Global ‘paralysis’ paved way for Russian invasion of Ukraine: Amnesty
Johannesburg, Mar 29 (EFE).- The “shameful inaction” and “paralysis” of international organizations in the face of conflicts around the world paved the way for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Amnesty International said Tuesday.
“The global failure to address these multiplying conflicts provoked greater instability and devastation. The ineffectiveness of international response to these crises was most evident with the paralysis at the (United Nations) Security Council. It failed to act on atrocities in Myanmar, human rights violations in Afghanistan, war crimes in Syria,” Amnesty’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said at the launch of the organization’s annual report for 2021 in Johannesburg.
“This shameful inaction, continued paralysis of multilateral bodies and lack of accountability of powerful states helped pave the way for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has flagrantly violated international law,” she added.
According to Amnesty’s latest annual report, which examined the human rights situation in 154 countries, “new conflicts were incubated, and unresolved conflicts deepened” during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“In far too few instances did the needed international response come; in far too few cases were justice and accountability provided. Instead, conflict expanded. Extending over time, its impacts worsened…New theaters of conflict opened. New weapons were tested. More deaths and injury were exacted. Life was cheapened. Global stability was brought to the brink,” Callamard said.
“The crisis in Ukraine right now, the invasion … is not just any kind of violation of international law. It is an aggression. It is a violation of the UN charter of the kind that we saw when the United States invaded Iraq,” she added. EFE
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