Print | Trump’s authoritarian tendencies are undermining human rights and security systems around the world: HRW

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Trump’s authoritarian tendencies are undermining human rights and security systems around the world: HRW

Democratic nations committed to human rights should form a strategic alliance to defend the international order, which is under threat from the Trump administration and the leaders of China and Russia, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a global report released Wednesday.

In its 36th edition of the 529-page Global Report 2026, Human Rights Watch reviewed the human rights situation in more than 100 countries around the world. At the beginning of the report, the organization's executive director, Philippe Bolopion, wrote that resisting authoritarian trends around the world is the greatest challenge for this generation.

US President Donald Trump and growing authoritarian tendencies have seriously undermined human rights protection and security systems around the world.

From attacks on freedom of expression to deportations to third countries, recent US government abuses clearly demonstrate the administration’s assault on the rule of law. Combined with long-standing efforts by China and Russia to undermine the rules-based global order, these actions by the Trump administration are having profound and widespread effects around the world.

"The global human rights system is under serious threat," says Philippe Bolopion, executive director of Human Rights Watch.

The rules-based international system is collapsing under US President Donald Trump's continued pressure and the continued denigration of China and Russia. The very framework on which human rights defenders have relied to advance standards and protect freedoms is also in danger of collapse.

To counter this trend, governments that still value human rights must form a strategic alliance with social movements, civil society, and international institutions to build resistance.

Bolopion said the US president has undermined trust in the sanctity and credibility of elections. He has reduced government accountability.

Trump has attacked the independence of the judiciary, disobeyed court orders, cut food aid and healthcare subsidies, curtailed women's rights, blocked access to abortion services, weakened racial discrimination remedies, rolled back protections for trans and intersex people, and disregarded personal privacy.

Trump has used the power of government to intimidate political opponents, the media, law firms, universities, civil society, and even comedians.

Bolopion said Trump's foreign policy has overturned the foundations of a rules-based international system designed to advance democracy and human rights. Trump himself has boasted that no "international law" can stand in his way. His "own morality" is enough to stop him.

The administration has abruptly cut off nearly all U.S. foreign aid, including life-saving humanitarian assistance. The Trump administration has also withdrawn from multilateral institutions that play a key role in protecting global human rights, such as the United Nations Human Rights Council and the Paris Climate Agreement.

The US move to weaken multilateral institutions has also dealt a major blow to the prevention of serious international crimes around the world. The 'Never Again' movement, born from the horrors of the Holocaust and rekindled by the genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia, prompted the UN General Assembly in 2005 to adopt the 'Responsibility to Protect'.

Today, the 'responsibility to protect' is almost never used and the International Criminal Court is in a critical state.

Twenty years ago, the US government and civil society played a key role in building a response to the genocide in Darfur. The fires are burning again in Sudan. But this time, under Trump’s leadership, they are happening relatively unhindered.

Israeli armed forces are committing genocide and crimes against humanity in the occupied Palestinian territories. They have killed more than 71,000 people since Hamas launched an attack on Israel in October 2023. Their indiscriminate attacks have displaced most of the people of Gaza.

These crimes have been condemned unevenly around the world. Trump has continued his long-standing US policy of almost unconditional support for Israel, even as charges of genocide are pending before international courts.

Trump’s peace initiatives in Ukraine have consistently downplayed Russia’s responsibility for serious violations. Instead of applying appropriate pressure on Putin to stop these crimes, Trump has publicly berated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, demanded exploitative mineral deals, pressured Ukraine to cede vast territories, and offered “total impunity” for war crimes.

"The US's blatant disregard for human rights has weakened a leadership committed to the fight for human rights, weakened by internal forces of illiberalism," said Philippe Bolopion, executive director of Human Rights Watch.

The Executive Director said, "If these countries come together, they could emerge as a powerful political force and a significant economic bloc. Support for human rights has never come only from strong democracies or countries with impeccable domestic human rights records."

This global coalition—composed of democratic countries that respect human rights—could create other incentives to counter Trump’s policies, which have undermined multilateral trade and reciprocal trade agreements that include human rights protections.

This new human rights-based coalition could also serve as a powerful voting bloc at the United Nations. It could pledge to uphold the independence and integrity of the UN human rights framework, provide political and financial support, and build coalitions capable of advancing democratic standards—even in the face of superpower opposition.

Bolopion expressed concern that this will be clearly visible in the United States in 2026, with a wider impact on other countries around the world. Building resistance will require a strong, strategic and coordinated effort by voters, civil society, multilateral institutions and governments that respect human rights.