This year marked the 10th anniversary of the massacres at Srebrenica – when at least 7,800 Bosnian Muslims were killed – and the perpetrators of war times human rights abuses remain at large. Impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the 1992-5 war continue to be widespread. Thousands of “disappearances” are still unresolved. While perpetrators of wartime violations continued to enjoy impunity, victims and their families were denied access to justice and redress.
Responding to the decision of the local authorities in Una-Sana Canton in Bosnia and Herzegovina to forcefully transfer and confine thousands of migrants living in the area to an inadequate tent camp in Lipa, Amnesty’s Europe Deputy Director Massimo Moratti said: “Forcing people, many of whom are already vulnerable, into a hastily set up remote …
A quarter of a century after the start of the conflict, more than 20,000, survivors of wartime sexual violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina are still being denied justice, said Amnesty International in a new report.
Today’s guilty verdict handed down by a UN Court in The Hague against former Bosnian-Serb leader Radovan Karadžić for genocide and other crimes under international law marks a major step towards justice for victims of the armed conflict in Bosnia-Herzegovina, said Amnesty International.
On the launch of its 2015 State of the World report, Amnesty International USA urged President Obama to use his last year in office to bring U.S. laws and policies in line with international human rights standards.
International protection of human rights is in danger of unravelling as short-term national self-interest and draconian security crackdowns have led to a wholesale assault on basic freedoms and rights, warned Amnesty International as it launched its annual assessment of human rights around the world. “Your rights are in jeopardy: they are being treated with utter contempt by many governments around the world,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
International protection of human rights is in danger of unravelling as short-term national self-interest and draconian security crackdowns have led to a wholesale assault on basic freedoms and rights, warned Amnesty International as it launched its annual assessment of human rights around the world. “Your rights are in jeopardy: they are being treated with utter contempt by many governments around the world,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
Twenty years after the signature of the peace agreement that ended the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, resolving the thousands of cases of enforced disappearances still remains utopic while discrimination and a shameful lack of political will still block access to justice, truth and reparation for victims, said Amnesty International.
The use of enforced disappearance by governments to silence its critics and instill fear into targeted groups continues unabated in every region of the world, said Amnesty International as the world marks the International Day of the Disappeared on August 30.
Russia’s veto of a UN Security Council resolution on the Srebrenica genocide is an affront to the families of the victims of the massacre and will hinder attempts at reconciliation between the communities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
This has been a devastating year for those seeking to stand up for human rights and for those caught up in the suffering of war zones. Governments pay lip service to the importance of protecting civilians. And yet the world's politicians have miserably failed to protect those in greatest need. Amnesty International believes that this can and must finally change.