The year 2016 for the Republic of Moldova, as for many other states, was tumultuous and characterized by political populism. The political landscape was marked by the rulers’ inability to fight corruption and the continuous worsening of living standards. This generated the people’s dissatisfaction and protests, says the Amnesty International Annual Report on the human rights situation in the world, the region and the Republic of Moldova.
Amnesty International Moldova executive director Cristina Pereteatcu, in a news conference at IPN, said the beginning of the year was marked by the inauguration of the Government at night and this fact also generated protests.
Cristina Pereteatcu also said that the mass media remained mainly free, even if less pluralistic compared with the previous years. In the course of last year, no headway was made with the structural causes of impunity for torture and inhuman treatment. The penitentiaries continue to be overcrowded and provide poor detention conditions. At the same time, the laws enable to detain and treat persons with disabilities by force.
The report says globally 2016 was the year when the cynical use of ‘us vs them’ narratives of blame, hate and fear took on a global prominence. This fuelled a global pushback against human rights. Too many politicians are answering legitimate economic and security fears with a poisonous and divisive manipulation of identity politics in an attempt to win votes. Moreover, some of these politicians managed to come to power.
AIM President Veaceslav Tofan spoke about the U.S., saying the global trend of angrier and more divisive politics was exemplified by Donald Trump’s poisonous campaign rhetoric, but political leaders in various parts of the world also wagered their future power on narratives of fear, blame and division.
In 2016, governments turned a blind eye to war crimes, pushed through deals that undermine the right to claim asylum, passed laws that violate free expression, incited murder of people simply because they use drugs. Amnesty International warns that 2017 will be marked by continuous crises exacerbated by the absence of a leader who would plead the human rights on the chaotic world arena.
The State of the World’s Human Rights report analyzes the human rights situation in 159 countries.
