DONALD Trump is fuelling a global human rights rollback and letting his “corporate allies run amok”, according to a major new report.
Amnesty International’s annual report, published today, said that the US president’s first 100 days in office have emboldened authoritarian leaders worldwide – and warned that institutions “designed to make ours a safer and fairer world” were under threat.
Agnes Callamard, the secretary general of Amnesty International, said: "100 days into his second term, President Trump has shown only utter contempt for universal human rights. His government has swiftly and deliberately targeted vital US and international institutions and initiatives that were designed to make ours a safer and fairer world.
“His all-out assault on the very concepts of multilateralism, asylum, racial and gender justice, global health and life-saving climate action is exacerbating the significant damage those principles and institutions have already sustained and is further emboldening other anti-rights leaders and movements to join his onslaught.”
She highlighted how Trump had sat tech billionaires, such as Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk, in “prime position” for his inauguration, in a move which was perceived at the time as demonstrating his links with big tech.
Musk has since been given “unprecedented access to the US government apparatus”, according to Callamard, through his role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) which has overseen sweeping cuts to the federal budget.
She added: “It appears that President Trump will let his self-serving and corporate allies run amok, without the slightest regard for human rights or even the rule of law.”
Callamard, who is a former UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, argued that authoritarianism was growing globally.
She said: “For years now, we’ve witnessed a creeping spread of authoritarian practices among states the world over, fostered by aspiring and elected leaders willingly acting as engines of destruction.
“Despite daunting challenges, the destruction of human rights is far from inevitable. History abounds with examples of brave people overcoming authoritarian practices. In 2024 the people of several nations rejected anti-rights leaders at the ballot box while millions around the world raised their voices against injustice.”
Amnesty International’s report warns that the “global human rights crisis is deepening”, saying that crackdowns on dissent, an explosion in brutal conflict and growing backlash against the rights of migrants, women, and LGBTQ+ people would all become worse this year if leaders did not “reverse course”.
The report issued a stark warning to UK leaders, saying that Britain faced a “defining test of its human rights commitment”.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty’s UK chief executive, said: “Will it stand firm on international justice and accountability – or fall in step with the growing tide of anti-rights regimes?
“Keir Starmer is a human rights lawyer. That background should carry weight especially now, when principled leadership on rights is more essential than ever. The Government must not appease those who seek to erode the foundations of justice and dignity.”
Deshmukh hit out at the UK’s continued supply of arms to Israel amid its onslaught against Palestinians, which has so far claimed more than 51,000 lives, mostly women and children.
She added: “From continuing arms transfers during an active genocide to pursuing asylum policies rooted in cruelty and designed to shirk responsibility the UK risks forfeiting any claim to moral leadership. At home it’s entrenching poverty through punitive welfare policies and failing victims of the ‘Troubles’ still waiting for truth and accountability.
“This is a defining test. From Gaza to Belfast to the Channel, the UK is making choices that contradict the values it claims to uphold. The Government can stand with those defending rights – or with those tearing them down. There is no middle ground.”
The UK Government was approached for comment.
