Key Takeaways
- The Trump administration’s escalation of authoritarian practices is eroding human rights in the United States and beyond.
- Amnesty International has documented twelve interconnected areas where the administration is cracking the pillars of a free society, including attacks on freedom of the press, freedom of expression, and refugee and migrant rights.
- The report calls for urgent action to protect civic space, restore rule of law safeguards, strengthen accountability, and ensure that human rights violations are neither ignored nor accepted as inevitable.
- The administration’s tactics, including press intimidation, retaliation against protest, and expanding surveillance, are mutually reinforcing and eroding human rights, including freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and the right to life.
- Amnesty International has set forth a comprehensive set of recommendations to the United States Executive Branch, Congress, state and local governments, and international actors to reverse the administration’s authoritarian practices and prevent the normalization of increased repression and human rights violations.
Introduction to the Crisis
Marking one year since President Trump returned to office, Amnesty International has released a report sounding the alarm on increasing authoritarian practices in the United States and a devastating erosion of human rights. The report, titled "Ringing the Alarm Bells: Rising Authoritarian Practices and Erosion of Human Rights in the United States," documents how the Trump administration’s escalation of authoritarian practices is eroding human rights in the U.S. and beyond. According to Paul O’Brien, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, "We are all witness to a dangerous trajectory under President Trump that has already led to a human rights emergency." The report highlights the administration’s attacks on freedom of the press, freedom of expression, and refugee and migrant rights, among other areas.
Authoritarian Practices and Human Rights
The report includes twelve interconnected areas where the Trump administration is cracking the pillars of a free society. These areas include attacks on freedom of the press and access to information, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, civil society organizations and universities, political opponents and critics, judges, lawyers, and the legal system, and due process. The report also documents attacks on refugee and migrant rights, the scapegoating of communities and the rollback of non-discrimination protections, the use of the military for domestic purposes, the dismantling of corporate accountability and anti-corruption measures, the expansion of surveillance without meaningful oversight, and efforts to undermine international systems designed to protect human rights. These tactics are mutually reinforcing, making it harder for individuals and organizations to expose human rights violations and abuses, speak out against injustice, and seek accountability.
Global Patterns and Consequences
Amnesty International has long documented similar patterns in countries around the world. While contexts differ, governments often consolidate power, control information, discredit critics, punish dissent, narrow civic space, and weaken mechanisms meant to ensure accountability. The attack on civic space and the rule of law and the erosion of human rights in the United States mirrors the global pattern Amnesty has seen and warned about for decades. According to O’Brien, "Importantly, our experience shows that by the time authoritarian practices are fully entrenched, the institutions meant to restrain abuses of power are already severely compromised." The consequences of these practices are far-reaching, eroding human rights, including freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, freedom of the press, access to information, equality and non-discrimination, due process, academic freedom, freedom from arbitrary detention, the right to seek asylum, the right to a fair trial, and even the right to life.
Recommendations for Action
In the report, Amnesty International sets forth a comprehensive set of recommendations to the United States Executive Branch, Congress, state and local governments, and international actors. These recommendations aim to reverse the administration’s authoritarian practices and prevent the normalization of increased repression and