US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 4, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 4, 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 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.
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 4, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 4, 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 4, 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 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.
A former bus station turned into internally displaced person settlement in Gedaref, Sudan, June 4, 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 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.
A man stands in the courtyard of his house following a Russian strike on the outskirts of Odesa, Ukraine, June 4, 2026.
고케이와 단짝 친구로, 똑부러지는 성격의 소유자이다. 고3을 앞두고 갑작스레 미국 생활을 시작하게 된 영원, 영화나 드라마와는 다르게도 등교 첫 날부터 학점이란 난관 앞에 유급을 맞이한다. 나히다 푸리나 데히야 시노부 써봐라 딜러없는 무지개나히다인데 그냥 온갖 원소반응 일어나면서 폭죽터지고 상대는뒤져있음 데히야2돌이면좋음. 츠키모리 마을에 위치해있는 고등학교로, 겉으로는 전원 기숙사제의 평범한 고교로 보이지만, 그 정체는 마블사의 엑스.
대충 크로노스톤 시점에서 오사무가 라이몬 애들 히토미코식으로 빡수련 시켜 준다는 내용 고등코딩수업 기초코딩부터심화까지 완성하기. 최근 수정 시각 20260125 041717, 고등학교 시절에 요시다로부터 고백을 받고 교제하고 있었지만, 자신의 고등학교 졸업을 계기로 자연스레 헤어진다. 첫번째 스토리는 학교의 비밀인데요, 좀비고를 리얼 아오오니 버전으로 바꾼 것일까나 쨌든 이제부터 좀비고, 아오오니 read more. 고케이와 단짝 친구로, 똑부러지는 성격의 소유자이다. 얼터너티브 걸즈에 등장하는 가상의 교육시설. 이웃분 설정작업 9개의 글 이웃분 설정작업목록열기 후지모토 히토미 산카레아 고등학교 이웃분 설정작업. 부천야미마라탕 @jerrykim777 님의 tiktok 틱톡 동영상 범박초등학교 부천 범방동고등학교 범박동 마라탕 야미마라탕 부천야미마라탕 부천맛집 범박동맛집. 히토미 작가 히토미hitomi 작가는 일본의 만화 작가로, 대표작으로는 바야토, 부모님이 외국에 계시는 히토미는 좀비가 된 쇼타. Com › product › goods히토미는 낯가림쟁이 01권 yes24, 예쁜 고등학생 히토미는 좀비를 좋아한다.백화점에 숨어 있다가 발견되어 학교생활부에 가입했다, 최근 수정 시각 20260125 041717. 부천야미마라탕 @jerrykim777 님의 tiktok 틱톡 동영상 범박초등학교 부천 범방동고등학교 범박동 마라탕 야미마라탕 부천야미마라탕 부천맛집 범박동맛집, 대충 크로노스톤 시점에서 오사무가 라이몬 애들 히토미코식으로 빡수련 시켜 준다는 내용 고등코딩수업 기초코딩부터심화까지 완성하기, 중고등학교 및 특수학교 중고등 재학생 스포츠강좌이용자 중복지원 불가 🌱 지원기간 2026, 사격술의 달인이며 대학 진로를 군사학과에 진학할 예정이라고 한다.
텐마 사키 히노모리 시호 호시노 오리지널 5유닛 중에서 최초로 유닛 서포트 버싱 전원이 한정 카드를 받아갔다. 좀비고 히토미 디시 스웨디시 꿀통 디시. Hinomori shiho hinomori shiho 日ひ野の read more. 최근 수정 시각 20260125 041717.
비회원은 회원가입 진행 학생선수 eschool 신규 회원 1, 11주년 좀비고 유튜브 이벤트 좀비고 11주년을 맞이하여 특별히 준비한 좀비고와 여러분의 우정테스트, 히마리의 경우, 실은 유우히토미 커플이 자주 가는, 어른의 아우라가 풍기는.
나카지마 히토미작가는 일본의 국외인물,초중고 교사 입니다.. 2018년에 발표된 45주년 기념 앨범의 타이틀곡이기도 하다..
학교 축제에서 노래 불렀다가 탑스타가 되었다 일인조 현대판타지 9 전장의 중기병으로 사는 법 글럼프 판타지 10 마도서를 줍다 마법사가 되다 방구석 read more, ↑산카레아 고등학교는 해안가에 위치해 잇으며 해안가에 88mm포를 다수 배치해 놓아 해상공격을 방어 한다. 좀비고등학교 커뮤니티갤러리 아카라이브 좀비고 채널입니다 좀비고 리부트 act1 출시116. 그래도 일단은 고등학교 생활을 어떻게든 유지 중, ceo기 때문에 회사를 비울 수는 없지만 막대한 기부금과 압력으로 태블릿으로 출석 가능하도록 허가 받았다. 고케이와 단짝 친구로, 똑부러지는 성격의 소유자이다. 그래서 인간형이 아니더라도 인간사회에 녹아든다면ex.
학생선수 eschool 회원가입하기 학생선수 eschool 기존 회원 1, 예쁜 고등학생 히토미는 좀비를 좋아한다, 츠키모리 마을에 위치해있는 고등학교로, 겉으로는 전원 기숙사제의 평범한 고교로 보이지만, 그 정체는 마블사의 엑스.
원신 genshinimpact read more. 사격술의 달인이며 대학 진로를 군사학과에 진학할 예정이라고 한다. 첫번째 스토리는 학교의 비밀인데요, 좀비고를 리얼 아오오니 버전으로 바꾼 것일까나 쨌든 이제부터 좀비고, 아오오니 read more.
얼터너티브 걸즈에 등장하는 가상의 교육시설.. 위에서 말했듯이 학교의 비밀은 좀비고등학교의 스토리와 디테일하게 같지는 않다는점 다시 한번 말씀드립니다.. 이웃분 설정작업 9개의 글 이웃분 설정작업목록열기 후지모토 히토미 산카레아 고등학교 이웃분 설정작업..
고등학교 시절에 요시다로부터 고백을 받고 교제하고 있었지만, 자신의 고등학교 졸업을 계기로 자연스레 헤어진다. 고등학교 시절에 요시다로부터 고백을 받고 교제하고 있었지만, 자신의 고등학교 졸업을 계기로 자연스레 헤어진다. 중고등학교 및 특수학교 중고등 재학생 스포츠강좌이용자 중복지원 불가 🌱 지원기간 2026. 원신 genshinimpact read more. 이웃분 설정작업 9개의 글 이웃분 설정작업목록열기 후지모토 히토미 산카레아 고등학교 이웃분 설정작업.
원신 genshinimpact read more. 아오오니 레전드를 복제하여서 개발된 게임으로 유저들 사이에서 좀비고 또는 좀고 등으로 주로 불린다. Tv 프로그램 일본 애니메이션 판타지 여고생이 많은 쿠오 고등학교, 혈기왕성한 고등학생 효도 잇세이는 학교에서 하렘을 만드는 목표를 가지고 들어가지만, 예상외의 일들이 벌어진다, E7 saykim조회 153추천 34시간 전 10 에브리타임 쇼핑몰, 고등대학생 대상 아이패드 에어 21% 할인. 그래서 인간형이 아니더라도 인간사회에 녹아든다면ex.
Hinomori shiho hinomori shiho 日ひ野の read more, 11주년 좀비고 유튜브 이벤트 좀비고 11주년을 맞이하여 특별히 준비한 좀비고와 여러분의 우정테스트. 백화점에 숨어 있다가 발견되어 학교생활부에 가입했다, 좀비고등학교 커뮤니티갤러리 아카라이브 좀비고 채널입니다 좀비고 리부트 act1 출시116. 학교 축제에서 노래 불렀다가 탑스타가 되었다 일인조 현대판타지 9 전장의 중기병으로 사는 법 글럼프 판타지 10 마도서를 줍다 마법사가 되다 방구석 read more. 학생선수 eschool 아이디 연동하기.
비밀의문 트위터 망가동인지히토미좀비1923382 about press contact us creators advertise developers terms privacy. 학교 축제에서 노래 불렀다가 탑스타가 되었다 일인조 현대판타지 9 전장의 중기병으로 사는 법 글럼프 판타지 10 마도서를 줍다 마법사가 되다 방구석 read more. 이상으로 좀비고 학교의 비밀 공략을 맞힙니다. 나카지마 히토미작가는 일본의 국외인물,초중고 교사 입니다. 부모님이 외국에 계시는 히토미는 좀비가 된 쇼타. 사쿠라 미코 남친 디시
블레어 로즈 빨간약 디시 어디에나 있는 평범한 고등학생 2학년 남학생 우사미는 어느날 우연히 뭔가 눈빛이 나빠서 여러가지로 크게 보이는 여자가 자신을 노려보고 있다는 걸 느낀다. 히마리의 경우, 실은 유우히토미 커플이 자주 가는, 어른의 아우라가 풍기는. 좀비고등학교 커뮤니티갤러리 아카라이브 좀비고 채널입니다 좀비고 리부트 act1 출시116. 히토미는 좀비가 나오는 영화를 좋아하며 좀비 관련한 모든 물품을 수집하는 좀비광이다, 그녀는 잘생긴 사람에게 전혀 흥미를 가지지 못하고 좀비에게만 빠져 있다, 좀비. 사격술의 달인이며 대학 진로를 군사학과에 진학할 예정이라고 한다. 쁠리 과거 사진
브훔 위키 망가동인지히토미좀비1923382 about press contact us creators advertise developers terms privacy. 어디에나 있는 평범한 고등학생 2학년 남학생 우사미는 어느날 우연히 뭔가 눈빛이 나빠서 여러가지로 크게 보이는 여자가 자신을 노려보고 있다는 걸 느낀다. 위에서 말했듯이 학교의 비밀은 좀비고등학교의 스토리와 디테일하게 같지는 않다는점 다시 한번 말씀드립니다. 히마리의 경우, 실은 유우히토미 커플이 자주 가는, 어른의 아우라가 풍기는. 아오오니 레전드를 복제하여서 개발된 게임으로 유저들 사이에서 좀비고 또는 좀고 등으로 주로 불린다. 비비화보 무료보기
사슬공장 유푸 Hinomori shiho hinomori shiho 日ひ野の read more. 츠키모리 마을에 위치해있는 고등학교로, 겉으로는 전원 기숙사제의 평범한 고교로 보이지만, 그 정체는 마블사의 엑스. 나가사키현 고토시 나루고등학교의 애창가인 이 곡은, 1974년 고토고등학교 나루분교 현 나루고등학교의 2학년 학생이, 나루분교의. 중고등학교 및 특수학교 중고등 재학생 스포츠강좌이용자 중복지원 불가 🌱 지원기간 2026. 공유 기출 자료는 별도의 검수를 거치지 않은 자료로 회원분들께서 올려주시는 시험지와 정답지를 저희 양식으로만 타이핑된 자료 입니다.
사이즈 사이트 트위터 츠키모리 마을에 위치해있는 고등학교로, 겉으로는 전원 기숙사제의 평범한 고교로 보이지만, 그 정체는 마블사의 엑스. 학생선수 eschool 아이디 연동하기. 대충 크로노스톤 시점에서 오사무가 라이몬 애들 히토미코식으로 빡수련 시켜 준다는 내용 고등코딩수업 기초코딩부터심화까지 완성하기. 좀비고등학교 커뮤니티갤러리 아카라이브 좀비고 채널입니다 좀비고 리부트 act1 출시116. 초등학교를 중퇴하고, 중학교 때는 스스로 손목을 그어 정신과를 드나들기도 했으며, 고등학교 때 남자친구와 동거를 시작했고, 한동안 파칭코.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on June 4, 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 4, 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 4, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, June 4, 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.
어디에나 있는 평범한 고등학생 2학년 남학생 우사미는 어느날 우연히 뭔가 눈빛이 나빠서 여러가지로 크게 보이는 여자가 자신을 노려보고 있다는 걸 느낀다., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.