Human Rights Watch warns the US is shifting towards authoritarianism under Trump, citing violent raids, political retaliation and a global decline in democratic freedoms.
WASHINGTON: Human Rights Watch has issued a stark warning that the United States is shifting towards authoritarianism under President Donald Trump.
The New York-based group’s annual report states Trump has shown “blatant disregard for human rights and egregious violations”.
It highlights the deployment of masked, armed Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducting “hundreds of unnecessarily violent and abusive raids”. The report details a “decided shift toward authoritarianism in the US” underpinned by racial scapegoating and retaliation against political enemies.
Human Rights Watch also accuses the US of enforced disappearances by sending 252 Venezuelan migrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador. A separate report documents the migrants’ allegations of torture, including beatings and sexual violence.
Globally, the group says democracy has declined to its lowest level since 1985. “Russia and China are less free today than 20 years ago. And so is the United States,” the report states.
Executive director Philippe Bolopion urged countries to form alliances based on democratic principles to counter this trend. He warned against ad hoc alliances without shared values on human rights and international law.
The 529-page report contrasts sharply with the latest US State Department human rights assessment. That report said El Salvador saw “no credible reports of significant human rights abuses” under President Nayib Bukele.
Human Rights Watch acknowledged gang violence had “markedly declined” in El Salvador. It alleged authorities carried out “widespread abuses, including mass arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance, torture and ill-treatment of detainees” in 2025.
The report also renewed charges that Israel has committed “crimes against humanity and acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing” in Gaza. It accused Israeli authorities of “escalated atrocities” including killing, starving and forcibly displacing Palestinians in 2025.
Israel has angrily rejected the genocide allegation, first issued in December 2024, with the United States backing its stance.
