The year 2025 may come to be seen as a "tipping point" when democratic institutions were severely damaged and human rights suffered as a result, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

In its annual report, released on Wednesday, the New York-based non-profit warned that the reelection of US President Donald Trump has emboldened autocratic regimes across the world, with devastating consequences for vulnerable groups and minorities.

"The global human rights system is in peril," wrote HRW executive director Philippe Bolopion. "Under relentless pressure from US President Donald Trump, and persistently undermined by China and Russia, the rules-based international order is being crushed."

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In the 12 months since returning to office, HRW said the Trump administration has carried out a "broad assault on key pillars of US democracy," harnessed "racist tropes to cast entire populations as unwelcome," and "embraced policies and rhetoric that align with white nationalist ideology."

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While the report leveled most of its criticism at the United States under Trump, criticizing its policies both domestically and abroad, it also highlighted the conduct of Russian forces in Ukraine and Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip as examples of human rights being infringed upon.

In Ukraine, HRW accused Moscow of "indiscriminate bombing, coercing Ukrainians in occupied areas to serve in the Russian military, systematic torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war [and] the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia," among other "serious violations" of human rights which they say have been "downplayed" by Trump.

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And in the Middle East, it accussed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of committing "acts of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity" in Gaza in its military response to the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023.

"The message is clear: in Trump's new world disorder, might makes right and atrocities are not dealbreakers," wrote Bolopion, and called for "governments that still value human rights" to form a "strategic alliance" and push back.

HRW highlights rights violations in Germany
In its section on Germany, the HRW report highlighted increases in anti-Muslim and antisemitic hate crimes.

HRW also called out the move by Friedrich Merz's conservative Christian Democratic Union in January 2025 to pass a non-binding parliamentary motion to further restrict immigration with the support of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), breaking a long-standing taboo across democratic parties. Merz was opposition leader in the German Bundestag at that time but has since become Germany's chancellor.

It also accused authorities of "undermin[ing] freedom of expression, assembly and association, particularly targeting Palestine solidarity protests," citing concerns raised by the Council of Europe's Human Rights Commissioner over the "blanket classification of criticism of Israel as antisemitic."

On women's rights, it cited official police statistics showing an 18% increase in domestic violence over the last five years, with women making up over 70% of the victims.

And on the status of LGBT people, it noted Bundestag President Julia Klöckner's refusal to fly the rainbow flag over the Reichstag building in Berlin during Pride celebrations, breaking with a tradition observed since 2022.

As for foreign policy, the report said Germany has "assumed a leading role" in the so-called "coalition of the willing" in support of Ukraine and highlighted Merz's support for the use of frozen Russian assets to help arm Kyiv.

What did HRW forecast for 2026?
Bolopion predicted that, while developments in 2026 may be felt most acutely in the United States, they will have consequences globally.

"Breaking the authoritarian wave and standing up for human rights is a generational challenge," Bolopion said.

HRW called for "a new global alliance to support international human rights within a rules-based order."

The rights watchdog suggested that the European Union — including Germany — could lead such a grouping, along with democracies such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, South Africa, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

"Individually, these countries may be easily overwhelmed by the global influence of the US and China but together, they could become a powerful political force and substantial economic bloc," Bolopion said.