Amnesty International takes a hard line against Western countries that pay great attention to the war in Ukraine but turn a blind eye to massive abuses elsewhere.

– The resolute response of Western countries to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shows what can be done if there is political will, said Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard.

– We have seen global condemnation, war crimes investigations and the opening of borders for refugees. This is how we must respond to all massive violations of human rights, she said.

In its new annual report, Amnesty lists brutal abuses around the world and says many of them go completely unnoticed. This is because most of the spotlight is now on Ukraine, but also because some of the attackers are close allies of the West.

According to Callamard, such a selective defense of human rights is a manifestation of “open hypocrisy and double standards”.

– States cannot criticize human rights abuses for a minute and then tolerate similar abuses in other countries just because their own interests are at stake. This is unconscionable and undermines universal human rights, she says.

– Revealed hypocrisy

Amnesty International is fully aware that Russia, with its invasion of Ukraine, has committed countless war crimes and triggered one of the worst humanitarian crises in Europe in recent times.

– Had Russia been held accountable for its previously documented crimes in Chechnya and Syria, thousands of lives could have been saved then and now, both in Ukraine and elsewhere, Callamard says.

– What the Russian war of aggression mainly demonstrates is the importance of having an effective rules-based international order. All states must redouble their efforts to contribute, she said.

– But the war has also laid bare the hypocrisy of Western countries which reacted strongly to the Kremlin’s aggression, but which tolerate or are complicit in serious violations committed elsewhere, Amnesty notes.

deafening silence

Among other things, the human rights organization criticizes the West for its “deafening silence” in the face of human rights violations by Saudi Arabia, both towards its own population and during the war of eight years against Yemen, which claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. .

Western countries are also passive in the face of human rights abuses by the Egyptian regime “and refuse to confront Israel’s system of apartheid against the Palestinians”, the annual report says.

Last year, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank experienced one of the deadliest years since the UN began keeping statistics. Over 150 people have been killed by Israeli forces, many of them children.

– Instead of demanding an end to Israel’s apartheid system, many Western governments have instead chosen to attack those who condemn it, Amnesty notes.

The oppression of women

The human rights organization also strongly criticizes the Chinese authorities for the systematic oppression of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, as well as the global community’s failure to deal with leaders who have thousands of lives on their conscience in countries like Ethiopia and Myanmar.

In Afghanistan, the rights of girls and women were significantly curtailed under the Taliban, contributing to further international isolation with consequences for citizens, Amnesty notes.

The Iranian authorities also have their passports signed. Widespread protests erupted there after Mahsa Amini, 22, who was arrested in the street and accused of not covering her hair, died in the custody of so-called vice police. Several hundred people were killed and thousands imprisoned as the regime cracked down on protests.

Discrimination

The United States and other Western countries, which have opened their borders to tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees, are much less willing to provide protection to those fleeing war and persecution, Amnesty notes.

Between September 2021 and May 2022, more than 25,000 Haitians were deported from the United States and, according to Amnesty, many of them were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment before being sent back to their homeland. chaotic.

EU Member States have also opened their borders to Ukrainian refugees, demonstrating their great capacity to accommodate large numbers of people seeking safety and to provide them with shelter, healthcare and education.

– However, many EU countries have closed their doors to those fleeing war and oppression in Syria, Afghanistan and Libya, Amnesty points out.

want reforms

– We need less hypocrisy, less cynicism and more coherent, reasoned and ambitious action on the part of all States to promote and protect everyone’s rights, says Agnès Callamard.

At the same time, it calls for reforms in the UN Security Council.

– We can no longer allow the permanent member states of the Security Council to abuse their privileges in an uncontrolled manner by using the right of veto. The lack of transparency and efficiency in board decision-making leaves the whole system open to manipulation and abuse, she says.

(© NTB)