People’s rights are threatened everywhere, from wars to silence about abuses, rights group says

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — People’s rights are being suppressed and threatened everywhere in the world, from wars to selective government outrage about some abuses and silence about others because of “political expediency,” a leading human rights group said Thursday.

“We only have to look at the human rights challenges of 2023 to tell us what we need to do differently in 2024,” Human Rights Watch said in its annual global report.

Armed conflicts have mushroomed, leading with the Israel-Hamas war, and the issue is how governments respond to them, Tirana Hassan, the rights group’s executive director, told a news conference. “It needs to be an end to double standards.”

As an example, she said many governments quickly and justifiably condemned the “unlawful” killings and atrocities by Hamas when it attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing hundreds and taking hostages. After the attacks, Israel “unlawfully blocked” aid to Gaza residents and its ongoing offensive in the territory has killed more than 23,000 people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, while reducing entire neighborhoods to rubble.

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“Yet many of the governments that condemned Hamas’ war crimes have been muted in responding to the war crimes committed by the Israeli government,” Hassan said.

She said such selective outrage sends a dangerous message that some people’s lives matter more than others and shakes the legitimacy of the international rules that protect everyone’s human rights, she said.

Human Rights Watch praised South Africa for seeking a ruling from the International Court of Justice on whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza in a landmark case that began Thursday. Hassan said other countries including the United States should support South Africa’s action “and ensure that Israel complies with the court’s decision.”

The report said tradeoffs on human rights in the name of politics are also clear. It cited the failure of many governments to speak out about the Chinese government’s repression and control over civil society, the internet and media.

“Chinese authorities’ cultural persecution and arbitrary detention of a million Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims amount to crimes against humanity,” it said. “Yet many governments, including in predominantly Muslim countries, stay silent.”

The report described the U.S. and European Union as ignoring their human rights obligations in favor of politically expedient solutions.

“U.S. President Joe Biden has shown little appetite to hold responsible human rights abusers who are key to his domestic agenda or are seen as bulwarks to China,” it said.

“U.S. allies like Saudi Arabia, India, and Egypt violate the rights of their people on a massive scale yet have not had to overcome hurdles to deepen their ties with the U.S.,” the report said. “Vietnam, the Philippines, India, and other nations the U.S. wants as counters to China have been feted at the White House without regard for their human rights abuses at home.”

Human Rights Watch said the European Union circumvents its human rights obligations to asylum seekers and migrants, “especially those from Africa and the Middle East, striking deals with abusive governments like Libya, Turkey and Tunisia to keep migrants outside of the European bloc.”

Several national leaders were named as examples of worrying trends. India’s “democracy has slid toward autocracy” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tunisia’s President Kais Saied has weakened the judiciary and El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has used mass detention as an ostensible solution for fighting crime, the report said.

The group cited as a bright spot for the year the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children’s rights commissioner alleging war crimes related to the forced transfer of Ukrainian children Russian-occupied areas, and their deportation to Russia.

Hassan also pointed to the movement toward marriage equality in places like Nepal but especially to the determination of Afghan girls and women who took to the streets to oppose the Taliban bans on work and education and have found alternative ways to learn.

“If the people at the center whose human rights are being abused are still prepared to fight then human rights matter,” she said.