Amnesty: Economic crisis will aggravate human rights abuses

Failure to grasp social and political problems as well as the worlds financial mess will lead to further instability, poverty and suffering, the human rights organisation said in its annual report.

Underlying the economic crisis is an explosive human rights crisis. The economic downturn has aggravated abuses, distracted attention from them and created new problems, Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty said. In the name of security, human rights were trampled on. Now, in the name of economic recovery, they are being relegated to the back seat.

Billions of people are suffering from insecurity, injustice and indignity, with world leaders less inclined to offer aid overseas as they pump resources into saving banks and failing companies in their own country.

The report urged Governments to invest in human rights as purposefully as they are investing in economic growth, rather than using the economic crash as an excuse to cut back on development assistance. It also highlighted the conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan as areas where military action is being increased, but the humanitarian consequences are being underplayed.

Ignoring one crisis to focus on another is a recipe for aggravating both, Ms Khan said. Economic recovery will be neither sustainable nor equitable if governments fail to tackle abuses that drive and deepen poverty, or armed conflicts that generate new violations.

She urged leaders to use the current major rethink on the global economy to design a new deal on human rights. Not paper promises but commitment and concrete action from Governments to diffuse the human rights time bomb.

Assessing human rights abuses over the past year, the Amnesty report found that freedom of expression was restricted in at least 81 countries and warned the recessionary economy could lead to increased state repression. It noted how protests were quelled with force in Zimbabwe, Tunisia and Cameroon.

The report also reprimanded members of the Group of 20 leading countries, namely the United States, China and Saudi Arabia, for carrying out more than three-quarters of state executions that took place across the world in 2008. The G-20 claims the mantle of world leadership, but how can it lead with credibility when its own human rights record is riddled with violations?

The Times (UK)