Human Rights Watch warned in its annual report that 2025 may be a “tipping point” for democratic institutions and human rights worldwide. The New York–based organization said the reelection of US President Donald Trump has emboldened autocratic leaders and weakened protections for minorities and other vulnerable groups, contributing to what HRW executive director Philippe Bolopion called “the global human rights system is in peril.”
The report argues that pressure from the United States under Trump, together with sustained erosion of norms by China and Russia, is corroding the rules-based international order. It criticizes the Trump administration’s first year back in office for mounting what HRW describes as a broad assault on core pillars of US democracy, deploying racist tropes that stigmatize entire communities, and adopting rhetoric and policies that align with white nationalist ideas.
Beyond the United States, HRW documents serious abuses in several conflict zones. In Ukraine, the group accuses Russian forces of indiscriminate bombing, coercing civilians in occupied areas into military service, systematically torturing prisoners of war, and abducting and deporting Ukrainian children to Russia. HRW also says the US president has at times downplayed these abuses.
In the Middle East, the report alleges that Israeli operations in Gaza—carried out in response to the Hamas-led attack of October 2023—amounted to acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. Bolopion warned that under what he termed “Trump’s new world disorder,” raw power too often prevails and atrocities are treated as negotiable, urging rights-respecting states to build a strategic alliance to push back.
HRW flags growing rights concerns in Germany, including rising anti-Muslim and antisemitic hate crimes. It criticizes a non-binding January 2025 Bundestag motion, driven by CDU leader Friedrich Merz and supported by the far-right AfD, to tighten immigration rules—an issue mainstream parties had largely avoided. The group also raises alarms about restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly, and association, pointing to measures targeting Palestine solidarity protests and broad tendencies to equate criticism of Israel with antisemitism, a claim echoed by the Council of Europe’s human rights commissioner.
On social rights, HRW cites police data showing an 18% increase in domestic violence over five years, with women comprising over 70% of victims. It notes setbacks for LGBT visibility after Bundestag President Julia Klöckner declined to fly the rainbow flag at the Reichstag during Pride, ending a two-year practice. The report also acknowledges Germany’s leadership in the pro-Ukraine coalition and Merz’s support for using frozen Russian assets to supply arms to Kyiv.
Looking ahead to 2026, Bolopion predicted that political shifts in the United States will have far-reaching global effects. He said defeating the current authoritarian trend is a generational task that requires a sustained, strategic, coordinated response from voters, civil society, multilateral bodies, and governments that respect human rights. HRW called for a new international alliance—potentially led by the EU and including democracies such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, and the UK—to defend the rules-based human rights order. Edited by: Farah Bahgat