'Trump effect' is catastrophe for billions, Amnesty International says

The Trump administration is accelerating a global backsliding in human rights by gutting international protections and endangering billions across the planet, Amnesty International said in its latest annual assessment, released on Tuesday.

The London-based group’s annual report, The State of the World’s Human Rights, documents widespread curbs on dissent, escalations of armed conflict, inadequate efforts to address climate change, and a growing backlash against the rights of vulnerable groups in locations from the USA to Gaza and Myanmar.

"In 2024 we saw a globalised intensification of authoritarian practices and a very important clampdown on dissent," said Amnesty International's Turkey director Ruhat Sena Aksener at a press conference to launch the report in Istanbul.

“Trump's government has swiftly and deliberately targeted vital US and international institutions and initiatives that were designed to make ours a safer and fairer world.”

Agnes Callamard,
Amnesty International Secretary General

The report, which assesses 150 countries, said what it described as the “Trump effect” had compounded damage to freedoms advanced by other world leaders in 2024, and has further eaten away at decades of work attempting to improve universal human rights.

“One hundred days into his second term, President Trump has shown only utter contempt for universal human rights,” said Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, in a statement before the report's release. “His government has swiftly and deliberately targeted vital US and international institutions and initiatives that were designed to make ours a safer and fairer world.”

Agnes Callamard said 'President Trump has shown only utter contempt for universal human rights'. Reuters

The organisation now categorises the US as a state that is "getting more and more authoritarian, applying authoritarian legislation and using systems that demolish human rights principles," Ms Aksener said. "In 2025, we evaluate that the authoritarian practices of the US will increase, and this will encourage authoritarianism in other countries around the world too."

US aid cuts have exacerbated civilian suffering in countries including Syria and Yemen, while President Trump has accelerated a trend of technology firms enabling “discriminatory and authoritarian practices”, Amnesty International said.

“The alignment between the Trump administration and tech billionaires also risks opening the door to an era of rampant corruption, disinformation, impunity and corporate capture of state power,” the organisation warned.

The report attributes the regress in human rights to a proliferation of authoritarian laws and policies and practices targeting freedom of expression and association, including by banning media outlets and disbanding or suspending NGOs and political parties.

Authoritarian leaders are creating a web of intensifying repression using tactics such as prosecution of critics and opponents, deployment of spyware, and suppression of the media, Ms Aksener added.

Israel's war in Gaza is a major area of concern for Amnesty International, which in December 2024 was among the first major rights organisations to describe Israel’s war in Gaza as a genocide – something Israel denies.

“Year after year, we have warned of the dangers of human rights backsliding. But the events of the past 12 months – not least Israel’s live-streamed but unheeded genocide of Palestinians in Gaza – have laid bare just how hellish the world can be for so many when the most powerful states jettison international law and disregard multilateral institutions,” Ms Callamard said.

The report also raises serious concerns about the continuation or escalation of armed conflict in Ukraine, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the failure of the international community to universally seek accountability for violations.

“Having paved the way for this mess by failing to universally uphold the rule of law, the international community must now shoulder the responsibility,” said Ms Callamard.

In Turkey, Amnesty International's researchers warned of a more oppressive environment, accusing the government of "interference" in the judiciary, and unlawfully restricting rights to freedom of peaceful assembly.

The Turkish government claims it upholds the rule of law and often accuses detained people of violating terrorism laws. Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu – a strong probable competitor to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in future presidential elections – is currently being held on corruption charges.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”