Amnesty International: New Report on The State of the World’s Human Rights 2023-2024

In April 2024, Amnesty International released a new report on the State of the World’s Human Rights, which concerns human rights status and violations around the world in 2023.
The report offers a picture of the global situation in 155 countries, presented by Amnesty International, the leading organization devoted to protecting human rights worldwide.
What emerged is that the state of human rights underwent a visible regression in 2023, indicating that authoritarian practices are on the rise.

The rise of armed conflicts in the world contributed to many unlawful attacks and killings. At the same time, freedoms of expression, association and assembly have been restricted in numerous cases to suppress dissent. It also involves arbitrary arrest and detention of protesters, human rights defenders and political opponents.

Also, economic, social and cultural rights have seen regression and violations. States often breach their duty to protect everyone's rights to food, health, education, and a healthy environment. The most affected communities are migrants, refugees, women, LGBTQIA+, indigenous people and other minorities.

The State of the World’s Human Rights Report by Amnesty focused on four key issues that are prevalent worldwide. These are the treatment of civilians in armed conflict, the negative response to gender justice, the disproportionate impact of economic crises and climate change, and the risks of new and existing technologies, including AI.

Concerning the treatment of civilians during armed conflicts, the report finds that the international legal and political system has difficulties taking immediate action. Often, violations of international humanitarian law are not being stopped in a reasonable time, causing mass destruction and civilian deaths and suffering, as seen in Gaza, Myanmar and Ukraine.

Regression on gender justice and the rights of women, girls and LGBTQIA+has been seen in 2023. More specifically, with regard to sexual and reproductive rights, there has been an increase in discrimination and erosion of the gains made in the past. As a result, gender disparity and discrimination are on the rise. Although legal protection for women and girls has increased, gender-based violence is still widespread worldwide.
Steps forward were taken regarding LGBTQIA+ people’s rights; however, violence against the community escalated in many parts of the world.

Another visible result from the report is the fact that the economic crises and climate change disproportionately affect certain communities that are more marginalized. Moreover, human rights defenders who are voicing for these communities are also targeted, becoming victims of human rights violations. People who do not fall under social protection programmes face insecurity and violations of their rights. This is also due to the economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, the war and the consequent price rise.
Moreover, governments and other responsible actors have not sufficiently tackled the climate crisis, leaving the lower-income population more impacted by climate change.

Existing and new technologies threaten the role of international and national law. Without regulation of these new instruments, human rights violations might increase. In this regard, businesses such as Big Tech have a high degree of responsibility that must be upheld.

Moreover, an analysis of the human rights situation was offered also at the regional level, providing an overview of human rights violations and issues in Africa, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Read the report to get more insight on the state of the World’s Human Rights.

Last update

3/6/2024