‘Horrific year’: Human Rights Watch condemns ‘erosion’ of human rights around the world in 2023

From Gaza to Ukraine to Sudan, 2023 has been a “horrific year” for human rights, which has further deteriorated around the world, Human Rights Watch lamented in its annual report released on Thursday. In the more than 700-page document, covering nearly 100 countries, the organization describes the “immense suffering” caused by the war between Israel and Hamas, the war between two rival generals in Sudan or the continuing conflicts in Ukraine and Burma. , Ethiopia and the Sahel.

“In 2023, civilians were attacked and killed on a scale unprecedented in the recent history of Israel and Palestine,” the report notes. He accuses Hamas of “war crimes” for the unprecedented October 7 attacks on Israel and Israeli forces for repressing the people of Gaza. As for the Palestinian enclave, “one of the most important crimes committed is the collective punishment” of all civilians, “which corresponds to a war crime,” as well as the fact of “starving” the population, emphasizes HRW patron Tirana Hassan.

Human Rights Watch also condemns “massive violations” of civil rights in Sudan by two rival generals Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Daghlo, criticizing the “impunity” that has led to “repeated cycles of violence” in the country. twenty years.

In addition to armed conflicts, the NGO notes the catastrophic effects of climate change in 2023, the hottest year on record, and identifies several trends that signify the “erosion of human rights.” Thus, “it was a horrific year not only because of human rights repression and wartime atrocities, but also because of the government’s selective anger and transactional diplomacy,” the report states.

“Hypocrisy”

Such behavior sends “the message that the dignity of some is worth protecting but not the dignity of all, that some lives are worth more than others.” A situation that the head of the NGO characterizes in one word: “hypocrisy.” The hypocrisy of Westerners “who turn a blind eye to human rights violations at the national or international level only to advance their own interests.”

The report criticizes in particular the European Union, whose “foreign policy priority towards its southern neighbors remains to contain the departure of migrants to Europe at all costs, persisting in a failed approach that highlights the erosion of the bloc’s human rights commitments.”

Also subject to this “double standard” is the difference between the “quick and reasonable condemnation” by many countries of the October 7 Hamas attacks and the “much more restrained” response, especially from the US and EU, when faced with the Israeli bombing of Hamas on October 7. Gaza. Or the lack of condemnation of the “increasing repression” in China, especially in Xinjiang and Tibet.

In this context, Human Rights Watch describes the international human rights system as “under threat.” But not broken. “We also saw that institutions can mobilize to resist and fight,” assures Tirana Hasan, referring in particular to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The human rights system still exists. The only thing we lack is the commitment, consistency and political will of the states that make up the system and give life to human rights,” she insisted, emphasizing the need to do better in 2024 because “most of the world’s population is from the United States.” . The states go to Russia and go to the polls.