Increased repression and violence a sign of weakness, says Human Rights Watch

Increasingly repressive and violent acts against civilian protests by autocratic leaders and military regimes around the world are signs of their desperation and weakening grip on power, Human Rights Watch says in its annual assessment of human rights across the globe.

Human Rights Watch also said the emergence of opposition parties willing to put aside their political differences and form alliances to attempt to remove corrupt or repressive governments or leaders was another sign of a trend towards weakening autocratic rule.

While 2021 saw the seizure of power by armed groups in Myanmar and Afghanistan, Roth said there had been a failure to normalise their rule or subdue civilian populations.

However, he said that democracy would fail to thrive without stronger leadership by democratic governments, which focused on short-term political gains during 2021 and failed to address the most urgent issues of the climate emergency, inequality, racial injustice and poverty.