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World leaders get the slippery slope when Amnesty International sums up last year.
The organization believes several of the world’s leaders have used the pandemic to gain more power.
It comes out in the annual report, which was presented on Wednesday.
Amnesty has looked more closely at how human rights are safeguarded in 149 countries.
One of the heads of state receiving criticism is the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte. Amnesty writes that last year he gave the green light for the police to shoot at people who protested against, or did not comply with, quarantine rules.
In Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro is blamed for ithas become more police violence during the pandemic. In the first half of last year, an average of 17 people were killed by the police in Brazil every day.
According to Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard, governments around the world have used the pandemic as an excuse to oppress civil society. In several places, the police have been allowed to use more violence.
“We have found that the vast majority of heads of state in the world have used Covid to assert their power, suppress criticism and ensure that freedom of expression and information are not protected,” says Callamard.
Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard.
Photo: Joel Saget / AFP
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European countries are also being criticized
The Secretary-General also criticizes European countries.
In Hungary, the government has used the pandemic to suppress freedom of expression, Amnesty believes. A new law allows Hungarians who provide so-called false information about the corona pandemic to be imprisoned for up to five years.
The report also believes that refugees and migrants have gotten worse due to the pandemic. Refugee camps have lost access to basic aid and services. In Europe has special conditions in the Moria camp on the Greek island of Lesvos received attention for miserable conditions.
Tens of thousands of refugees from countries such as El Salvador, Honduras and Venezuela have been denied entry to Canada, Peru and the United States due to coronary restrictions. Closed borders mean that more people have been stranded.
Protest movements are a bright spot
But while Amnesty believes that prime ministers and presidents have failed, they also believe it is a bright spot.
2020 was a year in which several popular protest movements gained a larger foothold. Among other things Black Lives Mattermovement in the United States.
– Leadership in 2020 did not come from those in power, the privileged or the rich. It came from the countless people who demand change, says Secretary General Agnès Callamard.
It is the leadership of ordinary people and human rights activists that has moved the world forward, she believes.
– It is these who are at the forefront of a better, safer and fairer world.
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