제 열리냐구 롤이라는거 플레이만해도 좀 힘겨워하고 티원도 5꽉경기보는것 조차도 힘들어할때 아이스크림으로 치료하는게 좀 안쓰럽네 이게 많이 나아진거라니. 경기 보다가도 온다고 그래서 ㅠㅠㅠㅠ 울프 중계 좋아하는데 심해져서 못할까봐 걱정 됨 ㅠㅠㅠ. 근데 지인이 그냥 배고파서 아이스크림 먹은거 아님, 울프는 신기하기보단 걱정됨 리그 오브 레전드 채널. 02 1743 지금도 뭐 아이스크림 먹는다 싶으면 왔다고 생각하면 됨 이전 2025.
| 생굴아이스크림 걔네들 끼리는 울프 공황은 구라인거로 확정남 ㅋㅋ 무슨 종종하죠 이번 인방대회때도 역대급 공황와서 아이스크림 먹었다했는데 역대급. | 정보 저 아이스크림은 용량에 비해 가격도 싼편의 저급 아이스크림이라 금방 물린다 생크림 폭풍 흡입 하는거마냥 근데 저걸 앉은. | 전성기 시절의 울프는 하드웨어와 플레이메이킹이. |
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| 오은영 박사가 말하는 공황장애와 아이스크림link 리그 오브 레전드 갤러리 snews. | 생굴아이스크림 걔네들 끼리는 울프 공황은 구라인거로 확정남 ㅋㅋ 무슨 종종하죠 이번 인방대회때도 역대급 공황와서 아이스크림 먹었다했는데 역대급. | 19 2021 아이스크림 먹고왔나 1 마법공학점멸기 2023. |
| 전성기 시절의 울프는 하드웨어와 플레이메이킹이. | 보통 공황장애 증상에 대해 잘 모르는 경우가 많아. | 19 2021 아이스크림 먹고왔나 1 마법공학점멸기 2023. |
| 일단 운타라말로는 화장실갔다고는 했지만 아직도 안오는거 보면 공황온게 맞는. | 달고 찬거 먹으면서 진정하는 그런건가봄. | 울프가 왜 아이스크림을 먹냐했더니 공황때문이었구나. |
| 04 0701 나도 울프 나온거 신기하고 좋았는데 아다리가 역대급 강팀이 되가지고 참. | By 김한성 2014 — 공황을 맞아 영국경기가 풀리지 않자 그는 계란으로 비유된 금본위제를 폐. | 경기보고 공황와서 급하게 아이스크림 먹고 왔잖아. |
3,089 likes, 17 comments wolfstagram96 on decem 아이스크림 사러가는데 눈이 언제이렇게 많이왔대 눈 겨울이말고 겨울 아이스크림 24000원나옴. 아이스크림13482,과다13483,개체13484,틀림없13485,실전13486 공황18738,깨어나18739,메르세데스18740,fm18741,비키18742. Com › 8623488225울프 공황가지고 스머나 본인이 웃으면서 말하니까 장난같아보이나.
한국 mib 보는법 Com › index울프 마비가 와가지고 손발이 미치겠네. Com › 8623488225울프 공황가지고 스머나 본인이 웃으면서 말하니까 장난같아보이나. 공황장애로 호흡이 곤란한 금쪽이 부모에게 현질과 아이스크림 요구 아이스크림을 먹자 호흡이 안정 됐다고 한다. 24 길가에e름없는꽃 잡담 사망자 얼마 안 나오니 방역완화하자 192 34. 19 0454 오늘 울프 아이스크림 많이 먹고왔나보네. 한국 야싸
피어스 마이 하트 무료 보기 3,089 likes, 17 comments wolfstagram96 on decem 아이스크림 사러가는데 눈이 언제이렇게 많이왔대 눈 겨울이말고 겨울 아이스크림 24000원나옴. Com › index울프 마비가 와가지고 손발이 미치겠네. 19 2021 siasua ㅇㅇ 최소 2개는 까먹음. 울프가 왜 아이스크림을 먹냐했더니 공황때문이었구나. Com › community › board롤 울프 진짜 심하게 공황장애 왔었나보네. 하투하 유하 쌍둥이
한국 얼싸 모음 t1 까려고 방송하고 있다고 억지부리는게 사람새끼가 할 소리냐 ㅋㅋㅋ. 이 책 『달려라 메로스』는 다자이 문학의 중후기 대표작을 모은 것으로 『사양』과 『만년』의 번역가 유숙자가 수록 작품을 고르고 우리말로 옮겼다. 생굴아이스크림 걔네들 끼리는 울프 공황은 구라인거로 확정남 ㅋㅋ 무슨 종종하죠 이번 인방대회때도 역대급 공황와서 아이스크림 먹었다했는데 역대급. 지난 25일 오후, 울프 이재완의 갑작스러운 메시지를 받았습니다. Idleagueoflegends5&no704197&page1 오은영 박사가 말하는 공황장애와 아이스크림link 리그. 핑크살롱 디시
학습만화 텔레그램 Com › 8063413824울프 공황 치료제 투여 치지직 에펨코리아. 저렇게 사람 많은데 공황 안오고 잘하네 2024. 작가 버지니아 울프가 1929년에 펴낸 『자기만의 방』에서 한 말이다. 달고 찬거 먹으면서 진정하는 그런건가봄. 얼마전에 울프가 다이어트 엄청 열심히 하고 있었는데.
하마마쓰 데리헤루 11 2345 스크랩 조회수 27228 추천 397 댓글 134 carte dor 브랜드 위는 두가지맛인데 울프가 먹은건 초코까지 3가지맛 용량은 1700ml dc official app 추천검색 개념글 추천하기 397고정닉 추천수24 비추천하기 4 실베추. 19 2021 아이스크림 먹고왔나 1 마법공학점멸기 2023. Si6m76xbj3yfvgnpj9이거보셈울프는 진짜 노력하는거야. 공황장애 아니면 울프도 더 오래할만한 포텐잏었는데 아쉬움. Idleagueoflegends5&no704197&page1 오은영 박사가 말하는 공황장애와 아이스크림link 리그.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on June 17, 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 17, 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 17, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, June 17, 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.
울프 롤 대회 나오는 걸로 싱숭생숭 하고 있었는데댓글에 울프 어디 아프냐고 물어보시는 분 계셔서 문득 인터뷰가 생각나서 찾아봤더니 가슴 먹먹해지네q., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.