Trump is dismantling America from within and pulling it towards authoritarianism. Amnesty International warns of the disintegration of democracy in the US
The United States, under the leadership of Donald Trump, is moving dangerously away from democratic principles. Amnesty International argues this in its new 46-page report, Ringing the Alarm Bells: Rising Authoritarian Practices and Erosion of Human Rights in the United States. In it, the human rights organisation warns that America is exhibiting "a recognisable pattern of authoritarian practices and systematic erosion of human rights" and that developments in the first year of Trump's second term represent a turning point not only for the US, but for the entire world.
According to Amnesty, these are not isolated excesses or isolated decisions. The report identifies twelve interconnected areas where the Trump administration is undermining the fundamental pillars of a free society. Taken together, they paint a picture of a state that is gradually moving away from open democracy and towards a model in which power is concentrated in the hands of the executive and criticism becomes a risk.
When freedom becomes a problem
Key findings include systematic attacks on press freedom and access to information, restrictions on freedom of expression and the right to assembly, intimidation of the media and scapegoating of minorities. The report also highlights the weakening of non-discrimination policies and the crackdown on migrants and refugees.
Amnesty stresses that these actions are neither random nor isolated. Authoritarian practices, it says, reinforce each other and create an environment in which it is increasingly difficult to confront abuses of power. When journalists are silenced, society's ability to expose rights violations weakens. When the space for protest narrows, fear of speaking out grows.
In practice, according to the report, this means, for example, students being arrested for taking part in demonstrations, communities being intimidated by the intervention of immigration authorities, or pressure on the media making it difficult to cover sensitive issues. The result is an atmosphere in which the accountability of state power is becoming increasingly difficult to enforce.
A turning point in world history
Kerry Moscogiuri, interim executive director of Amnesty International UK, has called on world leaders to speak out against US policy. She said it was no longer an internal American issue.
"One year into Trump's second term, it is clear that we are at a turning point in world history. It is imperative that leaders around the world use every tool at their disposal to counter Trump's seemingly unchecked anti-human rights agenda," she said.
She sees the systematic erosion of international norms as particularly dangerous. She points to threats to take control of Greenland, for example, or the steps the United States is taking to withdraw from global structures - from the UN Human Rights Council to the World Health Organization to the Paris Climate Agreement. For Moscogiuri, this is a "terrifying attack on international justice" that undermines the very foundations of the post-war world order.
Human rights emergency in the land of the free
Paul O'Brien, executive director of Amnesty International USA, sounds a similar warning. "We are witnessing a dangerous trajectory that is already a human rights emergency," he says. He says the Trump administration is dismantling established norms and concentrating power in ways that make it increasingly difficult to hold it accountable.
"By destroying the rules and concentrating decision-making in a narrow circle, they are trying to create a system in which checking power is virtually impossible," O'Brien points out. The consequences, he says, are especially evident for those who speak out - journalists, protesters, lawyers, students and human rights defenders. They are the ones who become targets of pressure and repression.
What this means for minorities
Amnesty's report portrays the United States as a country moving away from the image of a democratic leader and towards a model in which minorities, migrants, activists and independent media are under increasing pressure. For the queer community, which has historically been one of the groups dependent on the protection of human rights and equality before the law, these warnings are particularly troubling.
The weakening of non-discrimination policies, rhetoric targeting 'uncomfortable' groups and the narrowing of space for civic engagement create an environment in which fragile certainties can quickly crumble. Amnesty is thus an indirect reminder that even in a country that has for decades presented itself as a symbol of freedom, democratic values are not a given.
America, it argues, is at a crossroads. The direction it takes will have an impact not only on its people, but also on the shape of the world we live in.
