"There can be no trade-off between human rights and security, between justice and impunity."
In Israel and the Occupied Territories, unlawful killings, both by the Israel Defense Forces and by Palestinian armed groups, torture of detainees and unfair trials continued unabated; while house demolitions and closures continued during 2001.
Despite worldwide celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the UN Refugee Convention, core principles of refugee protection continued to be challenged in 2001. Hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict and human rights abuses were refused entry into neighbouring countries. At the same time, the right of asylum-seekers to have their cases examined came under severe attack in 2001. Amnesty International members worldwide continued to work against narrow interpretations of the UN Refugee Convention.
The year 2001 witnessed a direct challenge to long-accepted human rights standards by the very governments that campaigned for their establishment. International legal standards in practice for decades, such as the Geneva Conventions, were questioned during the Afghanistan conflict. The treatment of detainees in Guantanamo appears to have prompted some governments to believe that the inhumane treatment of prisoners is now acceptable.
In Israel and the Occupied Territories, unlawful killings, both by the Israel Defense Forces and by Palestinian armed groups, torture of detainees and unfair trials continued unabated; while house demolitions and closures continued during 2001.
Despite worldwide celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the UN Refugee Convention, core principles of refugee protection continued to be challenged in 2001. Hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict and human rights abuses were refused entry into neighbouring countries. At the same time, the right of asylum-seekers to have their cases examined came under severe attack in 2001. Amnesty International members worldwide continued to work against narrow interpretations of the UN Refugee Convention.
The year 2001 witnessed a direct challenge to long-accepted human rights standards by the very governments that campaigned for their establishment. International legal standards in practice for decades, such as the Geneva Conventions, were questioned during the Afghanistan conflict. The treatment of detainees in Guantanamo appears to have prompted some governments to believe that the inhumane treatment of prisoners is now acceptable.