Washington DC - A large array of United Nations experts joined forces Thursday to voice concerns that President Donald Trump's administration was undermining human rights and fundamental freedoms at home and abroad.

"We are concerned by the attempts of the new US administration to weaken domestic human rights protections, harm the international human rights and humanitarian systems, roll back decades of progress on gender equality, and undermine international institutions and civil society worldwide," the experts said in a joint statement.

"We are alarmed by the United States' escalating attacks on the international architecture of human rights, the rule of law, multilateralism, the principles of sovereign equality and self-determination, and vital international agreements on peace and security, climate change, global justice, and international cooperation."

The experts said the UN Charter prohibited the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity of member states.

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"Threats to reclaim the Panama Canal, 'take over' and 'own' Gaza by forcibly expelling the Palestinian population, make extortionate demands on Ukraine for its critical minerals as a price for support to resist Russia's war of aggression, or gain control of Greenland are blatantly illegal acts under international law," they said.

"We are also distressed by the problematic role of leading business actors in the new US administration, who are exerting undue influence without any mechanisms to prevent conflicts of interest," they said, in a veiled reference to Elon Musk's role in setting government spending policy.

The experts said such moves opened the door to "corporate capture" of the US government.

The statement was signed by 32 special rapporteurs, seven other experts, and members of six working groups – an exceptionally high number for such UN expert joint statements.

UN rights experts are unpaid, independent figures appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to report their findings in their given field. They do not, therefore, speak for the United Nations itself.