Amnesty International Annual Report

The international human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) has published its most recent annual report on the state of human rights around the world.

In her introduction to the document, the organization's Secretary General Agnès Callamard writes:

"2022 may have been a turning point for the international order. It certainly saw a renewal of the Atlantic alliance, with a level of cooperation between the US and other Western powers that a year ago, in the wake of the chaotic 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, would have been hard to imagine."

"But there was no turning point on the human rights front. Rather, the descent continued unchecked. Russia’s aggression served to further destabilize an international multilateral system already weakened by decades of powerful states flouting international law with impunity. The war diverted resources and attention away from the climate crisis, other long-standing conflicts and human suffering the world over."

"The West’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also underscored its own double standards, and its inconsequential reactions to so many other violations of the UN Charter. This in turn further fuelled instability and impunity."

"If Russia’s war of aggression demonstrates anything for the world’s future, it is the importance of an effective and consistently applied rules-based international order. Those leading the coalition in support of Ukraine must step up their efforts, and partner with others, for a renewed commitment to an international system that benefits the majority of the world’s population."

"2023 marks the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a document created from the ashes of a world war. Let us not wait for the world to burn yet again to truly live by the freedoms and principles that came at the cost of millions of lives. 2023 must be a turning point for upholding human rights: anything less from the world's leaders is a betrayal which could take the world to the abyss."