Amnesty International’s 2025 annual report paints a stark picture: human rights violations rose worldwide last year, carried out by both states and non‑state actors, and in most cases perpetrators are not held to account. The organisation says 2025 was characterized by powerful figures acting like “predators,” using destruction and repression to pursue political and economic control.
The report names prominent leaders who dominated headlines — including Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Benjamin Netanyahu — and accuses them of seeking domination through large‑scale violence and suppression. It identifies the war involving Iran as a particularly urgent concern. Julia Duchrow, Amnesty International Germany’s secretary general, told DW that people in Iran face a double threat: unlawful external attacks by the US and Israel that target civilians and infrastructure and violate international law, and brutal domestic repression by Iran’s authorities, which has led to thousands of deaths. Duchrow warned that external strikes risk provoking even harsher reprisals by Iran against its own population.
Amnesty argues many governments are turning away from politics based on international rules. The report recalls the post‑1945 system built around instruments such as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Genocide Convention, saying that while the rules‑based order is fragile, it has not disappeared. At the same time, the organisation stresses that an increasing number of states show little regard for those norms.
The report singles out the United States and Israel for criticism. It condemns the vision set out in January 2026 by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a Western alliance of Christian civilizations, arguing such rhetoric ignores histories of domination, colonialism, slavery and genocide. On Israel, Amnesty says international safeguards have failed millions of Palestinians and accuses the Israeli government of subjecting them to “genocide, apartheid and occupation.” On Russia, the report states that it continues to commit crimes against humanity in Ukraine.
Despite the bleak overall assessment and the risk of new conflicts, Amnesty notes signs of restraint and resistance. Some EU member states in early 2026 declined to join US and Israeli strikes on Iran and pledged to protect strategic security. The report praises diplomats and activists who, since 1945, have defended human rights and international law.
Duchrow points to cautious reasons for hope in civil society and democratic pushback: mass protests in Iran despite mortal danger; the electoral defeat of Viktor Orbán’s government in Hungary; and the December 2025 release of Belarusian activist Maria Kolesnikova after five years in detention, a case Amnesty had campaigned for.
This article was originally published in German.