Amnesty International has warned of a near breakdown of international law, citing flagrant rule-breaking in Gaza and Ukraine, multiple armed conflicts, the rise of authoritarianism, and significant rights violations in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Myanmar.
In its annual report released on Wednesday, the human rights organization highlighted a global disregard for international rules and values, as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, by some of the most powerful governments, including the United States, Russia, and China.
Amnesty’s secretary general, Agnes Callamard, described the level of violation of international order witnessed in the past year as “unprecedented,” with civilians in conflicts bearing the highest price.
“Israel’s flagrant disregard for international law is compounded by the failures of its allies to stop the indescribable civilian bloodshed meted out in Gaza,” she said. “Many of those allies were the very architects of that post-World War Two system of law.”
The report emphasized the United States’ failures to condemn rights violations by Israel and its use of veto power to block a UN Security Council ceasefire resolution in Gaza.
It also highlighted Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine and China’s support for military forces in Myanmar, as well as Beijing’s avoidance of scrutiny regarding its treatment of the Uyghur minority.
“We have here three very large countries, superpowers in many ways, sitting on the Security Council that have emptied out the Security Council of its potentials, and that have emptied out international law of its ability to protect people,” she told the Associated Press in London.
The report, detailing Amnesty’s evaluation of human rights in 155 countries, highlighted a growing backlash against women’s rights and gender equality in 2023.
It pointed to the suppression of women’s protests in Iran, the Taliban’s efforts to exclude women from public life in Afghanistan, and legal constraints on abortion in the US and Poland, among other examples.
Amnesty also cautioned about the dangers of new technologies if not properly regulated. It warned that the rapid development of artificial intelligence and mass surveillance tools could be used to exacerbate conflicts, violate rights and freedoms, and disrupt elections in a significant election year.
Unregulated tech advances “can be weaponised to discriminate, disinform and divide”, Callamard said.