Human Rights Watch (HRW) published its 2012 World Report on Friday. This international non-profit NGO has spent years monitoring the abuses and development of human rights with researchers on the ground in pretty much every country in the world.
The 690-page report which can be downloaded for free, examines everything from poor access to AIDs medication to instances of domestic violence from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
Whilst there is a large focus on the events of the Arab Spring, which is likened to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the report includes a damning resume of the state of human rights in Europe.
Three main trends are identified as creating the ‘human rights crisis’ in Europe.
Firstly, counterterrorist measures in the wake of the attacks in Madrid and London have justified stripping all terrorist suspects of basic rights. An unknown number of suspects have faced torture in secret rendition centres abroad at the behest of national governments. This contravenes both international law against torture and the advice of terrorism experts who recognize the rule of law as the best way to counter terrorists.
Secondly, in the name of security, the idea that the rights of the majority can only be protected by sacrificing the rights of the minority has won widespread support in mainstream political discourse. As a result, Europe's migrants and minorities have faced increasing discrimination and xenophobic violence. This is evidenced by headscarf bans for Muslim women in several EU countries (France, Belgium, Germany and Italy) as well as the continued segregation of and discrimination against Roma, especially in eastern Europe.
Finally, the rise of populist extremist parties has furthered undermined the founding EU principle of universal human rights. Rather than combating the rise of the far right, mainstream parties have co-opted many of their policies. The ideal of democracy has been used to justify discriminatory and abusive policies - for example some argue that evictions of Roma from France protect the rights of the national majority and are therefore legitimate. The rights of the minority are considered irrelevant.
Ignorance and fear in Europe are again resulting in dangerous arguments that see some humans as more equal than others. As we have seen over the past century, such ideas can have catastrophic consequences.
Whilst the report identifies the European Commission and the European Court of Human Rights as crucial actors that have the power to hold national governments to account, it remains to be seen how the people of Europe will respond as the economic recession deepens.
Will easy scapegoats be found and abused? Or will people rise to the challenge of building a better future, united in diversity?
Links:
World Report 2012
Chapter on the European Union
Essay by Benjamin Ward, ‘Europe’s Own Human Rights Crisis’
Video about Human Rights Watch
