US Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino (C) walks through a department store in St. Paul, Minnesota, June 7, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 2026.
A Venezuelan migrant sits inside a cell at CECOT prison in Tecoluca, El Salvador, June 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 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 7, 2026.
Com › yometa › 223336365267도쿄 신주쿠 번화가 볼거리 구경할것 여행 알차게 총정리 네이버 블. 솔직히 도쿄랑 신주쿠 정도는 알고 있는 사람이 많을 것이라 생각한다. 한국에서는 다소 비싼 생선들인데 할인전에는 700엔 정도로 구매 가능하고 할인이 들어가면 300엔으로도 구매 가능하다. 루트를 어째 짜야할지 모르겠음 동쪽라인이나 다른일정은 다짜놨는데.
신주쿠 골든가이 신주쿠 골든가이 新宿ゴールデン街 약 200개의 작은 바와 클럽이 밀집한 지역으로, 각 바마다 독특한 테마와 분위기를 자랑합니다.. 나리타에서 탄 버스에서 내린 부산 촌놈이 멍하게 둘러본 신주쿠는 말 그대로 천지개벽이란 말이 어울리는 멋진 도시였다.. 신주구꾸 시부야 할것 추천좀 해주이소 일본여행..일단 이케부쿠로 신주쿠 시부야 나카노는 갈 거 같은데 여기 말고도 갈데 있을까, 솔직히 도쿄랑 신주쿠 정도는 알고 있는 사람이 많을 것이라 생각한다, Com › masayume_99 › 223010962239도쿄 여행 신주쿠 가볼만한 곳, 볼거리 추천 네이버 블로그.
돗자리 가지고 들어가서 12시간 정도 누워서 힐링하고 도시락. 신주쿠 첫 방문이라면 신주쿠구에서 진행하는 무료 한국어 관광 서비스를 추천합니다, 외국인들은 면세 카드를 6층에서 만들면 5% 할인 가능합니다, Com › discover › 일본길거리여장tiktok.
Tsunagu japan 기자의 관광 추천 콘텐츠 보기.. ❌ 신주쿠 교엔굳이 신주쿠 안가면 패스 ✓ 우에노 공원가장 오래된 공원+주변 박물관까지 박물관 ❌ 신주쿠 역사박물관 굳이 신주쿠 안가면 패스.. ❌ 신주쿠 교엔굳이 신주쿠 안가면 패스 ✓ 우에노 공원가장 오래된 공원+주변 박물관까지 박물관 ❌ 신주쿠 역사박물관 굳이 신주쿠 안가면 패스.. 도쿄 제 1의 환락거리 가부키쵸 수많은 술집 수많은 콘카페를 위장한 걸즈바 수많은 캬바쿠라와 호스트클럽 그 외 수많은 것들이..
작년에도 다녀온 도쿄 이번년도 5월에도 특가로 다녀올 예정이에요. 신주쿠 교 엔, tokyo metropolitan government building observation decks, 유서 깊은 산책로, 전문 박물관. 솔직히 도쿄랑 신주쿠 정도는 알고 있는 사람이 많을 것이라 생각한다, 신주쿠 밤 놀거리 예산과 함께 여러 플랜을 소개합니다 디시, Com › masayume_99 › 223010962239도쿄 여행 신주쿠 가볼만한 곳, 볼거리 추천 네이버 블로그, 많은 사람들이 신주쿠에 숙소를 잡을텐데 자신의 숙소가 어느 에리어에 가까운지를 일단 알아보도록 하자.
오늘은 도쿄 신주쿠 여행했을때 볼거리 무엇이 있는지 알차게 총정리해봤습니다, 지금도 도쿄의 중심가 신주쿠는 한국인들이 도쿄에 가면 반드시 들르는 곳이다. 사당에는 바다와 태풍을 관장하는 구시미케누노미 스사누노미코토와 이자나미가 모셔져 있습니다, Com › yometa › 223336365267도쿄 신주쿠 번화가 볼거리 구경할것 여행 알차게 총정리 네이버 블, 신주쿠 밤 놀거리 예산과 함께 여러 플랜을 소개합니다 디시 1800~1930 세련된 디너로 시작하자 2000~2130 엔터테인먼트 타임 2200~24.
우에노와 마루노우치 지역은 각각 다이토 구와 치요다 구에 속해있는 동의 개념을 가진 지역이었다면 신주쿠의 경우는 동이 아니라 구의 개념을 가진 동내이다. 히히 신주쿠는 도쿄의 대표 번화가로 볼거리 정말 많아서 여기저기 구경하기 좋죠, 한국에서는 다소 비싼 생선들인데 할인전에는 700엔 정도로 구매 가능하고 할인이 들어가면 300엔으로도 구매 가능하다, Com › moon_star_9135 › 223721642833신주쿠 놀거리 top5 도쿄도청, 가부키초, 일본 문화체험까지 네이버, 신주쿠 가볼만한곳 31선 현지인 추천 맛집, 쇼핑, 야경까지.
Com › wlgns15321 › 223825129162도쿄 신주쿠 놀거리 추천 네이버 블로그. 신주쿠 밤 놀거리 예산과 함께 여러 플랜을 소개합니다 디시 1800~1930 세련된 디너로 시작하자 2000~2130 엔터테인먼트 타임 2200~24, 10일 다녀왔었는데 6일을 신주쿠교엔에서 휴식하고 그랬음. 사람 엄청 많고 길건너는데도 사람들 사진 엄청 찍더라.
아래에서 추천하는 몇 가지 밤놀이 플랜을 소개합니다, 하나는 신주쿠 히비야 공원으로, 신주쿠역에서 도보로 10분 거리에 있는 작은 공원입니다, 후기4박5일 일본여행신주쿠&시부야 갤러리 디시인사이드.
여기서는 회전목마, 롤러코스터, 공중 자전거 등의 놀이기구를 탈 수 있습니다. Com › wlgns15321 › 223825129162도쿄 신주쿠 놀거리 추천 네이버 블로그, 오늘은 도쿄 신주쿠 여행했을때 볼거리 무엇이 있는지 알차게 총정리해봤습니다, 신주쿠 놀거리로 저녁 타임세일 경험을 해보고 싶다면 적극 추천한다.
일단 이케부쿠로 신주쿠 시부야 나카노는 갈 거 같은데 여기 말고도 갈데 있을까. Com › moon_star_9135 › 223721642833신주쿠 놀거리 top5 도쿄도청, 가부키초, 일본 문화체험까지 네이버, 신주쿠 놀거리로 저녁 타임세일 경험을 해보고 싶다면 적극 추천한다. 2023년 개업한 가부키초 타워는 신주쿠의 새로운 랜드마크로 화제가 되고 있다. 많은 사람들이 신주쿠에 숙소를 잡을텐데 자신의 숙소가 어느 에리어에 가까운지를 일단 알아보도록 하자. Redirecting to sgall.
| Xiaolang22 부매니저 없음 개설일 20181227. | 신주구꾸 시부야 할것 추천좀 해주이소 일본여행. |
|---|---|
| 아래에서 추천하는 몇 가지 밤놀이 플랜을 소개합니다. | 히히 신주쿠는 도쿄의 대표 번화가로 볼거리 정말 많아서 여기저기 구경하기 좋죠. |
| Tsunagu japan 기자의 관광 추천 콘텐츠 보기. | 신주쿠 밤 놀거리 신주쿠는 밤놀이 장소가 풍부하고, 식사, 엔터테인먼트, 바, 클럽, 가라오케 등 다양한 즐길 거리가 있다. |
신주쿠에서 할만한게 뭐가 있나 일본여행 관동이외 마이너, 신주쿠 첫 방문이라면 신주쿠구에서 진행하는 무료 한국어 관광 서비스를 추천합니다, 2006년, 일본에 도착해서 처음 도착한 곳이 신주쿠 3초메, 일단 지도에서 신주쿠 구를 잘 봐줬으면 한다.
히토미 여친최면 신주쿠 가볼만한곳 31선 현지인 추천 맛집, 쇼핑, 야경까지. 신주쿠 놀거리로 저녁 타임세일 경험을 해보고 싶다면 적극 추천한다. 도쿄 제 1의 환락거리 가부키쵸 수많은 술집 수많은 콘카페를 위장한 걸즈바 수많은 캬바쿠라와 호스트클럽 그 외 수많은 것들이. 밤 문화를 체험하고 다양한 사람들과 교류하기에 좋은 장소입니다. 사람 엄청 많고 길건너는데도 사람들 사진 엄청 찍더라. 히토미 아줌마
히토미 색깔 히히 신주쿠는 도쿄의 대표 번화가로 볼거리 정말 많아서 여기저기 구경하기 좋죠. 오늘은 도쿄 신주쿠 여행했을때 볼거리 무엇이 있는지 알차게 총정리해봤습니다. 신주쿠 놀거리로 저녁 타임세일 경험을 해보고 싶다면 적극 추천한다. Com › discover › 일본길거리여장tiktok. 신주쿠 골든가이 신주쿠 골든가이 新宿ゴールデン街 약 200개의 작은 바와 클럽이 밀집한 지역으로, 각 바마다 독특한 테마와 분위기를 자랑합니다. 히토미 톰보이
히토미 오나홀화 아직 너희에게 알려줄게 너무나 많이 남았다. 작년에도 다녀온 도쿄 이번년도 5월에도 특가로 다녀올 예정이에요. 여기서는 회전목마, 롤러코스터, 공중 자전거 등의 놀이기구를 탈 수 있습니다. Com › moon_star_9135 › 223721642833신주쿠 놀거리 top5 도쿄도청, 가부키초, 일본 문화체험까지 네이버. 신주쿠 교 엔, tokyo metropolitan government building observation decks, 유서 깊은 산책로, 전문 박물관. 히토미 유부녀 추천
히토미 지뢰계 신주쿠 밤 놀거리 신주쿠는 밤놀이 장소가 풍부하고, 식사, 엔터테인먼트, 바, 클럽, 가라오케 등 다양한 즐길 거리가 있다. 나리타에서 탄 버스에서 내린 부산 촌놈이 멍하게 둘러본 신주쿠는 말 그대로 천지개벽이란 말이 어울리는 멋진 도시였다. 나리타에서 탄 버스에서 내린 부산 촌놈이 멍하게 둘러본 신주쿠는 말 그대로 천지개벽이란 말이 어울리는 멋진 도시였다. 나는 5박 6일에서 6박 7일로 예정을 만들어 놓았기 때문에. 신주구꾸 시부야 할것 추천좀 해주이소 일본여행.
히토미 안들어가짐 ❌ 신주쿠 교엔굳이 신주쿠 안가면 패스 ✓ 우에노 공원가장 오래된 공원+주변 박물관까지 박물관 ❌ 신주쿠 역사박물관 굳이 신주쿠 안가면 패스. Com › moon_star_9135 › 223721642833신주쿠 놀거리 top5 도쿄도청, 가부키초, 일본 문화체험까지 네이버. 한국에서는 다소 비싼 생선들인데 할인전에는 700엔 정도로 구매 가능하고 할인이 들어가면 300엔으로도 구매 가능하다. 우에노와 마루노우치 지역은 각각 다이토 구와 치요다 구에 속해있는 동의 개념을 가진 지역이었다면 신주쿠의 경우는 동이 아니라 구의 개념을 가진 동내이다. 신주구꾸 시부야 할것 추천좀 해주이소 일본여행.
Security personnel stand guard during a curfew imposed after protesters clashed with security forces in Imphal, Manipur, India, on June 7, 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 7, 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 7, 2026.
Demonstrators outside Nepal's Parliament during a protest in Kathmandu condemning social media prohibitions and corruption by the government, June 7, 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.
신주쿠 밤 놀거리 예산과 함께 여러 플랜을 소개합니다 디시., Human Rights Watch’s 36th annual review of human rights practices and trends around the globe, reviews developments in more than 100 countries.