Evizda

The rise of political populists threatens democracy worldwide, a new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) released Thursday says.

In its World Report 2017, the human rights organization highlights President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S., the power grabs of “strongman” leaders in Russia, China, Turkey, and the Philippines, and the rise of right-wing demagogues in Europe, as trends that “denigrate legal standards and disdain factual analysis, directly challenge the laws and institutions that promote dignity, tolerance, and equality.”

Trump and other populist leaders work from a similar propaganda playbook that supports bigotry and discrimination; scapegoats immigrants and refugees for economic problems; encourages people to give up their rights in favor of authoritarian rule as a defense against outside threats; and foments division between demographics, the report states.

“The rise of populism poses a profound threat to human rights,” said HRW executive director Kenneth Roth. “Trump and various politicians in Europe seek power through appeals to racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and nativism. They all claim that the public accepts violations of human rights as supposedly necessary to secure jobs, avoid cultural change, or prevent terrorist attacks. In fact, disregard for human rights offers the likeliest route to tyranny.”

Roth cited Trump’s campaign promises to curtail women’s and minority rights, deport millions of immigrants, use torture against detainees, and crack down on freedom of the press, as examples of “the politics of intolerance.”