28 May 2003
:: NEWS ::
No short cut to genuine security: Suffering beyond the spotlight
Amnesty International Report 2003
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© AI |
People around the world are more insecure today than at any time since the end of the Cold War, Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International said today at the launch of the organization’s annual report.
"The war on Iraq dominated the international agenda for the past year, but away from the eyes of the world a myriad of "forgotten" conflicts have taken a heavy toll on human rights and human lives, in places as diverse as Cote d'Ivoire, Colombia, Burundi, Chechnya and Nepal."
Governments around the world have spent billions in an effort to beef up national security and the "war on terror", but for millions of people the real sources of insecurity were corrupt and inept systems of policing and justice; brutal repression of political dissent; severe discrimination and social inequities; extreme poverty and the spread of preventable diseases.
The Amnesty International Report 2003 documents human rights abuses in 151 countries and territories during 2002. It is a contribution to the work of human rights defenders struggling to achieve a safer world, a world where human rights take priority over political, military or economic interests.
To read the chapter on Bulgaria, click here.
To read the text of the Amnesty press release, click here.