On the day of the U.S. presidential inauguration, Amnesty International calls on President Donald Trump and his administration to respect human rights obligations in all their policies and governing approaches.
“President Trump’s first term record and campaign promises warn of major threats to human rights during his second presidency. For all the challenges and ills humanity is facing, centering human rights for all without distinction is always the solution and more important than ever. Yet throughout his campaign, President Trump regularly targeted the most vulnerable communities, including immigrants and transgender youth, with dangerous and cruel rhetoric. Straight from the authoritarian leader’s playbook, he has also promised retribution against his political opponents and targeted journalists,” said Paul O’Brien, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA.
“President Trump is taking office at a time when the already fragile multilateral and human rights system, often targets of the first Trump administration’s disdain, have been further severely undermined by President Biden’s inconsistencies and unwillingness to push allies and partners to respect international law,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
“It is critical that President Trump not continue down this harmful path, not just for the sake of human rights in the United States, but as an example to leaders around the world.”
President Trump starts his second term under a dramatically changed global environment of growing inequality, rising authoritarian practices, ongoing conflicts, attacks on bodily autonomy, unchecked corporate and tech power, displacement from violence and insecurity, and a climate emergency accelerating and exacerbating human rights violations and suffering.
“The decisions that President Trump makes will have far-reaching consequences that impact the lives of everyone on this planet and even future generations who have yet to be born. Global stability is predicated on world leaders’ commitment to multilateralism and the rules-based order. If the United States. were to withdraw from such spaces it would create a dangerous vacuum and severely undermine the systems we have built to protect human rights,” added Agnès Callamard.
“The world needs the United States to reaffirm, not abandon, its commitment to humanity. Human survival rests on governments vastly scaling up their efforts to tackle the climate crisis; not running away from or even exacerbating the problem. And at a time when tech companies wield more power than ever before, it’s vital that the Trump administration does not enable them to commit or facilitate human rights violations around the world. Instead, the U.S. government must work hand in hand with the international community to put in place robust regulations and hold tech companies accountable.”
Actions in President Trump’s first term led to extensive human rights violations
In his first term, President Trump ushered in many policies and actions marked by bigotry, xenophobia, and white supremacy, which led to extensive human rights violations. He retakes office at a time when, in towns, cities and states across the U.S., the government has not only failed to reckon and remedy its human rights failures related to racial justice, gun violence, and reproductive rights, but many jurisdictions are also doubling down on discriminatory policies, practices and laws.
“As the oldest and largest grassroots human rights organization in the world, we remind the Trump administration of their responsibilities and we are ready to defend human rights, like we have always done no matter who is in the White House,” said Paul O’Brien.
“Together with our members, allies and communities across the U.S. and beyond, we are ready to hold this government accountable to their obligations to protect human rights. We will fight back against cruel mass deportations, targeting of protesters, restrictions on reproductive rights, and other human rights attacks,” concluded O’Brien. “We will monitor, document, expose, and mobilize collective action with human rights as our guiding light.”
Header photo credit: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images
