Trump is pulling America under authoritarian rule, international human rights group claims

Amnesty International has claimed that Donald Trump is pulling America under authoritarian rule. 

The human rights organisation warned that the US is “showing a recognisable pattern of authoritarian practices and erosion of human rights”. 

It comes after the release of its latest 46-page report, ”Ringing the Alarm Bells: Rising Authoritarian Practices and Erosion of Human Rights in the United States“, which highlighted 12 interconnected areas in which the Trump administration is attacking. 

Included in the listed “12 alarm bells” that are “cracking the pillars of a free society” is the administration’s targeting freedom of press and access to information, targeting freedom of expression and assembly, the scapegoating of populations and rolling back non-discrimination policies, and attacking refugee and migrant rights. 

The report claims that such authoritarian tactics are mutually reinforcing and lead, for example, to students being arrested for protesting and communities being terrorised by ICE agent, while press intimidation makes it harder to expose human rights violations and abuses.

‘Out of control anti-rights agenda’

Kerry Moscogiuri, interim chief executive of Amnesty International UK, called for “leaders across the globe” to speak out about the US government. 

“A year into Trump’s second term and it’s never been clearer: this is a pivotal point in world history, and Sir Keir Starmer must use every tool at his disposal to confront Donald Trump’s seemingly out of control anti-rights agenda.  

“The Trump administration’s systematic dismantling of international human rights norms – from threatening to take over Greenland to the US’s withdrawal from the Human Rights Council, the WHO, and the Paris Agreement – is a terrifying attack on international justice. Trump and his Government must be held to account.”

‘Human rights emergency’

Paul O’Brien, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, said: “We are all witness to a dangerous trajectory under President Trump that has already led to a human rights emergency. 

“By shredding norms and concentrating power, the administration is trying to make it impossible for anyone to hold them accountable. There is no doubt that these authoritarian practices by the Trump administration are eroding human rights and increasing the risk for journalists and people who speak out or dissent, including protestors, lawyers, students, and human rights defenders.”  

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