Washington is ready to 'upend the rules-based world order' HRW chief says

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Human Rights Watch executive director Philippe Bolopion says the Trump administration has "launched an all-out assault on human rights" at home and abroad. He calls the Fort Bliss ICE detention centre a "human rights catastrophe" and warns Washington is ready to "upend the rules-based world order".

Speaking from New York, Philippe Bolopion says the Trump administration has "launched an all-out assault on human rights domestically in the US, but, sadly, also on the global level". He points to Fort Bliss in Texas – the largest ICE detention centre – where migrants are "beaten up by masked agents for no reason" and held in "completely degrading circumstances". One detainee died under "very suspicious circumstances", he reports, adding that Human Rights Watch wants the site "closed down and investigated".

'Dictators around the world are taking note'

Beyond US borders, Bolopion cites sanctions on the International Criminal Court and says Marco Rubio has made dismantling the court "a goal of US foreign policy". Coupled with "defunding of the UN" and its exit from the Human Rights Council, he argues that the US is ready to "upend the rules-based world order". He also warns that "would-be dictators or actual dictators around the world are taking note".

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Philippe BOLOPION Executive Director of Human Rights Watch