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07:41 GMT
LONDON, Feb 22 (KUNA) -- The World is turning its back on crises in Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Iraq, Amnesty International declared here Wednesday.
Politicians wielding a toxic, dehumanizing "us vs them" rhetoric are creating a more divided and dangerous world, warned the human rights organisation 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.
The year 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.
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.
Meanwhile, the group said seismic political shifts in 2016 exposed the potential of hateful rhetoric to unleash the dark side of human nature.
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, it said.
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.
Amnesty International is warning that 2017 will see ongoing crises exacerbated by a debilitating absence of human rights leadership on a chaotic world stage.
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 Iraq, arms from the USA, Europe, Russia, and Iran have been used by paramilitary militias combating the armed group calling itself Islamic State (IS) 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.
"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, Secretary General of Amnesty International
"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.
Amnesty International's annual report documents people killed for peacefully standing up for human rights in 22 countries in 2016. (end)
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