Human rights are in danger. This has been highlighted by the executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW)Philippe Bolopion, in the introductory essay of the NGO’s latest world report, published this Wednesday. The document, of some 529 pages, which compiles the humanitarian practices carried out in more than 100 countries, calls on the democracies to join in a new alliance before the “authoritarian wave” that is gaining more and more ground in the world. This wave threatens to completely overturn the rules-based international order, already damaged by China and Russia, and now threatened by the Administration of US President Donald Trump.
During a press conference this Wednesday, on the occasion of the launch of the HRW report, representatives of the NGO in different regions of the world analyzed the situation in their respective territory. Among the speakers were Sarah Yager, director of HRW in Washington; Philippe Bolopian, executive director of the NGO; Mausi Segun, executive director for Africa; Juan Pappier, deputy director of the Americas Division, and Yulia Gorbunova, senior researcher for Europe and Central Asia.
“The year 2025 has been a turning point for human rights,” said Bolopion, who highlights three fundamental elements that have contributed to its recent deterioration. First, the existence of a “hostile environment” caused by a constant democratic recession, that is, the weakening of democratic institutions, norms and systems. Second, the rise of China and Russia as world powers. And, third but no less alarming, the US assault under the Trump Administration on the rule of law.
“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 that human rights defenders have come to rely on to promote norms and protect freedoms,” warns Bolopion. “To challenge this trend, governments that still value human rights, together with social movements, civil society and international institutions, must form a strategic alliance to counterattack,” adds the senior representative of the NGO.
In the last year, and according to the HRW report, the US president has led a series of actions contrary to the preservation of human rights in the world, while the presence of authoritarian powers has gained more and more ground. The authors of the report attribute to Trump attacks on freedom of expression, legal independence, massive cuts in humanitarian aidblocking access to abortion and forced deportations to third countries, where those affected could face serious violations of their rights. The document also emphasizes that, as Trump himself highlighted, he does not recognize the limits that international law imposes on his powers, but rather is restricted only based on its “morality”.
“It is a dangerous world for human rights,” warns Bolopion, “but that should not be a reason for despair, but rather a reason to act.” The senior HRW official points out that the protests by young people of generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) in countries such as Nepal, Peru and Morocco in 2025, or the recent demonstrations in parts of the United States are an example of how democracies can resist, but insists that international governments must join this movement and stand up to authoritarian powers.
“The Prime Minister of Canada [Mark Carney] gave a well-received speech at the World Economic Forum [en Davos]in which he captured the mood of the moment and called on democratic countries to come together and form an alliance to protect the governance space throughout the order. There are many other countries that could join an initiative like that, middle powers in the European Union, but also others such as South Africa, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, Australia or the United Kingdom,” says Bolopion.
The expert confirms that, by joining forces, these and other states that until now have been limited by the fear of angering the United States, China or Russia could mutually benefit in trade, defense and diplomatic matters: “They could resist tariffs.” [de Trump]”, protect each other and have great voting power in institutions such as the Human Rights Council and the United Nations General Assembly.”
This new bloc, HRW maintains, would become a key actor in the United Nations on which the responsibility of “defending the independence and integrity of the UN human rights mechanisms” could fall. The governments in question, says Bolopion, are not limited to the “usual candidates”, but include a range of countries spread throughout the world. “The multilateral order was built brick by brick by States in all regions over decades,” recalls the executive director of the NGO.
Is the US the biggest threat to human rights? At HRW, countries are not classified based on the severity of human rights violations committed, although the NGO recognizes that the United States represents a unique threat to its preservation, although that does not mean that it represents the greatest danger.
The cases of China and Russia, Bolopion assures, cannot be compared with that of the United States: “In Russia and China, which are not democratic at all, there is hardly any room for political opposition, there is practically no free media or an independent judiciary. In the United States, all these guarantees are threatened or under pressure, but they continue to exist.” The only possible comparison, he assures, is in the degree of contempt that these three powers share towards mechanisms designed to protect human rights and control power.
“The United States was one of the architects of the rules-based international order. It was never a champion in the matter, but it was a key actor that made it possible for human rights and democracy to advance in the world,” Bolopion argues. Now, the United States is turning against the system it helped build.
