US placed on rights watchlist over its civil society's health
What's the story
The United States has been placed on a watchlist for urgent concern over the state of its civic society by the international non-profit Civicus. The organization highlighted "sustained attacks on civic freedoms" as the reason for this designation. The US now shares this dubious distinction with countries like Turkey, Serbia, El Salvador, Indonesia, and Kenya.
Report details
Civicus report highlights military deployment against protests
The Civicus report pointed to three major issues in the US: the deployment of the military to quell protests, growing restrictions on journalists and civil society, and aggressive targeting of anti-war advocates. The organization assigns countries ratings based on their civic space conditions, with "open," "narrowed," "obstructed," "repressed," and "closed" being the categories. The US has been classified as having a "narrowed" civic space.
Rating implications
'Narrowed' civic space in US
The "narrowed" rating means that while individuals and civil society organizations can still exercise their rights to freedom of association, peaceful assembly, and expression, violations of these rights continue. Civicus noted that protests are sometimes met with military force, and critics are treated as criminals under the current administration. Mandeep Tiwana, Civicus's secretary general, said, "The United States appears to be sliding deeper into the quicksands of authoritarianism."
Administration scrutiny
Tiwana slams Trump administration's actions
Tiwana also slammed the Trump administration for its actions, including deploying Marines and National Guard troops to California amid protests against immigration raids. He warned that such militarization sets a dangerous precedent. The report also highlighted attacks on media networks, including funding restrictions on public broadcast stations like PBS and NPR.
Advocacy concerns
Increasing criminalization of peaceful advocacy in US
The Civicus report also warned against the increasing criminalization of peaceful advocacy in the US. It cited instances such as the Trump administration's crackdown on foreign-born student activists and sanctions on Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza. Tiwana said, "We are seeing a wide-ranging attack on civic space in the US by federal and some state governments."