Annual report says rising autocracy and great-power pressure are eroding the rules meant to protect freedoms worldwide
Published Feb. 4, 2026
The world’s human rights system is facing an existential threat, Human Rights Watch warned on Wednesday, as it released its World Report 2026. The organization said that roughly 72 percent of the global population now lives under authoritarian rule and that the international order designed to safeguard basic freedoms is buckling under sustained pressure from major powers.
The report argues that the United States, China, and Russia, countries with vast economic, military, and diplomatic influence, are increasingly led by governments that openly disdain human rights norms. That dynamic, HRW said, has weakened the institutions and standards that activists and victims rely on for protection and accountability.
“The rules-based international system is being steadily crushed,” said Philippe Bolopion, HRW’s executive director. He attributed the trend to pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, as well as long-standing efforts by China and Russia to undermine global norms. Bolopion called on governments that still value human rights, along with civil society and international institutions, to forge a coordinated alliance to reverse the decline.
United States
The report delivers a sharply critical assessment of Washington, accusing the Trump administration of attacking core elements of U.S. democracy and weakening the global human rights system. It cites what it describes as inhumane treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers, noting that 32 people died in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in 2025, with four more deaths reported in January 2026.
HRW also highlighted actions it called unlawful or damaging to international accountability, including the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. withdrawal from the U.N. Human Rights Council and the World Health Organization, and sanctions imposed on Palestinian human rights groups, the prosecutor and judges of the International Criminal Court, and a U.N. special rapporteur.
According to the report, Trump’s second term has been marked by “blatant disregard” for human rights and a deliberate effort to weaken institutions tasked with enforcing international standards.
Israel and Palestine
HRW accused Israel of committing acts that amount to genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity, particularly in Gaza, and said the global response has been inconsistent and insufficient. The organization warned that proposals linked to Trump regarding Gaza could amount to ethnic cleansing, while Israeli military actions in Gaza and policies in the occupied West Bank, including demolitions and movement restrictions, continue.
The report’s release comes amid internal controversy at HRW. Omar Shakir, the group’s Israel-Palestine director, recently resigned, saying leadership had blocked a report accusing Israel of crimes against humanity related to the denial of Palestinian refugees’ right of return. Shakir said the blocked report sought to connect the destruction of refugee camps in Gaza with pressures in the West Bank and a broader campaign against UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, framing the moment as a continuation of the Nakba, the mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948.
Ukraine and Russia
In Ukraine, HRW said Russian forces have engaged in widespread abuses, including indiscriminate bombing, forced conscription in occupied areas, torture of prisoners of war, deportation of Ukrainian children, and the use of drones to target civilians, actions the group said have not faced sufficient international pressure.
Inside Russia, the report describes an intensifying crackdown on dissent. Authorities, it said, routinely mistreat detainees, deploy “foreign agent” and “undesirable organization” laws to silence civil society, and prosecute people for honoring the memory of opposition figure Alexey Navalny, who died in prison in 2024. Election monitor Golos has been effectively dismantled, its leader sentenced to prison, while multiple international rights organizations, including HRW, have been banned.
China
HRW painted a bleak picture of rights in China, accusing the government of systematically suppressing freedom of expression, assembly, association, and religion. With tight state control over information, extensive surveillance, and aggressive censorship, critics face detention, disappearance, and torture, the report said. Religious minorities, Tibetans, and Uighurs are subjected to forced assimilation, while draft legislation promoting “ethnic unity” is described as a tool to legitimize repression and expand ideological control.
A call for new alliances
Despite the grim assessment, HRW said the erosion of global leadership has created space for new actors to step forward. The report pointed to countries such as Costa Rica, Ghana, Malaysia, Mexico, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Vanuatu as examples of states that have taken meaningful action on specific human rights initiatives.
It also highlighted emerging diplomatic efforts, including Chile’s Democracy Forever summit, which brought together leaders from Brazil, Colombia, Spain, and Uruguay, and the formation of the Hague Group, which aims to defend international law in solidarity with Palestinians.
Grassroots movements, HRW said, remain a critical counterweight to repression. Student protests supporting Palestine, demonstrations against ICE abuses in the United States, and youth-led protests across Nepal, Indonesia, and Morocco were cited as evidence that public pressure and civic action continue to challenge authoritarian trends.
“The system is under strain,” the report concludes, “but people power and principled alliances still have the potential to defend and renew global human rights.”
By The Midtown Times Staff | Published on Feb, 2026
