2014 Marked Ultimate Low in Human Rights, Says Amnesty Report
Published on Wednesday, February 25, 2015
by Common Dreams
2014 Marked Ultimate Low in Human Rights, Says Amnesty Report
Annual report condemns widespread violence and draconian government response for worsening abuses worldwide
by Lauren McCauley, staff writer
The legacy of 2014 will likely be that the world suffered a "historic failure" in human rights, according to Amnesty International's annual assessment.
Released Wednesday, the human rights report says that the year had been "devastating" for civilians caught in the cross-hairs of war and that governments "failed miserably" to protect those most in need.
The report broadly condemns violence and oppression, whether from international bodies or from violent extremists. Further, Amnesty charges that government crackdown in response to such violence further exacerbates the dangers by suppressing civil society and other human rights efforts.
"From Washington to Damascus, from Abuja to Colombo, government leaders have justified horrific human rights violations by talking of the need to keep the country 'safe'," states the report. "In reality, the opposite is the case. Such violations are one important reason why we live in such a dangerous world today. There can be no security without human rights."
The report cites such events as the ongoing crisis in Syria, the war against Gaza, the rise of non-state aggressors such as the Islamic State and Boko Haram, the Ukrainian conflict, and disappearances in Mexico as the more significant conflicts of the year. It says that millions of civilians were killed last year while the number of displaced people around the world exceeded 50 million for the first time since the end of World War II.
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http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/02/25/2014-marked-ultimate-low-human-rights-says-amnesty-report
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