In 2024, fundamental human rights encountered persistent challenges globally, marking a “year of reckoning,” according to Human Rights Watch (HRW) in its annual report published on Thursday. The comprehensive 546-page World Report 2025 scrutinizes human rights practices across over 100 nations, with particular focus on the significant human cost of conflicts in regions such as Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine, while also detailing troubling shifts in electoral landscapes worldwide.
Tirana Hassan, HRW’s Executive Director, emphasized in the report’s introduction that “many [governments] have failed the test” of safeguarding human rights amidst ongoing global crises. The report highlights inconsistencies in the invocation of human rights standards by governments, which contributes to a global perception that these rights lack legitimacy.
The report also noted an increase in influence for far-right parties in European Parliament elections and raised concerns over the return of Donald Trump to the US presidency. Conversely, it pointed to democratic progress in India, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not secure his desired electoral majority despite campaign rhetoric criticized by HRW as hate speech.
The fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at the end of 2024 brought an end to over five decades of Baath Party rule, though HRW warns that Syria’s future remains uncertain. Moreover, the organization critiqued the global response to enduring conflicts, particularly in Gaza, where Israeli authorities face charges of war crimes, yet Western allies continue military aid despite documented atrocities.
The report condemns the “grossly inadequate” international action concerning the crisis in Sudan, where mass killings and ethnic cleansing occur in Darfur. It also documents the exacerbated suppression of women and girls by the Taliban in Afghanistan, and China’s continued detention of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
HRW underscores the importance of resistance movements, praising activists in Bangladesh for the ousting of a long-serving leader and the successful reversal of a martial law decree by the National Assembly in South Korea. The report acknowledges some governments’ efforts to confront breaches of international law, as illustrated by South Africa’s legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice.
This report from HRW presents a complex picture of the status of human rights around the world, reflecting both the ongoing challenges and opportunities for strengthening rights protections globally.