HUMAN RIGHTS composite image from Inquirer file photo by Daniella Marie Agacer
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The aggressive stance against universal human rights of the administration of US President Donald Trump is accelerating global declines in protections, Amnesty International said in its 2025 annual report.
“The State of the World’s Human Rights,” released on Tuesday, pointed out that Trump’s recent policies during his second term in office, have intensified harmful global trends, dismantled key institutions, and emboldened authoritarian leaders. The result, the group lamented, is a more brutal, unjust, and unstable world.
“This ‘Trump effect’ has compounded damage caused by other world leaders. It’s accelerating humanity’s descent into a brutal new era of authoritarianism and corporate greed,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty’s secretary general.
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The report, covering 150 countries, highlighted severe crackdowns on dissent, escalating armed conflicts, and growing attacks on the rights of migrants, women, and LGBTI people. Amnesty warned that these crises could worsen in 2025 if urgent global action is not carried out.
Among the most damning examples cited in the report was Israel’s war in Gaza, which Amnesty described as a “livestreamed but unheeded genocide” that depicts the international community’s failure to uphold humanitarian law. “The most powerful states are abandoning international law and multilateral institutions,” Callamard noted.
Multiple conflict zones
Amnesty documented war crimes and humanitarian law violations in multiple conflict zones. It accused Israel of genocide in Gaza and increasing violence in the West Bank, noted intensified Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians, while Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces carried out widespread sexual violence.
Cuts in US foreign aid under Trump, according to Amnesty, exacerbated conflicts in Sudan, Myanmar, and Syria, with the loss of funding forcing the closure of hospitals, refugee services, and humanitarian programs in many countries. “The Trump administration’s foreign policy choices are worsening humanitarian conditions. This is not just neglect. It’s active harm,” Callamard said.
The report also documented widespread government repression, including media bans, closures of non-government organizations, and arrests of activists under vague terrorism laws.
Amid these trends, Amnesty cited signs of hope such as the massive public protests against South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, who was eventually ousted, for declaring martial law and suspending human rights protections.
Amnesty also cited the International Criminal Court’s issuing arrest warrants for officials from Israel, Libya, Myanmar, and Russia, the International Court of Justice’s ruling declaring Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories unlawful, and the forming of a group by South Africa and other countries from the Global South to push accountability and block arms transfers to Israel.
“History shows that people can defeat authoritarianism. In 2024, millions raised their voices against injustice. We must continue this fight, united by our belief in human dignity and rights for all,” Callamard said.