23, Feb 2018 | CJP Team

Amnesty International, in its newly released annual report, has said that “hate-filled narratives by governments around the world” have enabled discrimination and bigotry against people who are already vulnerable, the Guardian reported, saying that the report depicts a situation in which human rights declined in 2017. Salil Shetty, the organisation’s secretary-general, said that there are “few governments standing up for human rights”. He named leaders including US President Donald Trump, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte,  who “are callously undermining the rights of millions”. Shetty said, “The feeble response to crimes against humanity and war crimes from Myanmar to Syria and Yemen underscored the lack of leadership on human rights.” In his foreword, Shetty highlighted the Rohingya crisis, saying it was an example of “the world’s catastrophic failure to address conditions that provide fertile ground for mass atrocity crimes.” Shetty noted that there were “warning signs” for the crisis, in which more than 650,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar following a brutal military crackdown that reportedly led to several thousand deaths. He stressed that “massive discrimination and segregation had become normalised within a regime that amounted to apartheid, and for long years the Rohingya people were routinely demonised and stripped of the basic conditions needed to live in dignity.” Amnesty International’s report examines the situation for human rights around the world, regionally, and individually for 159 countries and territories. It can be read here.