Speaking at the launch of Amnesty International Report 2006, the organisation’s Secretary General Irene Khan said that the security agenda of the powerful and privileged had diverted the energy and attention of the world from serious human rights crises elsewhere.

Said Ms Khan:

"Governments collectively and individually paralysed international institutions and squandered public resources in pursuit of narrow security interests, sacrificed principles in the name of the "war on terror" and turned a blind eye to massive human rights violations. As a result, the world has paid a heavy price, in terms of erosion of fundamental principles and in the enormous damage done to the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people.

The conflict in Darfur, in western Sudan, had claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions, while war crimes and crimes against humanity continued to be committed by all sides. Said Ms Khan:

"Intermittent attention and feeble action by the United Nations and the African Union fell pathetically short of what was needed in Darfur."
Iraq sank into a vortex of sectarian violence in 2005. Ms Khan warned:

"When the powerful are too arrogant to review and reassess their strategies, the heaviest price is paid by the poor and powerless - in this case, ordinary Iraqi Women's rights's rightss rights's rights's rights's rights, men and Children's rights."

The brutality and intensity of attacks by armed groups in 2005 reached new levels, taking a heavy toll on human lives. Said Ms Khan:

"Terrorism by armed groups is inexcusable and unacceptable. The perpetrators must be brought to justice - but through fair trial, not torture or secret detention. Sadly, the increasing brutality of such incidents throughout the world last year is a further bitter reminder that the ‘war on terror’ is failing and will continue to fail until human rights and human security are given precedence over narrow national security interests.

Ms Khan added: "But clear signs of hope wrestled with despair in 2005."

In 2005, the call for justice saw the first-ever indictments from the International Criminal Court - for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Uganda. The immunity of past heads of state was dented in Latin America as former Chilean president Augusto Pinochet was placed under house arrest and an international arrest warrant was enforced against former Peruvian leader Alberto Fujimori.

Amnesty International’s report also welcomes the fact that in 2005 powerful governments were called to account by their courts and public institutions. The highest court in the UK rejected the UK government’s plan to use evidence extracted under torture. The Council of Europe and the European Parliament opened investigations into European involvement in US-led ‘renditions’, or the unlawful transfer of prisoners to countries where they would be at risk of torture or other abuses.

Said Ms Khan:

"Sadly, instead of accepting and welcoming the efforts of courts and legislatures to reinstate respect for fundamental human rights principles, some governments attempted to find new ways to dodge obligations."

The UK pursued "diplomatic assurances" - or paper guarantees - so as to be able to return people to countries where they could face torture. In the USA, while legislation reaffirmed the ban on torture and other ill-treatment in the face of opposition from President Bush, the right of Guantánamo detainees to have their treatment reviewed in the federal courts was severely restricted.

Said Ms Khan:

"Just as we must condemn terrorist attacks on civilians in the strongest possible terms, we must resist claims by governments that terror can be fought with torture. Such claims are misleading, dangerous and wrong - you cannot extinguish a fire with petrol.

"Double speak and double standards by powerful governments are dangerous because they weaken the ability of the international community to address human rights problems such as those in Darfur, Chechnya, Colombia, Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan and North Korea. They allow perpetrators in these and other countries to operate with impunity.

"When the UK government remains muted on arbitrary detention and ill-treatment in Guantánamo, when the United States ignores the absolute prohibition on torture, when European governments are mute about their record on renditions, racism or refugees, they undermine their own moral authority to champion human rights elsewhere in the world.

"In a year in which the UN spent much time discussing reform and membership of its key institutions, it failed to give attention to the performance of two key members - China and Russia - that have consistently allowed their narrow political and economic interests to prevail over human rights concerns domestically or internationally.

"Those who bear the greatest responsibility for safeguarding global security in the UN Security Council proved in 2005 to be the most willing to paralyse the Council and prevent it from taking effective action on human rights.

"Powerful governments are playing a dangerous game with human rights. The score card of prolonged conflicts and mounting human rights abuses is there for all to see."

But 2005 saw the beginning of the change in public mood. Key demands of Amnesty International in 2006 are:

*To the United Nations and African Union to address the conflict and end human rights abuses in Darfur;

*To the United Nations to negotiate for an Arms Treaty to govern the trade of small arms so that they cannot be used to commit human rights abuses;

*To the US Administration to close Guantánamo Bay detention camp, and disclose the names and locations of all ‘war on terror’ prisoners elsewhere;

*To the new UN Human Rights Council, to insist on equal standards of respect of human rights from all governments, whether in Darfur or Guantánamo, Chechnya or China.

Declared Ms Khan:

"The political and moral authority of governments will be increasingly judged on their stand on human rights at home and abroad. More than ever the world needs those countries with power and international influence - the permanent members of the UN Security Council as well as those who aspire to such membership - to behave with responsibility and respect for human rights. Governments must stop playing games with human rights."

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