The intense international mobilization for human rights in Ukraine following the Russian invasion should serve as a model for the response that should take place in other areas where violations are taking place, the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report. annual report, which was released today.

In this 700+ page report, the NGO documents a “series of atrocities” committed throughout 2022 around the world, from China to Afghanistan, through Iran, Ethiopia and, of course, Ukraine.

“In the midst of the fog of war and the darkness that this war has plunged Ukraine into, a light has emerged: an international response and a commitment to international justice,” said Tirana Hasan, acting executive director of HRW.

Although the NGO recorded “violations on all sides,” Russian forces are responsible for “numerous” atrocities against civilians. HRW applauded the speed with which the International Criminal Court hastened to launch an investigation, and the EU, US, UK and other governments have imposed unprecedented sanctions against Moscow.

“Never in the history of conflict response have we seen such a coordinated international response” and “what we need to do now is to ensure that countries are held accountable at the same level as Ukraine in all other cases” for human rights violations, stressed Hasan.

Two meters and two stations

In particular, she called on the international community to “keep pushing” to bring to justice those responsible for the atrocities committed in the Ethiopian province of Tigray, while Russia and China block bringing this issue to the agenda of the UN Security Council.

In China, the authorities have also not reacted to their policy towards the Muslim Uyghur minority, despite a report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which concluded that some of Beijing’s actions could amount to crimes against humanity.

In Iran, the regime stepped up its crackdown on mass protest movements. “We cannot expect the Iranian people to change” the human rights situation in the country on their own, Hassan insisted.

“A significant change against such a powerful regime requires the mobilization of the international community not only to express its solidarity, but also to effectively put pressure on the regime,” she added, assessing that there is a risk that the international community will stop dealing with the situation in Iran, so how the movement has been going on for a long time.

In its report, HRW complains that the international community often uses a “double standard” approach to human rights violations around the world.

As an example, the NGO cited US President Joe Biden, who warmed US relations with Saudi Arabia in the midst of the energy crisis despite promising to make it a “rogue state.” Accordingly, Europe has accepted Ukrainian refugees with open arms, while many countries leave doubts about the future of the Afghan or Syrian refugees they have accepted.

Source: AFP, APE-MPE.