The NGO criticizes that the promise of “better reconstruction” was left “in hollow words” and says that in 2021 conflicts have increased
MADRID, 29 (EUROPE PRESS)
The non-governmental organization Amnesty International denounced this Tuesday that politicians and big companies have put their benefits before the people, betraying their promises of a fair recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
“The truth is that we heard the saying ‘We will rebuild better’ ad nauseam, which eventually became the mantra of 2021,” said NGO Secretary-General Agnès Callamard in Amnesty International Report 2021/. . 2022: The situation of human rights in the world”, in which he criticized that 2021 had become “the hotbed of deeper inequality and greater instability”.
He lamented that politicians presented “very good-sounding promises” about “a global economic realignment, a shared global agenda that would end corporate abuse, a green and sustainable recovery, or transformative global solidarity.”
“In the end, it became apparent that mantras remained empty words and promises could be broken, causing more and more people to have their rights trampled on more often and in more places,” he denounces. “Governments have chosen policies and practices that have removed us even further from dignity and rights,” he added.
“Rather than being systematically reduced, the systemic inequalities resulting from the pandemic have been further amplified. The cross-border flows of medical care and services that would have enabled expanded access to care have not materialized,” he recalled.
In this sense, he stressed that “the cooperation between governments that is necessary to prevent major disasters and to mitigate human rights crises has seldom materialized”. “The world leaders (…) have entrenched themselves in their respective national interests,” he said.
“Instead of making more people safer, they have plunged us into the abyss of insecurity and, in some cases, war. Instead of ending the practices and policies that divide us, they have plunged our countries into a self-destructive competition for wealth and resources. ” he explained.
He has argued that “Rather than uphold universal equality, racism has permeated the workings of the international system even more, even determining who has the right to life and who does not, adding another chapter to the disastrous story has the lives that matter and the lives that don’t.
“While rich-country governments congratulated themselves on their immunization campaigns, by the end of the year their immunization nationalism had left more than half the world’s population unvaccinated or allowed only partial vaccination,” he noted earlier, arguing that “low immunization rates are the emergence of new Allowed variants that put the entire population at risk of vaccine-resistant viral mutations occurring and also prolonged the pandemic.”
INCREASE IN CONFLICTS
In this context, Callamard emphasized that “in the midst of the pandemic, new conflicts were forged and other unresolved ones fueled”. “In Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Israel and Palestine, Libya, Burma and Yemen, for example, the conflicts have caused widespread violations of humanitarian and international law,” he said.
“In very few cases has the necessary international response been given, and very rarely has justice been carried out or accountable. On the contrary, the conflicts spread in 2021 and their impact worsened over time,” he stressed.
He also pointed out that “the number and variety of counterparties has increased” while “new conflict scenarios have been opened up”. “New weapons were tested. More deaths and injuries were caused. The value of life has been diminished,” he denounced.
“Nowhere was the decline of the world order more evident than in Afghanistan. There, after the withdrawal of all international troops, the collapse of the government and the rise to power of the Taliban, Afghan women and men who had fought in the US were front lines for human rights and democratic values were left to their fate,” he denounced.
Callamard has argued that “the world’s failure to offer a global response to the pandemic has created breeding ground for further conflict and injustice,” adding that “the rise in poverty, food insecurity and the ‘instrumentalization of the pandemic for oppression of Dissent and Protests” were enshrined in 2021.
On the other hand, he stressed that “this setback was also made clear at the climate conference (COP26)”, which ended “in a betrayal” by failing to reach an agreement after 15 days, “which was characterized by a short-term perspective and pruned out of selfishness”.
“In doing so, they have condemned large parts of humanity to a future of water scarcity, heat waves, floods and famine. The same governments that turned migrants back at their borders have forced millions to leave their homes in search of safety and better living conditions,” he said.
“Countries that were already up to their necks in unsustainable debt levels were left without sufficient financing to take the necessary steps to deal with the dire consequences of climate change,” he said.
Callamard has also filed charges against social networks like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, saying they allowed the spread of misinformation about the pandemic. “Social media companies have allowed their lucrative algorithms to spread harmful disinformation about the pandemic, prioritizing sensationalism and discrimination over truth,” he said.
IMPACT ON MARGINALIZED PEOPLE
For this reason, Amnesty has stressed that countries in the Global South have been harder hit by this situation, exacerbated by the collapse of health systems and the social support network after decades of neglect, which is particularly evident in Africa.
The NGO has recalled that on the continent less than eight percent of the population is vaccinated on the full schedule, while Callamard has pointed out that “in many countries around the world, already marginalized populations have paid the highest price for the conscious political choices of a privileged one have minority.
“The right to health and life was massively violated. Millions of people were struggling to make ends meet. Many people lost their homes. Boys and girls were excluded from education and poverty increased,” he said.
In a different order, he deplored that at least 67 countries introduced laws in 2021 to limit freedoms of expression, association or assembly and to block motions discussing controversial issues in Burma, China, Cuba, Eswatini, Iran and Niger were , Senegal, Sudan and South Sudan, among others.
“Rather than creating space for much-needed dialogue and debate on how best to address the challenges of 2021, many states have redoubled their efforts to silence critical voices,” Callamard said.
“Despite their promises and pledges to the contrary, leaders and big business have almost always opted for a non-transformative approach, choosing to amplify existing systemic inequalities in the post-pandemic rather than tearing them down. The world has left crystal clear that he wants a fairer world on the basis of human rights,” he stressed.