2014 a “catastrophic” year for millions of people around the world
World governments failed to protect civilians against violence perpetrated by states and armed groups, said Amnesty International, calling the global response “shameful and ineffective.”
The “human rights watchdog” called 2014 a “catastrophic” year for millions of people around the world in its 424-page annual report.
“As people suffered an escalation in barbarous attacks and repression, the international community has been found wanting,” said Amnesty secretary general.
Millions of civilians suffered horrific violence and human rights violations from Syria to Ukraine, Gaza to Nigeria, while the number of displaced people globally exceeded 50 million last year, for the first time since the end of World War II, said the report.
It criticized the European Union’s response to the world’s worst refugee crisis in Syria. Of the more than 4 million Syrian refugees displaced by conflict only 150,000 were living in EU states as of December 2014.
“It is abhorrent to see how wealthy countries’ efforts to keep people out take precedence over their efforts to keep people alive,” said the secretary general, adding that the United Nations Security Council had “miserably failed” to protect civilians.
Armed groups committed abuses in at least 35 countries—out of 160 surveyed—in 2014, aid the report, raising particular concern about the rise of the Islamic State (formerly ISIL) terrorist group.
The Islamic State terrorists committed wide-scale war crimes, said the report, including mass summary killings and abductions that targeted minorities, and sexual abuse of women and girls.
Massive volumes of arms were delivered to Iraq, Israel, Russia, South Sudan and Syria in 2014, despite the likelihood of these weapons being used against civilians, it said.
“Violent attacks on grounds of religious and ethnic identity continued on a significant scale. The failure of governments to address rising religious and ethnic intolerance was evident. The Myanmar and Sri Lankan governments failed to address ongoing incitement to violence based on national, racial and religious hatred by Buddhist nationalist groups despite violent incidents.
The government of Myanmar also failed to allow equal access to full citizenship to Rohingyas. In Pakistan, Shi’a Muslims were killed in attacks by armed groups; Ahmadis and Christians were also targeted. Sri Lanka also saw violence against Muslims and Christians carried out by armed groups, and police failed to protect them or to investigate incidents.”
Director of Amnesty International UK said Britain “is going in the wrong direction on rights, protections and fairness.”
She asserted the importance of public safety, but said it should not be achieved at the cost of fundamental civil liberties.
“The UK talks the talk on the global stage on human rights but this year’s summary shows they need to tend to their own garden,” she said.
“Twice this year GCHQ spies have been rumbled breaking the law. We should be concerned about waking up in a surveillance state, without having a proper public debate about it first.”
Amnesty also urged the permanent members of the UN Security Council Britain, China, France, Russia and the US, also known as the Permanent Five, to discard their veto power in cases where atrocities are being committed.
The outlook for 2015 was “bleak,” the group said.
Fire Earth 