America News Agency

The international non-profit organization Civicus ranked the US alongside the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Italy, Pakistan, and Serbia.

Civicus, an international non-profit organization dedicated to "strengthening citizen action and civil society worldwide," announced on Monday that the US had been included in its first watch list for 2025, along with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Italy, Pakistan, and Serbia.

The watch list is part of the Civicus Monitor, which tracks developments in civil liberties across 198 countries. Other countries that have been on the list in recent years include Zimbabwe, Argentina, El Salvador, and the United Arab Emirates.

Civicus' co-secretary general, Mandeep Tiwana, stated that the watch list focuses on "countries where we are concerned about worsening conditions for peaceful assembly, organization, and freedom of expression."

The group cited various actions of the administration, including mass layoffs of federal employees, the appointment of Trump loyalists to key government positions, withdrawal from international efforts such as the WHO and the UN Human Rights Council, the freezing of federal and foreign aid, and attempts to dismantle USAID.

The organization warned that these decisions "are likely to impact civil liberties and could reverse hard-won human rights gains worldwide."