The place was not chosen by chance. 75 years ago, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris. And it is here that the NGO Amnesty International has chosen to present its annual report on the situation of human rights in the world. A document that highlights the clear degradation of the civil and political rights of individuals around the world. A finding that spare no region of the world “, insists the secretary general of Amnesty international, Agnès Callamard.
The war in Ukraine, contrasting humanitarian aid
A major geopolitical event last year, the Russian offensive in Ukraine led to an unprecedented wave of refugees in Europe — around 5 million. For Amnesty International, the rapid and large-scale response of the international community faced with this humanitarian challenge has proven that the West has the means to coordinate to come to the aid of a country in distress effectively and without delay.
Making aid to Ukraine a model is essentially what the organization asks the major powers and the UN to come to the aid of civilians caught in the turmoil of other crises. ” We must also help civilians in Ethiopia, the Palestinian territories, Eritrea or the Sahel. adds Jean-Claude Samouiller, president of Amnesty France.
Women, first victims
The urgency, for Amnesty International, is above all that of the rights and individual freedoms of women. Jean-Claude Samouiller is particularly alarmed by the situation of women and young girls in Afghanistan: ” The Taliban have forbidden access to school, employment and higher education for women. They need to be accompanied by a guardian if they want to leave their house and fully covered “, he underlines. In Iran, women have been at the center of protests against the regime since September 2022, and the first victims of the repression. ” The Iranian regime rapes, tortures and kills women continues the president of the NGO.
In Ukraine, Afghanistan or Ethiopia (in the Tigray region), women are victims of war crimes ” or of “ tortures “, sometimes systematic rapes and “ beatings “. But Amnesty also warns about the jeopardy of the right to abortion in countries such as Poland and the United States.
The right to demonstrate at the center of concerns
The restriction of political rights, and in particular freedom of expression, is also highlighted in the 2022 report. More than 80 countries are singled out for having resorted to the use of illegal weapons against demonstrators. Among them, Peru, Sri Lanka but also France and the United Kingdom, which has set up “ a legislative arsenal aimed at limiting and repressing demonstrations “, according to the Secretary General of Amnesty International.
The current situation in France also worries the organization, which deplores “the use of violence and illegal practices” like tear gas and the authorities’ traps. Finally, the president of Amnesty France deplores ” unworthy living and reception conditions in France for people in Calais, in Grande-Synthe and in the suburbs of Paris. » He does not hesitate to denounce “a racist double standard towards refugees” In Occident.