By Emma Fargé
GENEVA (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House next week threatens freedoms at home and abroad, the head of Human Rights Watch said on Thursday, warning that his second term could be more damaging than the first.
The remarks by Tirana Hassan, executive director of the New York-based independent rights group, come as it launches its global report examining rights practices in more than 100 states.
“The first term of the Trump administration showed us what it was capable of and particularly showed its lack of commitment to human rights,” Hassan told Reuters before the launch of the annual report.
“But the 2025 project and the statements that we have heard from the (new) president have already started to demonstrate that there will be a total attack essentially on the rights of migrants,” she said, referring to a set of conservative political proposals and plans to launch a mass expulsion of immigrants.
Hassan, an Australian lawyer who has represented asylum seekers, added that the tone set by the Trump administration could encourage autocrats around the world to adopt repressive policies.
Trump’s team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his remarks.
Hassan also criticized outgoing President Joe Biden’s policy of providing weapons to Israel in the Gaza war, despite what she called clear evidence that they were being used to commit atrocities. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was announced on Wednesday.
“2024 was not a proud moment for the outgoing administration,” she told Reuters, saying its failure to protect civilians in Gaza and provide weapons was a “scourge” on the Biden legacy.
Israel denies committing atrocities in Gaza. Last month, HRW said Israel had committed an act of genocide by depriving Gaza of water, a charge Israel rejects.
The 546-page report released Thursday by HRW said conflicts and humanitarian crises exposed the crumbling of international protections over the past year in countries including Sudan, Ukraine and Haiti.
In 2024, some authoritarians like Russian President Vladimir Putin and leaders of Africa’s Sahel have tightened their grip on power, he says, but elsewhere there has been resistance to such trends, such as in South Korea.
“It just shows that it is possible to stand up in the face of a widespread attack on human rights,” Hassan said.
