LONDON, 22 Feb. - (ANA) - Politicians wielding a toxic, dehumanizing “us vs them” rhetoric are creating a more divided and dangerous world, warned Amnesty International today as it launched its annual assessment of human rights around the world.

 

The report, The State of the World’s Human Rights, delivers the most comprehensive analysis of the state of human rights around the world, covering 159 countries. It warns that the consequences of “us vs them” rhetoric setting the agenda in Europe, the United States and elsewhere is fuelling a global pushback against human rights and leaving the global response to mass atrocities perilously weak.

 

“2016 was the year when the cynical use of ‘us vs them’ narratives of blame, hate and fear took on a global prominence to a level not seen since the 1930s. Too many politicians are answering legitimate economic and security fears with a poisonous and divisive manipulation of identity politics in an attempt to win votes,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

 

“Today’s politics of demonization shamelessly peddles a dangerous idea that some people are less human than others, stripping away the humanity of entire groups of people. This threatens to unleash the darkest aspects of human nature.”

 

“For the Middle East and North Africa, a region which is no stranger to toxic division and polarization, the spread of such dehumanizing rhetoric has had catastrophic consequences. Throughout 2016, governments across the region, emboldened by this global trend, have launched attacks on civilian populations, committed war crimes and cracked down on peaceful activists, using the same dehumanizing rhetoric of ‘us versus them’. Many of those fleeing the horrors of war have found themselves abandoned as countries increasingly turn a blind eye to their plight,” said Randa Habib, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

 

 

Seismic political shifts in 2016 exposed the potential of hateful rhetoric to unleash the dark side of human nature. The global trend of angrier and more divisive politics was exemplified by Donald Trump’s poisonous campaign rhetoric, but political leaders in various parts of the world also wagered their future power on narratives of fear, blame and division.

 

This rhetoric is having an increasingly pervasive impact on policy and action. In 2016, across the world governments turned a blind eye to war crimes, pushed through deals that undermine the right to claim asylum, passed laws that violate free expression, incited murder of people simply because they are accused of using drugs, justified torture and mass surveillance, and extended draconian police powers.

 

Governments also turned on refugees and migrants; often an easy target for scapegoating. Amnesty International’s Annual Report documents how 36 countries violated international law by unlawfully sending refugees back to a country where their rights were at risk.

 

Most recently, President Trump put his hateful xenophobic pre-election rhetoric into action by signing an executive order in an attempt to prevent refugees from seven majority Muslim nations including Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen and Libya, seeking resettlement in the USA; blocking people fleeing conflict and persecution from war-torn countries from seeking safe haven in the country.

 

Just two weeks ago President Bashar al-Assad of Syria fuelled such divisions by using rhetoric that demonizes some Syrian refugees. Despite the continuing devastating conflict in Syria, the international community has failed to share responsibility for this refugee crisis and the number of resettlement places offered to Syria’s most vulnerable remain grossly inadequate. Neighbouring countries including Jordan and Lebanon, who host among the highest number of refugees per capita, have also closed their borders to people fleeing bloodshed or persecution. 

 

“Instead of fighting for people’s rights, too many leaders have adopted a dehumanizing agenda for political expediency,” said Salil Shetty.

 

“In 2016, these most toxic forms of dehumanization became a dominant force in mainstream global politics. The limits of what is acceptable have shifted. Politicians are shamelessly and actively legitimizing all sorts of hateful rhetoric and policies based on people’s identity: misogyny, racism and homophobia.

 

“The first target has been refugees and, if this continues in 2017, others will be in the cross-hairs. The reverberations will lead to more attacks on the basis of race, gender, nationality and religion. When we cease to see each other as human beings with the same rights, we move closer to the abyss.”

 

 

Amnesty International is warning that 2017 will see ongoing crises exacerbated by a debilitating absence of human rights leadership on a chaotic world stage.

 

The world faces a long list of crises with little political will to address them: including Syria, Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan, Central America, Central African Republic, Burundi, Iraq, South Sudan and Sudan. Amnesty International’s Annual Report documented war crimes committed in at least 23 countries in 2016.

 

Despite these challenges, international indifference to war crimes has become an entrenched normality as the UN Security Council remains paralyzed by rivalries between permanent member states.

 

The human cost to civilians of the agonizing conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Libya and Iraq has continued to escalate as world leaders and key institutions, such as the UN, failed to end war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law. In fact four of the UN Security Council’s five permanent member states – France, Russia, the UK and the USA – are actively supporting forces committing some of these violations.

 

Across the Middle East and North Africa the international community has also shamelessly prioritized business and security ties over human rights and turned a blind eye to violations committed in the name of security. Displaying shocking disregard for human life, the USA and UK have continued to supply arms to the Saudi Arabia-led coalition in Yemen despite evidence that these have been used to commit war crimes in Yemen. In Iraq, arms from the USA, Europe, Russia and Iran have been used by paramilitary militias combating the armed group calling itself Islamic State to commit revenge attacks and other violations. The USA has also agreed to boost its military aid to Israel despite the fact that its forces continued to commit serious human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Similarly, instead of speaking out in the face of an unprecedented crackdown against human rights defenders in Egypt, the international community has also continued to export arms to the government ignoring its appalling record.

 

“With world leaders lacking political will to put pressure on other states violating human rights, basic principles from accountability for mass atrocities to the right to asylum are at stake,” said Salil Shetty.

 

“Even states that once claimed to champion rights abroad are now too busy rolling back human rights at home to hold others to account. The more countries backtrack on fundamental human rights commitments, the more we risk a domino effect of leaders emboldened to knock back established human rights protections.

 

“A new world order where human rights are portrayed as a barrier to national interests makes the ability to tackle mass atrocities dangerously low, leaving the door open to abuses reminiscent of the darkest times of human history 

 

 

Amnesty International is calling on people around the world to resist cynical efforts to roll back long-established human rights in exchange for the distant promise of prosperity and security.

 

The report warns that global solidarity and public mobilization will be particularly important to defend individuals who stand up to those in power and defend human rights, who are often cast by governments as a threat to economic development, security or other priorities.

 

Amnesty International’s annual report documents people killed for peacefully standing up for human rights in 22 countries in 2016. They include those targeted for challenging entrenched economic interests, defending minorities and small communities or opposing traditional barriers to women’s and LGBTI rights.

 

“With politicians increasingly willing to demonize entire groups of people, the need for all of us to stand up for the basic values of human dignity and equality everywhere has seldom been clearer,” said Salil Shetty. - (ANA) -

AB/ANA/ 22 February 2017 - - -