Amnesty warns of ‘predatory’ world order as leaders fuel crisis

The leaders of the United States, Israel and Russia are seeking to impose a new “predatory” world order while most countries are too cowardly to stop them, Amnesty International said on Tuesday.

Launching its annual report in London, the organisation’s secretary general Agnès Callamard condemned US President Donald Trump, Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “predators.”

According to Amnesty’s report, such leaders have rejected the multilateral system developed after World War II in favour of a world in which war replaces diplomacy and power operates without a moral compass.

The report comes at a "challenging moment" that could "destroy all that was built up over the last 80 years," Callamard warned.

“We are facing the most challenging moment of our time. Humanity is under attack from transnational anti-rights movements and governments determined to impose their dominance through unlawful wars and economic coercion,” said Amnesty’s secretary-general.

"Throughout 2025, Trump, Putin and Netanyahu, among others, pursued economic and political domination through international destruction, suppression and violence on a massive scale," she said in her opening speech.

These leaders are "destroying all that stands in the way of their domination and greed" and "assaulting the very foundations of universal human rights," she said.

"And rather than confront those predators, the majority of governments, most notably European governments, opted instead for appeasement,” said the rights chief.

Extrajudicial killings

The Amnesty chief accused the United States of carrying out extrajudicial killings beyond its borders, including at least 123 deaths linked to anti-drug operations in the Caribbean and Pacific, and of launching unlawful attacks against Venezuela and Iran while issuing threats over Greenland.

She further criticised Washington for undermining international institutions, citing sanctions against judges and prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its withdrawal from multiple global bodies and agreements.

Trump and Putin, she added, share a worldview that is “highly racist” and “highly patriarchal,” pointing to Russia’s crackdown on LGBT rights and US efforts to roll back protections for women and reproductive rights.

The spiralling conflict in the Middle East is "just the latest example of this new predatory world order," based on a vision of the world that is "dehumanised through racist ideology," Callamard said, warning of a drift towards “contempt for the law.” 

She pointed to unlawful attacks by both the United States and Israel, as well as indiscriminate reprisals by Iran.

The report also highlights that Iranian authorities killed protesters in January 2026 in what may have been the deadliest such crackdown in decades.

China was not included among the “predators” because it has been “more discreet,” Callamard said, though she noted Beijing’s support for Myanmar’s military and its backing of Russia.

Focusing on Gaza, Amnesty said Israel had “continued its genocide against the population” despite an October 2025 ceasefire agreement, while the world’s most powerful governments failed to take meaningful action.

“And rather than confront those predators, the majority of governments, most notably in Europe, opted instead for appeasement,” Callamard said.

She described this as an “era of the coward,” adding that “almost the entire European Union is concerned”, with Spain and Slovenia standing out as rare exceptions for describing the war in Gaza as genocide.

Governments must hold Israel to account, including through economic measures, she said, urging the European Union to scrap its association agreement and impose sanctions.

The report also criticised the United Kingdom for proscribing the Palestine Action group and arresting thousands of peaceful protesters against the ban. 

"Governments should stop cracking down on and criminalising dissent, including peaceful acts of civil disobedience," the report said.

Repression in Americas

The Amnesty report points to a broader pattern of repression across the Americas, where governments have intensified efforts to silence dissent, citing excessive use of force against protests reported in countries including Brazil, Honduras, Peru and the United States.

In the US, 1,143 people were shot dead by police in 2025, disproportionately affecting Black communities, according to the report.

Across Latin America, human rights defenders faced legal harassment, attacks and killings in nearly every country, while journalists were subjected to intimidation, censorship and criminal proceedings, said the NGO.

Amnesty cited cases in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and elsewhere, including Argentina. 

In Venezuela, Amnesty warned of the persistence of arbitrary detentions, torture and trials without due process as part of a broader pattern of repression. 

The NGO called on authorities to guarantee truth, justice and reparations for victims during the political crisis that has arisen in the wake of Nicolás Maduro’s removal from power by the Trump administration.

– TIMES/AFP