Amnesty viewpoints PHOTO
A protest outside the US embassy, London, 24 January
RINGING THE ALARM
A year into President Donald Trump’s second term, new Amnesty International research warns of an increasingly authoritarian USA and a human rights emergency that reaches far beyond its borders. Our Ringing the Alarm Bells report documents how the Trump administration is cracking down on the pillars of a free society. It details efforts to control information, discredit critics, shrink civic space and undermine the rule of law, domestically and internationally. The report identifies 12 ‘alarm bells’, including attacks on freedom of expression, the press and peaceful assembly; access to information; academic freedom; the right to a fair trial and due process; and non- discrimination. It also documents attacks on refugee and migrant rights, using the military for domestic purposes, the rolling back of non-discrimination policies and the targeting of political opponents and critics. Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty UK’s interim chief executive, warned this is a pivotal moment in world history. ‘The Trump administration’s systematic dismantling of international human rights norms – from threatening to take over Greenland to the US’s withdrawal from the Human Rights Council, the WHO and the Paris Agreement – is a terrifying attack on international justice. Trump and his government must be held to account.’
4 AMNESTY SPRING 2026
GRIM DAY FOR TRUTH
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A UK Supreme Court ruling has raised serious concerns for families seeking truth and accountability for killings during the Northern Ireland conflict. In the Thompson case in December 2025, the court upheld the government’s challenge to the decision of a coroner to release a ‘gist’ of ‘sensitive’ information to the Thompson family. The secretary of state’s appeal cited the government’s ‘neither confirm nor deny’ policy. Amnesty, the Committee on the Administration of Justice and Relatives for Justice said the decision could help the concealment of state agent involvement in conflict-related killings. The case concerned the inquest into the 1994 sectarian murder of Paul Thompson in Belfast by the loyalist paramilitary group the UDA, with suspected state collusion. The Supreme Court overturned earlier rulings by Northern Ireland’s High Court and Court of Appeal, which had agreed the coroner could release a ‘gist’ of intelligence to the Thompson family, The Supreme Court judgment instead ruled the secretary of state’s views on the national security implications of a ‘gist’ are to be given primacy. This decision risks entrenching secrecy and shielding state wrongdoing. Gráinne Teggart, Amnesty UK’s Northern Ireland deputy director, said: ‘Today is a grim day for truth. National security cannot be a blank cheque to conceal state wrongdoing or human rights violations.’
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