Morality is facing threats and suppression on a global scale, impacting people everywhere, from wars to selective government outrage about some abuses and silence about others because of "political expediency," said a leading human rights group to The Associated Press on Friday.
"We only have to look at the human rights challenges of 2023 to tell us what we need to do differently in 2024," Human Rights Watch recorded in its annual global report.
Armed conflicts have grown rapidly, notably the Israel-Hamas war, and have escalated rapidly. The core issues often stem from how governments choose to address these hostilities. Tirana Hassan, the New York-based watchdog's executive director, said in a news conference. "It needs to be an end to double standards," reported AP.
Using an example, she said many governments quickly and justifiably condemned the "unlawful" killings and atrocities by the Palestinian militant Hamas group when it attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7. After the attacks, Israel "unlawfully blocked" aid to Gaza residents and its ongoing offensive in the territory has killed more than 23,000 people, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, while reducing entire neighborhoods to rubble.
"Yet many of the governments that condemned Hamas' war crimes have been muted in responding to the war crimes committed by the Israeli government," Hassan continued.
Per The Associated Press, she elaborated that declaring such selective outrage sends a dangerous message that some people matter more than others and shakes the legitimacy of the international rules that protect everyone's human rights. The report highlighted obvious trade-offs on human rights in the name of politics, specifically mentioning the failure of numerous governments to denounce the Chinese government's repression and control over civil society, the internet, and the media.
The report detailed the United States and European Union as ignoring their human rights obligations in favor of politically advantageous results.
"U.S. President Joe Biden has shown little appetite to hold responsible human rights abusers who are key to his domestic agenda or are seen as bulwarks to China," it said.
"U.S. allies like Saudi Arabia, India, and Egypt violate the rights of their people on a massive scale yet have not had to overcome hurdles to deepen their ties with the U.S.," the report went on. "Vietnam, the Philippines, India, and other nations the U.S. wants as counters to China have been feted at the White House without regard for their human rights abuses at home."
Yet amid the darkness, there are signs of hope showing the prospect of an unprecedented trajectory.
"If the people at the center whose human rights are being abused are still prepared to fight then human rights matter," Hassan concluded.
