13-03-2025
US Dragged to Human Rights' Watch List for Declining Freedoms
Rabat – Civicus, a non profit organization that provides real-time data on the condition of civic rights and civil society in 196 countries, recently added the United States to their watchlist for a 'narrowing' civic space rating; alongside Serbia, Pakistan, Italy, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The organisation put the responsibility of this observed recline, especially, on President Donald Trump's second term, describing his actions as 'gross abuses of executive power [that] raise serious concerns over the freedoms of peaceful assembly, expression and association.'
The monitor stated that, since his inauguration on January 20, Trump has signed 125 executive orders carrying severe implications for human rights and rule of law, citing his policies against diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, as well as his policies against migrants and transgender people.
Civicus also referred to the US decision to dismantle the United States Agency for International Developments (USAID), leading to the unemployment of thousands, as well as the withdrawal from the World Health Organization and Human Rights Council. The group also recalled the current administration's decision to exit the Paris climate agreements, reject the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, as well as sanction the ICC and threaten its personnel.
US threats against the ICC started during the Biden administration when the court announced that it's intending to issue arrest warrants against not only three leaders of Hamas but also two Israeli officials, namely Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. Members of the US congress responded to the latter by threatening retaliation.
The report also cited the US government's 'onslaught on peaceful pro-Palestine solidarity,' citing Trump's January 30 executive order that claimed to combat anti-semistism through cancelling student visas and deporting non-citizens who show solidarity with Palestine through protest.
While the US maybe has just starrted to reap what it has long sown, for many, the country's complete dismantling of its understanding of human rights was already forshadowed by its active support for the genocide on Gaza. In this way, the downfall of freedoms sounds like the round of applause that Congress held for Netanyahu when he visited the legislative body's hallowed halls.
