Trump branded 'human rights offender' alongside Duterte and Putin in Amnesty report

The human rights group has accused Trump of taking actions that "violate human rights at home and abroad", putting him in the same group as the leaders of Egypt, Russia, China, the Philippines and Venezuela.

Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International, said there are "few governments standing up for human rights in these disturbing times" when "spectres of hatred and fear loom large in world affairs."

"Instead, leaders such as al-Sisi, Duterte, Maduro, Putin, Trump and Xi are callously undermining the rights of millions," Shetty said.

Trump's travel ban, which targeted people from six predominantly Muslim countries, was singled out as a particularly "transparently hateful move."

Shetty said the ban, which Trump signed in the first weeks of his presidency, "set the scene for a year in which leaders took the politics of hate to its most dangerous conclusion."

The US president's 'war against the media' was also referenced, with Shetty noting that "speaking out is becoming more dangerous."

"In 2018, we cannot take for granted that we will be free to gather together in protest or to criticize our governments," he said.

"Donald Trump's policies may have marked a new era of human rights regression but they are not unique," according to Amnesty's 400-page report, which also lists Northern Ireland's abortion restrictions, the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar and Chechnya's crackdown against LGBT people as major human rights violations.

"The feeble response to crimes against humanity and war crimes from Myanmar to Iraq, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen underscored the lack of leadership on human rights," the report states. "Governments are shamelessly turning the clock back on decades of hard-won protections."

Amnesty urged world leaders to "tackle the big challenges" in 2018.