Amnesty: World leaders ignore human rights, AI threatens the rule of law

World leaders and institutions deny human rights, and citizens pay the price. Amnesty International states this in its annual report State of the World’s Human Rights 2024. According to the human rights organization, governments are throwing the “international legal order overboard at the expense of the interests of citizens.”

Against the background of a growing number of conflicts, the actions of many powerful states have further undermined the credibility of the international legal order that was established in 1945, the yearbook states. The report annually covers the state of 155 countries, five regional overviews and a global analysis.

“Many powerful countries do not care about the fundamental values ​​of humanity and universality, as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” writes Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International in the yearbook. Callamard calls it “stunning” to see how the international community “has failed to prevent the deaths of thousands of civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip, including enormous numbers of children.”

“This makes it once again clear that the institutions established to protect citizens and uphold human rights are no longer able to fulfill their obligations.” According to Amnesty, the Israeli government is flouting international law in Gaza and war crimes continue to pile up.

Double standards

Amnesty also points to the “shameless use” of the US veto in the UN Security Council, which has delayed a ceasefire in Gaza for months. “Meanwhile, the US continues to arm Israel with munitions used to commit possible war crimes.”

But the United Kingdom and Germany are also accused of double standards. “They rightly protest against war crimes by Russia and Hamas, but at the same time support the actions of the Israeli and American authorities in this conflict.” The report also describes how Russian forces in Ukraine “blatantly” violate international rules, including by indiscriminate attacks on densely populated civilian areas and critical infrastructure, and by torturing and abusing prisoners of war.

AI threatens the rule of law

The major developments in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) will likely accelerate the breakdown of the rule of law, the annual report states. According to Amnesty, this is a huge threat to human rights and regulations surrounding AI are therefore crucial.

According to Callamard, the future will “only become murkier” if the spread of this technology is not curbed. “Lawlessness, discrimination and impunity are made possible by the uncontrolled use of new and existing technologies, which are now routinely weaponized by militaries, politicians and corporations.”

Technologies that lead to discrimination are already being used, Amnesty writes. For example, in the West Bank, facial recognition systems are used by Israel “to restrict freedom of movement and maintain the system of apartheid.”

Technology is also regularly used to spread disinformation, pit communities against each other and oppress minorities, according to Amnesty. “States such as Argentina, Brazil, India and the United Kingdom are increasingly using facial recognition technologies to monitor public protests and sporting events and, in particular, to discriminate against migrants and refugees.”

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