The organization this Tuesday denounced an escalation of authoritarian practices by the United States government since Donald Trump returned to the White House a year ago, warning of the erosion of human rights in that country.
In a report released to mark the first anniversary of Trump’s second term as President of the United States (USA), the international human rights organization warns of the closure of civic space and the weakening of the rule of law and the way in which this is putting human rights at risk both in the country and beyond its borders.
“We are all witness to a dangerous trajectory under the Trump administration, which has already led to a human rights emergency,” said Amnesty International USA executive director Paul O’Brien, quoted in the report. “By destroying norms and concentrating power, the administration [Trump] is trying to make it impossible for anyone to hold her accountable,” the representative warned.
Risks increase for protesters, journalists, lawyers and students
According to Paul O’Brien, “there is no doubt that the Trump administration’s authoritarian practices are increasing the risk for journalists and dissenting people, including protesters, lawyers, students and human rights defenders”.
The report “Sounding the Alarms: Rising Authoritarian Practices and Erosion of Human Rights in the US” documents the escalation of the situation in 12 areas in which, according to Amnesty International, “the Trump Administration is shaking the pillars of a free society”.
These areas include 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.
“Militarization of cities is being normalized”
The document also addresses attacks on the rights of refugees and migrants, the blaming of communities and rollbacks of protections against discrimination, the use of armed forces 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.
Practices that, Amnesty International analysts highlighted, “reinforce each other”.
“Students are being arrested and detained for protesting on college campuses, entire communities are being flooded and terrorized by masked ICE agents [Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s, o serviço de imigração e fiscalização aduaneira dos Estados Unidos]and the militarization of cities in the US is becoming normalized”, pointed out the organization.
At the same time, he added, “intimidation of the press makes it harder to expose human rights violations and abuses, retaliation against protests makes people afraid to speak out, expanding surveillance and militarization increases the costs of dissent, and attacks on courts, lawyers and oversight bodies make it harder to enforce accountability.”
According to Amnesty International, these practices are similar to those used in other countries where governments control information, punish dissent, restrict civic space and weaken mechanisms designed to ensure accountability.
Experience shows that “when authoritarian practices are fully entrenched, the institutions designed to restrict abuses of power are already seriously compromised”, warned the executive director.
In the report, the organization recommends that US and international entities “urgently” restore rule of law safeguards and strengthen accountability to “ensure that human rights violations are not ignored or accepted as inevitable.”
“Authoritarian practices only take root when they are allowed to become normalized. We cannot let this happen in the USA”, Amnesty International also stressed.
Donald Trump took office on January 20, 2025 and became the 47th President of the USA. The Republican had already served his first presidential term (2017/2021).
