What's Going On in Human Rights: March 2022

In this March update on human rights, we take a look at Amnesty International's recently published annual report, which reflects on current issues and progress around the world. To summarise, the report has found that 2021 was "a story of betrayal in the corridors of power" as states failed to protect citizens from corporate greed as we emerge in post-pandemic societies. Three key themes have been highlighted: health and inequalities; civic space and conflict; refugees and migrants.

Vaccine inequality remains a key issue, as we have looked at in our previous two blog posts (click here for January and February updates). As a result, the international community failed to deliver on the World Health Organization's target of 40% of populations being vaccinated by the end of the year - less than 8% of Africa's 1.2 billion citizens had been fully vaccinated by the start of 2022, while high income countries in the Global North had a surplus of vaccines going to waste. Amnesty are calling for these countries to redistribute their vaccines, and for pharmaceutical companies to deliver stock where it is needed most.

Following the pandemic, many governments have been seen to increasingly suppress independent and critical voices. The global perspective is alarming: 43% of countries introduced new laws to stop people peacefully expressing their rights; 55% of countries use excessive or unnecessary force against demonstrators; 54% of countries arbitrarily detain human rights defenders. Examples vary, from excessive police force in France during a summer musical festival, to police using batons to beat farmers who were protesting against farming laws in India, to security forces in Myanmar killing over 1000 people opposing the military coup. Amnesty condemns all restrictions on rights to freedom of expression, calls for tighter controls on law enforcement equipment such as batons, tear gas and rubber bullets, and advocates for the role of in-country NGOs in researching and promoting human rights.

2021 saw mass displacements due to conflicts, inequality and climate change. Amnesty International are critical of the international community, especially countries in the Global North, for their failure to accommodate and offer safety to the millions of displaced people searching refuge. Pushbacks became normalized, turning round millions of migrants, from the Belarus-EU border to the US-Mexico border. Malaysia deported over 1000 people back to Myanmar, at serious risk of persecution. 12 countries in the EU have called for a dilution of refugee protection rules. AI calls upon the international community to take greater responsibility for migrants, ensuring people are protected until durable solutions are found. AI supports community sponsorship, as has been demonstrated in the placement of Ukrainian refugees.

For the full report, including in-depth regional analysis, see the Amnesty International website.