Amnesty International Report 2017/18

Amnesty International Report 2017/18

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huge outflow of refugees from South Sudan – at times, parties to the world’s numerous 

conflicts have abdicated even the pretence of respect for their obligations to protect civilians.

Leaders of wealthy countries have continued to approach the global refugee crisis with a 

blend of evasion and outright callousness, regarding refugees not as human beings with rights 

but as problems to be deflected. The efforts of US President Donald Trump to ban entry to all 

citizens of several Muslim-majority countries based on their nationality was a transparently 

hateful move. Most European leaders have been unwilling to grapple with the big challenge of 

regulating migration safely and legally, and have decided that practically nothing is off limits in 

their efforts to keep refugees away from the continent’s shores. The inevitable consequences 

of this approach were evident in the shocking abuses suffered by refugees in Libya, with the 

full knowledge of European leaders.

Across parts of Europe and Africa, the spectre of hatred and fear loomed throughout a 

succession of significant elections. In Austria, France, Germany and the Netherlands, some 

candidates sought to transpose social and economic anxieties into fear and blame, especially 

against migrants, refugees and religious minorities. In Kenya, presidential elections in August 

and October were marred by intimidation and violence, including on the basis of ethnic 

identity.

However, 2017 also demonstrated the enduring willingness of people to stand up for their 

rights and for the values they want to see in the world. New and severe threats gave fresh 

oxygen to the spirit of protest. In Poland, serious threats to the independence of the judiciary 

brought large numbers of people onto the streets. In Zimbabwe, tens of thousands marched 

with determination in November, consummating their decades-long struggle against 

strongman politics and demanding a genuine election in 2018 – one in which the people’s will 

is freely expressed. In India, rising Islamophobia and a wave of lynchings of Muslims and 

Dalits provoked outrage and protest as people said: “Not in my name”. A vast women’s march, 

centred on the USA but with many offshoots around the world, became one of the largest 

protest events in history. And globally, the #MeToo phenomenon drew enormous attention to 

the appalling extent of sexual abuse and harassment.

But the cost of speaking out against injustice continues to grow. In Turkey, the ruthless and 

arbitrary assault on civil society in the wake of the failed coup in 2016 continued at a furious 

pace, sweeping up the Chair and Director of Amnesty International Turkey among thousands 

of others. China unleashed unprecedented crackdowns on individuals and organizations 

perceived to be critical of the government, in the name of “national security”. Following large, 

widespread protests in Russia, hundreds of peaceful protesters, bystanders and journalists 

were arrested; many faced ill-treatment, arbitrary detention and heavy fines following unfair 

trials. Across much of Africa, the intolerance of public protest was alarmingly apparent, from 

arbitrary bans in Angola and Chad, to heavy-handed crackdowns in the Democratic Republic 

of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Togo and Uganda. In Venezuela, hundreds of people were 

arbitrarily detained and many more suffered the consequences of excessive and abusive force 

used by security forces in response to widespread public protests against rising inflation and 

shortages of food and medical supplies. In Egypt, authorities severely curbed the freedom to 

criticize the government by closing down or freezing the assets of NGOs, enacting draconian 

legislation that provided for five years’ imprisonment for publishing research without 

government permission, and sentencing journalists and hundreds of political opponents to 

prison terms. As the year drew to a close, a wave of anti-establishment demonstrations began 

in Iran, the like of which had not been seen since 2009. Reports emerged that security forces 

killed and injured unarmed protesters by using firearms and other excessive force. Hundreds 

were arrested and detained in jails notorious for torture and other ill-treatment.

2018 will mark 20 years since the UN adopted by consensus the Declaration on Human 

Rights Defenders, which provides for their protection and support and encourages everyone to 

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Amnesty International Report 2017/18

stand up for human rights. Yet two decades later, those who take up the mantle of defending 

human rights often face the gravest of consequences. In 2017, the tragic death of Nobel 

Laureate Liu Xiaobo in China was emblematic of the contempt in which too many governments 

hold human rights defenders. He died in custody from liver cancer on 13 July, after the 

Chinese authorities refused to allow him to receive medical treatment abroad.

Meanwhile, narratives of national security and counter-terrorism have continued to provide 

justification to governments seeking to reconfigure the balance between state powers and 

individual freedoms. States have a clear responsibility to protect people from acts of violence 

that are designed to terrorize; yet, increasingly, they have done so at the expense of rights 

rather than to protect rights. Europe has continued to slip towards a near-permanent state of 

securitization. France, for example, ended its state of emergency in November, but only after 

adopting a new anti-terror law, which embedded in ordinary law many of the provisions of the 

emergency regime.

However, despite the gravity of these assaults on human rights, an understanding of the 

global struggle for the values of human dignity and equality demands that we resist any simple 

equation of repressive government versus principled people-power. Today’s public spaces are 

contested between often-polarized extremes. While both Poland and the USA saw significant 

rallies calling for human rights protections not to be undermined, a large-scale nationalist 

march with xenophobic slogans in Warsaw and a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville 

called for policies that are profoundly antithetical to human rights. Abusive policies and 

practices that deny human rights to certain groups enjoyed popular support in many countries.

Today, many of our most important public spaces exist online, where the tools for addressing 

emerging challenges have at times proved wholly inadequate to the task. The avalanche of 

online abuse, particularly against women, and the incitement of hatred against minorities, 

drew weak and inconsistent responses from social media companies and scant action from 

governments. The impact of “fake news” as a tool for manipulating public opinion was widely 

discussed throughout 2017. Technological capabilities to blur the distinction between reality 

and fiction are only likely to grow in future, raising significant questions about people’s access 

to information. These concerns are compounded by the extreme concentration of control in 

only a handful of companies over the information people view online, and by the huge power 

asymmetry between individuals and the companies and governments who control vast 

amounts of data. The capabilities deriving from this to shape public attitudes are immense, 

including virtually unchecked potential for incitement to hatred and violence.

As we approach the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 

December 2018, the challenge ahead is clear. This is a moment to reclaim the essential idea 

of the equality and dignity of all people, to cherish those values, and demand that they 

become a foundation for policy-making and practice. The artificial boundaries erected by a 

politics of demonization lead us only towards conflict and brutality, a nightmarish vision of 

humanity governed by naked self-interest and blinded to the plight of others. Too many leaders 

in the world have allowed the exponents of vilification to set the agenda, and failed to articulate 

an alternative vision.

It is time for this to change. We must refuse to accept narratives of demonization and build 

instead a culture of solidarity. We must hone our capacity for generosity towards others. We 

must assert the right of all people to participate in building the societies to which they belong. 

And we must seek constructive answers – rooted in human rights – to the frustrations, anger 

and alienation that provide a ready context for toxic political narratives of blame.

The coming year provides a vital opportunity for a renewed commitment to the transformative 

idea of human rights, as we ask what kind of societies we want to live in. We must not 

squander it.

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