The U.S. on a Human Rights Watchlist: What Happens When Power Turns Against the People?

Written By Ingrid Lung

From Democracy Defender to Rights Violator?

The United States — long self-positioned as a champion of global freedom — has been officially named to the CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist, a list of countries under serious international scrutiny for sustained attacks on civic freedoms. The latest update, released on July 30, 2025, solidified what many activists and observers had feared since the return of Donald Trump to the White House: American democracy is in decline — from the inside out.

This isn’t hyperbole. It’s a formal warning from a leading global civil society watchdog, placing the U.S. alongside countries like Pakistan, Serbia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

For the first time in modern history, the United States is being watched not for defending democracy — but for potentially dismantling it.

Why Is the U.S. on the Watchlist?

The international alliance CIVICUS, which monitors civic space in 198 countries, first added the U.S. to its watchlist in March 2025. At the time, Trump had only just returned to power. Within weeks, over 125 executive orders had been signed — many targeting civil society institutions, dismantling DEI programs, and repealing environmental protections.

But the July 30, 2025 update is more damning. It reflects six months of deepening crackdowns. There is now mounting evidence of militarized responses to peaceful protest, new laws criminalizing dissent, press censorship, and administrative attacks on civil society, non-profits and public media.

“We are seeing a sustained, strategic effort to undermine civic space in one of the world’s most influential democracies.”
— CIVICUS Monitor, July 2025

2025 So Far: A Timeline of Escalation

Here are the key developments that led to the U.S. watchlist designation — and why it remains relevant:

1. Civil Society in Retreat

  • Over 125 executive orders have been issued since Trump’s January inauguration, many targeting civil service frameworks, DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) programs, and climate-related agencies.

  • USAID has been gutted, and U.S. participation in the UN Human Rights Council and WHO was once again revoked.

  • Dozens of NGOs and activist groups report intimidation, blocked funding, and the threat of deregistration.

2. Militarized Response to Protests

  • In June 2025, 2,700 troops were deployed in Los Angeles during pro-migrant protests near ICE facilities. Peaceful demonstrators were detained under new protest laws in Texas, Florida, and Arizona.

  • Pro-Palestinian student protests across university campuses were met with riot police, mass arrests, and academic suspensions — further chilling public dissent.

3. Assault on Press Freedom

  • White House access has been limited to a few “approved” outlets. Major agencies like the Associated Press filed lawsuits after reporters were barred from press briefings — and lost.

  • Trump’s administration has also pushed to defund NPR (National Public Radio) and PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), and threatened news organizations with legal action under vague national security pretexts.

4. Criminalization of Dissent

  • Multiple states have passed laws that criminalize wearing masks at protests, label protest near pipelines as “eco-terrorism,” and restrict online organizing.

  • Activists, especially from Indigenous, immigrant, and racial justice movements, report heightened surveillance, travel restrictions, and retaliatory investigations.

What Happens When Power Turns Inward?

Power, in its purest form, is a tool. It can be used to build institutions that uplift humanity — or to erode them. When a leader ascends to high office, they inherit not just a title, but an immense ability to shape lives, futures, and freedoms. The question is not whether power changes people, but what those people choose to do with power once they have it.

Trump’s return to office has triggered a deeper reckoning in America: How resilient are democratic institutions? What happens when the rule of law is selectively applied? Can the mechanisms of democracy survive if those in power reject their moral obligations?

When a leader takes high office, they inherit more than a government — they take command of the systems that shape millions of lives. If power is wielded without accountability or integrity, even the most stable democracy can erode from within.

In 2025, that erosion is accelerating. Laws are being rewritten. Media is being silenced. Protests are being policed like crimes. Civic organizations are under financial and legal siege.

The United States — once a symbol of democratic strength — is showing the world what institutional decay looks like when power serves itself, not the people.

Why This Matters Globally

The United States has long positioned itself as a defender of democracy abroad. But when civic space collapses at home, it weakens the credibility of international human rights norms. Authoritarian regimes are emboldened. Repression becomes normalized. The consequences ripple far beyond borders.

In 2025, America now shares watchlist space with Pakistan, Serbia, Italy, and the DRC. It’s a sobering reminder that no nation is immune from backsliding — not even the world’s most powerful.

For decades, America’s influence was measured not just in military might or economic power, but in its leadership on human rights. That soft power is fading.

Now that the U.S. is on the same rights watchlist as autocratic or unstable regimes, the signal is clear: no country is immune to democratic decline. And when the U.S. backslides, authoritarian leaders worldwide take it as permission to escalate their own crackdowns.

If America can normalize press censorship and protest bans, why not Hungary? Why not India? Why not Brazil?

If the U.S. can silence journalists, ban protests, and sideline civil society, so can they. The domino effect could accelerate democratic backsliding across the world.

Civic Space Ratings Explained: Where the US Stands Now

CIVICUS ranks countries in five tiers:

  1. Open

  2. Narrowed

  3. Obstructed

  4. Repressed

  5. Closed

The U.S. has now officially been moved to “Narrowed”, meaning civic freedoms exist in law but are being increasingly undermined in practice.

But if the trend continues — as many fear it will — the U.S. may soon fall into the “Obstructed” category, where dissent becomes dangerous and repression is normalized.

Resistance Remains

Despite mounting restrictions, resistance is growing. Civil society organizations, student movements, local journalists, and progressive state governments are pushing back.

Judges are blocking some executive actions. Legal coalitions are challenging protest restrictions. Artists, journalists, and activists are using every available tool to preserve the civic space that remains.

That fight deserves global attention — and global solidarity.

Power Must Be In Service of People

Power Is Not the Enemy. Unaccountable Power Is.

This is not just about the current US president. It is about the fragility of democracy itself — and what happens when those in power stop serving the public and start consolidating control.

History is filled with examples of leaders who rose to power with promises of greatness — only to use their authority to shrink the civic space, punish dissent, and rewire institutions for personal or ideological control.

But power doesn’t have to corrupt. It can liberate. When anchored in ethics, transparency, and humility, power can fuel transformative change. That’s the kind of leadership the world needs now — and the kind the U.S. must demand if it hopes to repair its fractured civic fabric.

“The test of a nation’s character is how it treats its most vulnerable — and how it responds when power begins to fail them.”

Power, used wisely, can advance human dignity, protect the vulnerable, and support a more just future. But when power is used to punish, silence, and divide, it becomes a threat to everything democracy is supposed to protect.

“Democracy is not a state. It is an act.” — John Lewis

Now more than ever, that act requires courage, vigilance, and a collective will to push back.

 

Source References

Ingrid Lung
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