From Gaza to Ukraine and Sudan, 2023 has been a "terrifying year" for human rights, which have further deteriorated around the world. This is stated by Human Rights Watch in its annual report published today and presented to the UN. In the more than 700-page document that reviews nearly 100 countries, the organization catalogs "immense suffering" caused by the war between Israel and Hamas, the one between the two rival generals in Sudan, or the continuation of conflicts in Ukraine, Burma, Ethiopia and the Sahel.
The report states that 2023 "was a terrifying year not only for human rights repression and wartime atrocities, but also for the selective anger of governments and transnational diplomacy." Such behavior sends "the message that the dignity of some deserves to be protected, but not that of all, that some lives are worth more than others," the executive director of Human Rights Watch said, speaking of "hypocrisy." The hypocrisy of Westerners "who turn a blind eye to human rights violations, nationally or internationally, just to advance their own interests." The report criticizes in particular the European Union, whose "foreign policy priority towards its southern neighbors remains to contain migrant departures to Europe at all costs, persevering in a failed approach that has highlighted the erosion of the bloc's commitments to human rights."
And in the crosshairs of this "double standard" is also the difference between the "swift and justified condemnation" by many countries of the Hamas attacks of October 7 and the "much more restrained" responses, in particular by the US and the EU in the face of the Israeli bombing of Gaza. Or the lack of condemnation of the intensification of repression in China, particularly in Xinjiang and Tibet. In this context, HRW describes an international human rights system "under threat." But Hassan also points out that "we have also seen that institutions can mobilize to resist and fight," referring in particular to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
'Hamas and Israel's war crimes'
"In 2023, civilians have been targeted, attacked, and killed on a scale unprecedented in the recent history of Israel and Palestine." This is stated in Human Rights Watch's annual report on human rights in the world. The dossier accuses Hamas of "war crimes" for the October 7 attacks against Israel, and Israeli forces for reprisals against the population of Gaza. In Gaza, "one of the most important crimes committed is the collective punishment" of civilians, "which amounts to a war crime," as well as the fact of "starving" the population, said HRW Executive Director Tirana Hassan.
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