The United States has been added to the Civicus Monitor surveillance list, which identifies countries that global civil rights watchdogs believe are currently declining in civil liberties.
Civicus, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to “strengthening citizen action and civil society around the world”, announced that it will include the United States in the nonprofit first 2025 first watch list along with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Italy, Pakistan and Serbia.
The monitoring list is part of the Civicus Monitor, which tracks the development of civil liberties in 198 countries. Other countries that have appeared on the surveillance list in recent years include Zimbabwe, Argentina, El Salvador and the United Arab Emirates.
Civicus Co-Secretary General Mandeep Tiwana said the surveillance list “concerns that we remain concerned about the freedom of peaceful assembly, connection and expression, and that we remain concerned about deteriorating conditions in citizens’ space”.
The website notes that the selection process combines insights and data from Civicus’ global research partners and data networks.
The decision to add the United States to its first surveillance list in 2025 is to respond to what the organization calls “the Trump administration’s attack on democratic norms and global cooperation.”
In a press release announcing the U.S. joining, the group cites the latest action from the Trump administration, which they believe could “seriously affect the constitutional freedoms of peaceful gatherings, expressions and associations.”
The group cites several government actions such as the massive termination of federal employees, the appointment of Trump loyalists in key government positions, the withdrawal from international efforts such as the World Health Organization and the United Nations Human Rights Council, the freeze of federal and foreign aid and the attempt to demolish the United States Agency for International Development.
The group warned that the decisions “could affect civil liberties and reverse the benefits of hard victorious human rights around the world.”
The group also pointed out that the government’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters and the unprecedented decision of the Trump administration to control media access to the president’s briefing.
Civicus will not see Trump’s actions since the “twentieth century McCarthyism’s era” as “an unparalleled attack on the rule of law” and points out that these actions have eroded the necessary checks and balances of democracy.
“Restrictive executive orders, unreasonable institutional cuts and intimidation tactics through announcements threatening senior government officials are creating an atmosphere to relax Democratic dissidents,” Tiwana said.
In addition to the surveillance list, Civicus Monitor uses five ratings to categorize the state of citizen space in a country: open, narrow, blocked, suppressed, and closed.
Currently, the United States also has a “reduced” rating during the Biden administration, which means citizens can exercise their civil liberties such as the right to association, peaceful assembly and expression, but occasionally illegal acts occur.
Tiwana said part of Trump’s first term was classified as “hindered” due to the administration’s response to Black Lives Matter protests and restrictive state laws that restricted the rights of environmental justice protesters, as well as other actions.
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Tiwana said the category was back to “shrinking” under Joe Biden, but as of Monday, the U.S. had been placed on the watch list because the group believed civil liberties had “seriously worsened”.
Tiwana noted that the United States appears to be moving towards the “hindering” category again.
While the Trump administration often says they support basic freedoms and personal rights, such as freedom of speech, Tiwana believes the administration seems to “only want to support those they think agree with them.”
Tiwana said historically, the United States has been regarded as a “beacon of democracy and the defense of fundamental freedoms.”
He added: “This is an important pillar of U.S. foreign policy, although it is imperfect, both at home and in how it is promoted abroad.”
But Tiwana believes that recent actions and statements by the U.S. government can empower authoritarian regimes around the world, undermine constitutional principles, and encourage those who “want to accumulate power, increase their wealth and power for as long as possible.”
Tiwana said he and the organization wanted to draw attention to the fact that in his opinion, those in power in the United States were engaged in a “zero-sum political game” that was eroding “constitutional principles, frankly, anti-American act.”
“We urge the United States to uphold the rule of law and respect the constitution and international human rights norms,” Tiwana said.
