NOS News•
It is good that the Western world is reacting strongly to the Russian aggression in Ukraine, says Amnesty International, but there is a double standard. One country is treated much harder internationally than the other, the organization writes in an annual report on human rights in 2022.
“There is a deafening silence about the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia, passivity towards Egypt and the refusal to address the Israeli system of apartheid against Palestinians.” Amnesty believes that the selectivity with which the West pronounces sentences fuels impunity for human rights violations.
For the report the organization has investigated the situation in 156 countries. The illegal invasion of Russia and the violence against the Ukrainian population stand out. It is one of the worst humanitarian and human rights crises in Europe’s recent history.
‘Stark contrast’
According to the organization, the West has rightly responded quickly and hard. The West imposed sanctions on Moscow, sent military aid to Kiev, and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague launched a war crimes investigation. “However, this robust and welcome approach stood in stark contrast to previous responses to massive violations by Russia and others, and to the restrained responses to conflicts such as in Ethiopia, Yemen and Myanmar.”
This dynamic is not new, acknowledges a spokesman for Amnesty Netherlands. (Geo)politics simply play a major role in the question of whether and, if so, how a country is dealt with for human rights violations. According to the spokesperson, Europe and the US have always been quicker to criticize enemy states than to allies.
Uighurs
Beijing is using its global influence to block action against the widespread human rights violations against the Uyghurs, Amnesty said. Many hundreds of thousands of members of this Muslim minority are housed in camps. China denies international charges of genocide.
According to the report, there were also bright spots in 2022. For example, Kazakhstan and Papua New Guinea have abolished the death penalty. A number of prominent activists were also released after years of imprisonment.
