Civic freedoms are so bad under Donald Trump that US is listed with Pakistan, DR Congo

The United States is now among the countries facing a rapid decline in civic freedoms, as per an international watchlist. The annual list was issued by Civicus, a global civil rights watchdog that monitors countries that it believes are currently experiencing a rapid decline in civic freedoms.

The international non-profit organisation is dedicated to “strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world”.

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It announced the inclusion of the US in its first list of 2025 on Monday (March 10). Other countries that are part of the list are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Italy, Pakistan and Serbia.

Civicus Monitor tracks developments in civic freedoms across 198 countries. In its previous lists, Zimbabwe, Argentina, El Salvador and the United Arab Emirates were featured.

The co-secretary general of Civicus, Mandeep Tiwana, said that the watchlist “looks at countries where we remain concerned about deteriorating civic space conditions, in relation to freedoms of peaceful assembly, association and expression”.

The watchlist said that the decision to add the US in the first list of 2025 was after “Trump administration’s assault on democratic norms and global cooperation".

Civic said in a release that recent actions taken by the Trump administration “severely impact constitutional freedoms of peaceful assembly, expression, and association”.

The watch list cited various actions taken under the US president such as the mass termination of federal employees, the appointment of Trump loyalists in key government positions, the withdrawal from international efforts such as the World Health Organization and the UN Human Rights Council, the freezing of federal and foreign aid and the attempted dismantling of USAid.

It warned that these decisions “will likely impact civic freedoms and reverse hard-won human rights gains around the world”.

(With inputs from agencies)