Dangerous to ignore morality - Human Rights Watch warning
- 9 years ago
The slaughter of civilians, notably in Syria, and a ‘weak international response’ are among the key notes in the latest annual review of more than 90 countries by Human Rights Watch.
The worst surge in abuses noted in the World Report 2015 centres on the extremist group ISIL or (self-proclaimed) ‘Islamic’ State.
Terrorising populations to flee, in its offensive to recarve the region’s borders, the militants have enslaved, raped and forcibly married women and girls in Iraq and beheaded journalists and aid workers there and in Syria and Algeria.
But Human Rights Watch says international indifference to the Islamists paved the way for them, along with abusive sectarian policies of the Iraqi and Syrian governments and the security vacuum left by the US invasion of Iraq.
Similar dynamics of indifference to violence are reported in Nigeria. The militant Islamist group Boko Haram attacks civilians as well as Nigeria’s security forces. The army has often responded by committing crimes
The worst surge in abuses noted in the World Report 2015 centres on the extremist group ISIL or (self-proclaimed) ‘Islamic’ State.
Terrorising populations to flee, in its offensive to recarve the region’s borders, the militants have enslaved, raped and forcibly married women and girls in Iraq and beheaded journalists and aid workers there and in Syria and Algeria.
But Human Rights Watch says international indifference to the Islamists paved the way for them, along with abusive sectarian policies of the Iraqi and Syrian governments and the security vacuum left by the US invasion of Iraq.
Similar dynamics of indifference to violence are reported in Nigeria. The militant Islamist group Boko Haram attacks civilians as well as Nigeria’s security forces. The army has often responded by committing crimes