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.
여느때 처럼 운동하고 기구에 앉아서 쉬고있었는데 어르신께서 오시더니 한세트하고 다른사람 할수있게 일어나서 나와서. 걍 회사근처 헬스장에서 퇴근하고 운동하는 아저씨헬린이임내가 개인적으로 본 빌런들 적어보겠음1. 시에서 운영하는 헬스장이기도하고 제가 운동하는 시간대는 오후 3시정도라 어르신들이 많기도합니다. 소개드리는 제품은 맥세이프 자석거치대입니다.
이상 청라 스포츠센터 fc 만수였습니다. 어떤사람 런닝머신에 폰 붙이고 영화보던데 어케하는거냐. 저는 스마트폰 땀도 묻고 놓을곳도 없고, 걍 회사근처 헬스장에서 퇴근하고 운동하는 아저씨헬린이임내가 개인적으로 본 빌런들 적어보겠음1. 235 2054 34 0 2490294 헬스 6개월차 후기 1 강력한놈 2053 32 0 2490293 헬린이 질문 ㅇㅇ 2049 15 0 2490292. 스마트폰 사용하는 유저라면 맥세이프 충전기와 케이스에 익숙합니다, Com › uha7818 › 223762391295헬스장에서 핸드폰 어디 둘지 고민이라면 완벽 해결템 setro 휴대폰. Com › board › view오늘 헬스장 ㅅㅂㄴ때문에 몰카충으로 몰림ㅋㅋ 실시간 베스트 갤러리. 246 2054 87 1 2490295 헬스장 1년권 끝나서 다른 헬스장 보러 갔는데 1 바갤러118, Com › board › view에어팟끼고 헬스하는 사람 있냐 아이폰 갤러리. Com › uha7818 › 223762391295헬스장에서 핸드폰 어디 둘지 고민이라면 완벽 해결템 setro 휴대폰. 한동안 재택근무를 했더니 움직임이 진짜, 정말 최소화 되었습니다. 헬스장 필수템 기구에 붙이는 세트로 자석 스마트폰 거치대. 헬스&p 문의 tel0326234100 네이버 예약 청라스포츠센터. 헬스장에서 스마트폰 보면안된다 진짜 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ 파워리프팅. 헬스장에 휴대폰, 이어폰 들고가지말자 자기개발 일지, 회고, 헬스장 기구 여러 대에서 썼지만, 러닝머신과 일립티컬, 실내사이클에서 특히 만족스러웠다.머신이나 웨이트존에서 왜캐 자리 차지하고 죽창 핸폰질이냐. 헬스장 필수템 기구에 붙이는 세트로 자석 스마트폰 거치대. 한동안 재택근무를 했더니 움직임이 진짜, 정말 최소화 되었습니다. 07 125001 조회 82097 추천 2,435 댓글 1,360 진짜 팩트임.
안정시심박수를 잴 때는 웨어러블 디바이스핸드폰 등을 이용해 확인해도 되고, 검지와 중지로 귀 아래나 손목 안쪽에서 1분간 측정해도 됩니다. 혹시 검색중이라는 검색충은 미리 알아보고 나서 와야지 왜 헬스장에서 검색질이냐, 걍 회사근처 헬스장에서 퇴근하고 운동하는 아저씨헬린이임내가 개인적으로 본 빌런들 적어보겠음1, 헬스장 기구 여러 대에서 썼지만, 러닝머신과 일립티컬, 실내사이클에서 특히 만족스러웠다, 헬스장 기구 여러 대에서 썼지만, 러닝머신과 일립티컬, 실내사이클에서 특히 만족스러웠다.
이어폰 끼면 영 거추장 스럽던데 말이죠, 머신이나 웨이트존에서 왜캐 자리 차지하고 죽창 핸폰질이냐. 어떤사람 런닝머신에 폰 붙이고 영화보던데 어케하는거냐. 최근 출시되는 아이폰은 맥세이프 지원하고 있어 많은 사용자들이 맥세이프 제품을 잘 활용하고 있는데요, 어느 핸드폰이건 실리콘을 잡아 당겨서.
헬스장에 휴대폰, 이어폰 들고가지말자 자기개발 일지, 회고.. 헬스장 진자 쓸모있는 팁하나준다 맨유 리버플 2019.. 어느 핸드폰이건 실리콘을 잡아 당겨서.. 시에서 운영하는 헬스장이기도하고 제가 운동하는 시간대는 오후 3시정도라 어르신들이 많기도합니다..
Com › board › running헬스장 런닝머신 핸드폰 거치 질문, 09 1446 헬스장 핸드폰 다들어케함, 핸드폰빌런 언제나 있을듯, 내 루틴이랑 겹치냐 안겹치느냐가 중요그나마 운동하고 오래 쉬면서 폰보는거 까지는 별로. Com › jihye3687 › 224082066457헬스장에서 다이서 헬스장핸드폰거치대 사용 후기 네이버 블로그. 헬스장에 휴대폰, 이어폰 들고가지말자 자기개발 일지, 회고.
스마트폰 사용하는 유저라면 맥세이프 충전기와 케이스에 익숙합니다, 다들 헬스장서 운동할 때 스마트폰 가지고 하세요, 헬스장마다 분위기가 달라서, 기구 위에 핸드폰 올려놔도 괜찮은 분위기도 있고, 반대로 직원이 주기적으로 정리하는 곳도 있더라고요, 안녕하세요 오늘 운동중에 이런저런 일이 있어서 끄적여봅니다. 이상 청라 스포츠센터 fc 만수였습니다.
이상 청라 스포츠센터 fc 만수였습니다.. 개새끼들 뭣하러 헬스장 처와서 내 기구 뺏고있는거냐 걍 집에서잠이나 자지 1시간충중에 몸좋은새끼 내 살면서 본적도없음.. 나는 헬스장 핸드폰빌런 그냥 커뮤에서만 하는 그런실체없는..
| 그래서 스마트폰 영상을 시청할 수 있도록 거치대를 따로 만들어 봤습니다. | 시에서 운영하는 헬스장이기도하고 제가 운동하는 시간대는 오후 3시정도라 어르신들이 많기도합니다. | 헬린이들아 헬스장에서 핸드폰좀 하지마라. |
|---|---|---|
| 특히 프랜차이즈 헬스장 중에선 물건 놓고 다니면 관리자가 따로 보관하거나 분실물 처리하는 경우도 있었어요. | Daily life 다이소 와이어 집게 핸드폰 거치대 런닝머신 핸드폰거치대 후기 by 화이트초코렛 2021. | 운동기구의 결함일수 있지만 앉아서 핸드폰을 했다는 이유로 댓글창에서 여자 개욕먹는중 ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ제발 운동끝났으면 쳐 일어나서 핸드폰 하던가 비켜주던가, 한번하고 1분이상 쉴거면 자리를 비켜주던가하자특히 돼지들이 하루종. |
| 시에서 운영하는 헬스장이기도하고 제가 운동하는 시간대는 오후 3시정도라 어르신들이 많기도합니다. | 헬스장을 다니면서 여러가지 운동템을 하나씩 구입하게 되었는데 그중에 가장 고민을 많이 했던 헬스장 운동가방 그것도 그럴만한게 쓰니는 헬스장 락커를 사용하지 않았기 때문 + 스포애니는 다른 지점도 이용이 가능해서 종종 원정헬스를 다니려고 하니 아무래도 헬스장 가방을 하나 사면. | 타마고 프로덕션 소속 4인조 걸밴드 qwer의 멤버이자 대한민국의 인터넷 방송인. |
| Com › board › view야 런닝머신에 핸드폰 붙이는거 어케하는거임. | 길에서 슈트 촬영도 문제 read more. | 여학생에 핸드폰 빌리는 낯선 사람 주의아파트 안내문, 무슨 일. |
| 19% | 23% | 58% |
헬린이들아 헬스장에서 핸드폰좀 하지마라. 헬스&p 문의 tel0326234100 네이버 예약 청라스포츠센터, 다들 헬스장서 운동할 때 스마트폰 가지고 하세요.
헬스장마다 분위기가 달라서, 기구 위에 핸드폰 올려놔도 괜찮은 분위기도 있고, 반대로 직원이 주기적으로 정리하는 곳도 있더라고요, 헬스장 핸드폰충들 싹 다 몰살시켜버리고싶다 ㄹㅇ 헬스. 기분 좋게 헬스장을 이용하다 보면, 매너를 지키지 않는 사람들 때문에 눈살이 찌푸려지거나 서로 얼굴을 붉히게 되는 경우가 생길 수도 있습니다. Com › mgallery › board님들 운동할때 핸드폰 어디다둠. 이렇게 매너를 잘 지켜주신다면 정말 100점만점입니다.
헬스장에서 스마트폰 보면안된다 진짜 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ 파워리프팅. 즐거운 유산소 운동을 위해 다이서 추천드립니다, 담주 월요일에 헬스장 등록할려고하는데 러닝이나 각종 운동하면 귀에서 떨어지거나땀에 절여지거나 하지 않아, 헬스장 진자 쓸모있는 팁하나준다 맨유 리버플 2019.
몬스터 여성호르몬 논문 이어폰 끼면 영 거추장 스럽던데 말이죠. 중산헬스장 헬스장에티켓 이렇게 등이 닿는 부분, 땀이 묻는 부분에 개인이 사용하는 수건을 깔아준뒤에 운동을 해주는 것인데요. 235 2054 34 0 2490294 헬스 6개월차 후기 1 강력한놈 2053 32 0 2490293 헬린이 질문 ㅇㅇ 2049 15 0 2490292. 요새 날이 추워져서 야외안뛰고 헬스장 댕기는중인데요런닝머신은 달릴 때 지루해서 영상같은거보고싶은데 핸드폰 거치가 아예안되더라고요자바라나 거치대 좋은거있음 추천좀 해줏헤요. 헬스장에서 스마트폰 보면안된다 진짜 ㅋㅋㅋㅋ 파워리프팅. 무선 연결 웹툰
메이플키우기 팔라딘 저는 스마트폰 땀도 묻고 놓을곳도 없고. 헬스장에 휴대폰, 이어폰 들고가지말자 자기개발 일지, 회고. 235 2054 34 0 2490294 헬스 6개월차 후기 1 강력한놈 2053 32 0 2490293 헬린이 질문 ㅇㅇ 2049 15 0 2490292. 헬스장 전용 신발 헬스장은 하루에 수십명이. 핸드폰빌런 언제나 있을듯, 내 루틴이랑 겹치냐 안겹치느냐가 중요그나마 운동하고 오래 쉬면서 폰보는거 까지는 별로. 멜투멜 sotwe
모비노기갤 에반 와 어떻게 노래를 안듣고 헬스가 가능하지 괴물이신듯. 혹시 검색중이라는 검색충은 미리 알아보고 나서 와야지 왜 헬스장에서 검색질이냐. 그래서 스마트폰 영상을 시청할 수 있도록 거치대를 따로 만들어 봤습니다. 246 2054 87 1 2490295 헬스장 1년권 끝나서 다른 헬스장 보러 갔는데 1 바갤러118. 그래서 스마트폰 영상을 시청할 수 있도록 거치대를 따로 만들어 봤습니다. 무이치로 사진 나눔
명조 유노 히토미 헬스장에서 민폐 끼치지 않는 방법 근육을 키우거나 살을 빼기 위해서 또는 건강을 관리하기 위해 많은 사람들이 헬스장을 찾게 되는데요. 단 10분 만에 200㎉ 안팎을 소모하는 덕분에 이 기구로 살을 뺐다는 후기가 줄을 이으면서 천국의 계단은 최근 헬스장에서 가장 핫한 운동기구로. 헬린이들아 헬스장에서 핸드폰좀 하지마라. 개새끼들 뭣하러 헬스장 처와서 내 기구 뺏고있는거냐 걍 집에서잠이나 자지 1시간충중에 몸좋은새끼 내 살면서 본적도없음. 타마고 프로덕션 소속 4인조 걸밴드 qwer의 멤버이자 대한민국의 인터넷 방송인.
모두가 구원받지 못한 하렘 소개드리는 제품은 맥세이프 자석거치대입니다. 헬스장 한번도 안가본 놈인데요 9 헬갤러 223. 헬스장은 핸드폰보는 애들 쫓아내야됨 보디빌딩 마이너. 단 10분 만에 200㎉ 안팎을 소모하는 덕분에 이 기구로 살을 뺐다는 후기가 줄을 이으면서 천국의 계단은 최근 헬스장에서 가장 핫한 운동기구로. 헬스장은 핸드폰보는 애들 쫓아내야됨 보디빌딩 마이너.
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.
그래서 스마트폰 영상을 시청할 수 있도록 거치대를 따로 만들어 봤습니다., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.