29 이태원 참사의 생존자인 이주현 씨와 김지선 가명씨를 뉴스타파가 만났습니다.

대국민담화를 마친 윤 대통령은 곧바로 이태원 참사현장으로 향했다.

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, August 13, 2026.
University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, August 13, 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, August 13, 2026. © 2025 Marton Monus/Reuters; SECOND: University students confront riot police in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district following the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, August 13, 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, August 13, 2026.
A volunteer at a food distribution event outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, August 13, 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, August 13, 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, August 13, 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, August 13, 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, August 13, 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, August 13, 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, August 13, 2026.

FIRST: Surveillance cameras installed in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, August 13, 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, August 13, 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, August 13, 2026.
Palestinians inspect a house demolished by Israeli military forces in the town of Qabatiya in the Israeli occupied West Bank, August 13, 2026.

FIRST: A Palestinian girl stands amidst rubble in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, August 13, 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, August 13, 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.

1029 이태원참사 3주기 추모당시 사망자 수와 원인은. 이재현고등학교 1학년 이태원에서 친구와 여친을 잃음친구들과 놀러가자고 했다가 죽는걸 눈 앞에서 봄그 죄책감으로 심각한 pts. 기타 이태원 사고현장에 갔다 온 디시인 과식다이어터22. 시민언론 민들레는 14일 시민언론 더탐사와의 협업으로 이태원 참사 희생자들 명단을 공개한다.

Com › News › Articleview단독 이태원 참사 사망자 명단 결국 공개한 시민언론,유족에 동.

지난달 29일 발생한 이태원 핼러윈 참사 관련해 사망자 명단이 결국 공개됐다.. 참사 현장에서 친구 2명을 잃고, 바로 옆에서 여자친구가 사망하는 모습을 목격함.. 국가차원에서 애도하는거야 위 사건들 생각하면 에바라고쳐도 사람 그렇게 밀집된데에서 작정하고 밀면 죽기까지는 아니라도 다칠거 뻔히 보이는 상황에서 read more..
30조회수96,106 목록 댓글 103 글자크기 작게가 글자크기 크게가. 싱글벙글 훌쩍훌쩍 이태원 마지막 159번째 사망자. 29일 서울 용산구 이태원동 일대에 핼러윈을 맞아 인파가 몰린 가운데 209명의 사상자가 발생하는 대규모 인명피해가 발생했다. 특수본, 이태원 참사 당시 cctv 영상 공개 159명의 희생자를 낸 이태원 참사의 원인과 책임 규명에 나선 경찰 특별수사본부 특수본가 13일 수사 결과를 발표하고 활동을 마무리했다.

한편 지난 2022년 10월 29일에 발생한 이태원 참사는 할로윈데이를 앞두고 수많은 인파가 몰린 발생한 압사 사고로 이 사고로 인해 159명이 사망하고 195.

무려 159명이 숨진 압사 참사가 발생한 것이다. ㄷㄷㄷmbc, pd수첩 정신이 나갔거나 악마, 사탄 아니냐. 이태원 압사 사고 참사는 길이 훨씬 비좁고 경사지고 사람 훨씬많고, 사망자는 85명으로 확인되었으며, 생존 구조자들은 목포한국병원52. Com › popular › 이태원참사이태원 참사 사망자 인스 타. 사고는 지난 29일 오후 10시15분쯤 용산구 이태원동 해밀톤호텔 옆 골목 1197 일대에서 발생했다. 참사 현장에서 친구 2명을 잃고, 바로 옆에서 여자친구가 사망하는 모습을 목격함, 지난달 29일 참사가 발생한 지 16일 만이다.

시민언론 민들레는 14일 시민언론 더탐사와의 협업으로 이태원 참사 희생자들 명단을 공개한다.

명단 공개에 있어 유족들의 동의를 구하지 못했다는 점에서 이에 대한 논란과 비판이 거세질 가능성도 배제할 수 없을 전망이다. 전무후무한 사건이었기에 전국민이 충격에 빠져있을 때 누군가는 피해자를 능욕하는 말을 입에 담았다, 무려 159명이 숨진 압사 참사가 발생한 것이다.

이태원 이태원참사 특수본 cctv zaobaosg. 소방당국은 이날 오후 10시 22분쯤 이태원 일대에서 인파에 짖눌려 호흡곤란 등으로 인한 실신 신고가 90여건이 접수됐다고 밝혔다. 악플러들이 만들어낸 이태원 참사 159번째 희생자jpg. 싱글벙글 훌쩍훌쩍 이태원 마지막 159번째 사망자.

수습된 사진이 아니라 참사 당시 사람들 사이에 끼어서 죽은 사진인데 진짜 시체인것도 소름이지만 얼굴이 보라색으로.

29일 서울 용산구 이태원동 일대에 핼러윈을 맞아 인파가 몰린 가운데 209명의 사상자가 발생하는 대규모 인명피해가 발생했다. 한편, 해밀톤호텔 북서측 이태원 세계음식거리. 20 1417 스틸콜드 ㄹㅇ 개사이코들이더만 08. 디시인사이드에서 다양한 정보를 나누고 소통할 수 있는 공간입니다.

Com › korean › news63467578이태원 사고 희생자들에 대하여 bbc news 코리아, Comarticle1956 dc official app 실종되었던, 사고 당일 오후 10시경, 이태원 세계음식거리 해밀톤호텔 서측 골목 저지대 중간 저지대 입구에서 25m쯤 올라간 곳의 18, 이태원 참사 애도기간이 끝났음에도 희생자 전체 명단과 사진, 프로필, 애틋한 사연 등이 공개되지 않고 있습니다. 302 likes, tiktok video from 地球村🌍新发现 @globalvillage_999 이태원 참사의 다양한 반응과 사망자 정보를 아카이브에서 확인해 보세요. 수습된 사진이 아니라 참사 당시 사람들 사이에 끼어서 죽은 사진인데 진짜 시체인것도 소름이지만 얼굴이 보라색으로.

이태원 참사 사망자 59명으로 늘어총 사상자 200여명 장세희 기자 공병선 기자 입력 2022.

명단 공개에 있어 유족들의 동의를 구하지 못했다는 점에서 이에 대한 논란과 비판이 거세질 가능성도 배제할 수 없을 전망이다, 사고 당일 오후 10시경, 이태원 세계음식거리 해밀톤호텔 서측 골목 저지대 중간 저지대 입구에서 25m쯤 올라간 곳의 18, 한편, 해밀톤호텔 북서측 이태원 세계음식거리. 159명의 젊은이들이 인파에 깔려 숨졌다.

Com › board › view충격mbc, 이태원 사망자 얼굴과 이름 공개jpg 실시간 베스트. 사망자는 85명으로 확인되었으며, 생존 구조자들은 목포한국병원52, 전날 오후 11시보다 사망자는 늘지 않았지만 부상자는 17명 늘었다, 이태원 압사 사고 참사는 길이 훨씬 비좁고 경사지고 사람. 이태원 참사 사망자 59명으로 늘어총 사상자 200여명 장세희 기자 공병선 기자 입력 2022.

이재명 쥐짤 지들이 위험한거 알면서 술처묵고 놀다가 뒤진건데 뭔 희생자냐 사망자다 ㅡ 개추인파가 몰리면 경찰이 통제를 해줘야지. 일반 이태원참사 중 가장 안타까운 사람은 159번째 희생자임. 30조회수96,106 목록 댓글 103 글자크기 작게가 글자크기 크게가. 일반 포토 합동분향소 이태원 참사 희생자 얼굴 명단 공개. 302 likes, tiktok video from 地球村🌍新发现 @globalvillage_999 이태원 참사의 다양한 반응과 사망자 정보를 아카이브에서 확인해 보세요. 이연우 남친 디시

이하얀 여장 디시 이에 따라 정부가 공식 집계한 이태원 참사 사망자는 158명에. 그는 2022년 이태원 참사 현장에 지원을 나간 뒤 우울증 진단을 받고 치료받아 왔으며, 실종 직전 가족과 친구들에게 미안하다는 내용의 메모를 남긴. 전날 오후 11시보다 사망자는 늘지 않았지만 부상자는 17명 늘었다. 한편, 해밀톤호텔 북서측 이태원 세계음식거리. 행정안전부는 이날 오전 10시 29분 서울 광화문 광장에서 10. 이예솔 야동

이주은 tits 행정안전부는 이날 오전 10시 29분 서울 광화문 광장에서 10. 특수본, 이태원 참사 당시 cctv 영상 공개 159명의 희생자를 낸 이태원 참사의 원인과 책임 규명에 나선 경찰 특별수사본부 특수본가 13일 수사 결과를 발표하고 활동을 마무리했다. 대국민담화를 마친 윤 대통령은 곧바로 이태원 참사현장으로 향했다. 한편, 해밀톤호텔 북서측 이태원 세계음식거리. 싱글벙글 훌쩍훌쩍 이태원 마지막 159번째 사망자. 이이경 논란 원본

이이경 논란 해서 롯데월드 무료개방 사건때 사망자 0명인거에 비하여 훨씬 사상자가 많았던것임. 디시인사이드에서 다양한 정보를 나누고 소통할 수 있는 공간입니다. 사고의 정확한 원인은 아직 파악되지 않고 있다. 대국민담화를 마친 윤 대통령은 곧바로 이태원 참사현장으로 향했다. 29 이태원 참사의 생존자인 이주현 씨와 김지선 가명씨를 뉴스타파가 만났습니다.

이재명 쥐짤 30 87,796 목록 댓글 104 가 가. 일반 이태원참사 중 가장 안타까운 사람은 159번째 희생자임. 대국민담화를 마친 윤 대통령은 곧바로 이태원 참사현장으로 향했다. 모든 이야기의 시작, daum 카페 스크랩 기타 이태원 참사 타임라인을 겪은 디시인 미미민22. 대국민담화를 마친 윤 대통령은 곧바로 이태원 참사현장으로 향했다.

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, August 13, 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, August 13, 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, August 13, 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, August 13, 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 August 13, 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, August 13, 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 August 13, 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, August 13, 2026. © 2025 Yevhen Titov/AP Photo

29 이태원 참사의 생존자인 이주현 씨와 김지선 가명씨를 뉴스타파가 만났습니다., 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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