WUNRN
AMNESTY REPORT 2010: STATE OF THE
WORLD'S HUMAN RIGHTS
GLOBAL JUSTICE GAP CONDEMNS MILLIONS
TO ABUSE
Includes Issues of Serious Concern
for the Human Rights of Women and Girls.
Direct Link to 430-Page Full Report:
Direct Link to 307 Pages of Individual
Country Reports:
27 May 2010
A global justice gap is being made worse by power politics despite a
landmark year for international justice, said Amnesty International today in
its annual assessment of human rights worldwide.
Launching Amnesty International Report 2010: State of the World's
Human Rights, which documents abuses in 159 countries, the
organization said that powerful governments are blocking advances in
international justice by standing above the law on human rights, shielding
allies from criticism and acting only when politically convenient.
"Repression and injustice are flourishing in the global justice gap,
condemning millions of people to abuse, oppression and poverty," said
Claudio Cordone, interim Secretary General of Amnesty International.
"Governments must ensure that no one is above the law, and that everyone
has access to justice for all human rights violations. Until governments stop
subordinating justice to political self-interest, freedom from fear and freedom
from want will remain elusive for most of humanity."
Amnesty International called on governments to ensure accountability for their
own actions, fully sign up to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and ensure
that crimes under international law can be prosecuted anywhere in the world. It
said that states claiming global leadership, including the G20, have a
particular responsibility to set an example.
The International Criminal Court's 2009 arrest warrant for Sudanese President
Omar Hassan Al Bashir, for crimes against humanity and war crimes, was a
landmark event demonstrating that even sitting heads of state are not above the
law. However, the African Union's refusal to cooperate, despite the nightmare
of violence that has affected hundreds of thousands of people in Darfur, was a
stark example of governmental failure to put justice before politics.
The UN Human Rights Council's paralysis over Sri Lanka, despite serious abuses
including possible war crimes carried out by both government forces and the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, also stood as a testament to the
international community's failure to act when needed. Meanwhile, the
recommendations of the Human Rights Council's Goldstone report calling for
accountability for the conflict in Gaza still need to be heeded by Israel and
Hamas.
Worldwide, the justice gap sustained a pernicious web of repression. Amnesty
International's research records torture or other ill-treatment in at least 111
countries, unfair trials in at least 55 countries, restrictions on free speech
in at least 96 countries and prisoners of conscience imprisoned in at least 48
countries.
Human rights organizations and human rights defenders came under attack in many
countries, with governments preventing their work or failing to protect them.
In the Middle East and North Africa, there were patterns of governmental
intolerance of criticism in Saudi Arabia, Syria and Tunisia, and mounting
repression in Iran. In Asia, the Chinese government increased pressure on
challenges to its authority, detaining and harassing human rights defenders,
while thousands fled severe repression and economic hardship in North Korea and
Myanmar.
Space for independent voices and civil society shrank in parts of Europe and
Central Asia, and there were unfair restrictions on freedom of expression in
Russia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Uzbekistan. The Americas
were plagued by hundreds of unlawful killings by security forces, including in
Brazil, Jamaica, Colombia and Mexico, while impunity for US violations related
to counter-terrorism persisted. Governments in Africa such as Guinea and Madagascar
met dissent with excessive use of force and unlawful killings, while Ethiopia
and Uganda among others repressed criticism.
Callous disregard for civilians marked conflicts. Armed groups and government
forces breached international law in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sri
Lanka and Yemen. In the conflict in Gaza and southern Israel, Israeli forces
and Palestinian armed groups unlawfully killed and injured civilians. Thousands
of civilians suffered abuses in escalating violence by the Taleban in
Afghanistan and Pakistan, or bore the brunt of the conflicts in Iraq and
Somalia. Women and girls suffered rape and other violence carried out by
government forces and armed groups in most conflicts.
Other trends included:
Globally, with millions of people pushed into poverty by the food, energy
and financial crises, events showed the urgent need to tackle the abuses that
affect poverty.
"Governments should be held accountable for the human rights abuses that
drive and deepen poverty. The UN review meeting on the Millennium Development
Goals in New York, USA, this September is an opportunity for world leaders to
move from promises to legally enforceable commitments," said Claudio
Cordone.
Women, especially the poor, bore the brunt of the failure to deliver on these
goals. Pregnancy-related complications claimed the lives of an estimated
500,000 women, according the most recent UN figures, with maternal mortality
often directly caused by gender discrimination, violations of sexual and
reproductive rights, and denial of access to health care.
"Governments must promote women's equality and address discrimination
against women if they are going to make progress on the Millennium Development
Goals," said Claudio Cordone.
Amnesty International also called on G20 states that have failed to fully sign
up to the International Criminal Court – USA, China, Russia, Turkey,
India, Indonesia, and Saudi Arabia – to do so. The international review meeting
on the court, beginning in Kampala, Uganda on 31 May, is a chance for
governments to show their commitment to the court.
Despite serious failures in ensuring justice last year, many events revealed
progress. In Latin America, investigations into crimes shielded by amnesty laws
were reopened, with landmark judgments involving former leaders including the
convictions of former President Alberto Fujimori of Peru for crimes against
humanity and Argentina's last military president, Reynaldo Bignone for
kidnapping and torture. All trials in the Special Court for Sierra Leone were
concluded apart from the on-going trial of former President of Liberia Charles
Taylor.
"The need for effective global justice is a key lesson from the past year.
Justice provides fairness and truth to those who suffer violations, deters
human rights abuses, and ultimately delivers a more stable and secure
world," said Claudio Cordone.
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