The start of the Trump administration has brought the threat of tariffs and sanctions against two of the closest U.S. allies (Canada and Mexico) as well as China, only to be imposed on China. The tariffs and sanctions were imposed in response to the trafficking of fentanyl in Canada and China and the transnational criminal activity in Mexico. 

The Biden administration’s recent expansion of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) blacklist, which now includes nearly 30 additional Chinese companies, represents the largest enforcement action since the law took effect in 2022. This move underscores the U.S. government’s ongoing efforts to combat forced labor, particularly in the Xinjiang region, where the Chinese government has been accused of systemic human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. As global scrutiny of forced labor intensifies, this blacklist expansion signals a broader trend in international trade policy—one that increasingly requires companies to scrutinize their supply chains to ensure they are free of human rights violations.[1]

On February 6, 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order (E.O.) Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court authorizing economic sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) for pursuing “illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting the United States and Israel, prompting swift condemnation from legal and human rights organizations for attacking the rule of law.[1]

On February 4, 2025, senior legal experts of the European Commission, the European External Action Service, the Council of Europe, Ukraine, and 37 States laid down the legal foundations for the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. The participants also set out the key elements of the “Schuman draft Statute,” the core legal text that will govern the functioning of the Special Tribunal.

On February 5, 2025, the day on which she was sworn in, Attorney General Pamela Bondi issued fourteen memoranda, some of which set the international enforcement priorities of her office. The memoranda change enforcement priorities towards immigration enforcement, the prosecution of human trafficking and smuggling, and disrupting criminal gangs and drug cartels. The memoranda deemphasize the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)[1] and Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). They also elevate two gang-related Joint Task Forces to the Office of the Attorney General and disband three kleptocracy-related programs and the National Security Division’s (NSD’s) Corporate Enforcement Unit.

On January 12, 2025, Maria Sarungi Tsehai, a well-known Tanzanian activist and dissident, was kidnapped in Nairobi, Kenya, by three armed men. With over one million followers on X, Tsehai is a staunch advocate for political reform, freedom of speech and expression, and women’s rights.[1] She is also an outspoken critic of Samia Suluhu Hassan, the current president of Tanzania, which has made her a target of violence. In 2020, Tsehai fled to Kenya seeking asylum after receiving an alarming number of threats from government officials working under late President John Magufuli.[2] She anticipated that Kenya would offer her more protection and stability however, this did not prove to be the case

On January 31, 2025, Richard Grenell, President Trump’s envoy for special missions, announced on social media that he had succeeded in obtaining the release of six American detainees and an agreement with Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro to accept the Venezuelans whom the U.S. deports.[1] In exchange, the U.S. apparently communicated to Venezuelan officials that it would continue to permit Chevron and other Western oil companies to operate in Venezuela and not impose additional sanctions despite the fact that the U.S. believes the July 28 election was not fair.[2]

On February 3, 2025, the U.S. Embassy spokesperson  announced that, according to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has agreed to the most unprecedented, extraordinary, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world.” In addition to accepting “all Salvadoran MS-13 gang members in the U.S. unlawfully,” he agreed to “accept and incarcerate violent illegal immigrants, including members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, but also criminal illegal migrants from any country” Bukele has offered to house “dangerous American criminals, including U.S. citizens and legal residents.”[1]

The past three months have brought sweeping changes to INTERPOL’s personnel, documents, and practices. These changes were made, or announced, at and around INTERPOL’s 92^nd General Assembly (GA), held on November 4-7, 2024, in Glasgow, Scotland.

At its 4^th sitting held on January 28, 2025, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a Resolution and Recommendation on addressing risks to human rights and the rule of law posed by mercenaries and private military and security companies.