Human Rights Watch released the World Report 2015

By Huiyu Yin

Human Rights Watch recently published its 656-page World Report 2015 to review human rights practices in more than 90 countries. This report highlights that governments worldwide tend to ignore human rights in the face of security challenges. This has been illustrated by incidents in Syria, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, China and the United States.

In Syria, the government’s army has deliberately attacked civilians in areas held by the opposing armed groups. Nigeria’s army has responded to terrorism by detaining hundreds of civilians suspected of supporting Boko Haram.

Executive Director Kenneth Roth said, “some governments make the mistake of seeing human rights as a luxury for less trying times, instead of an essential compass for political action. Rather than treating human rights as a chafing restraint, policymakers worldwide would do better to recognize them as moral guides offering a path out of crisis and chaos.”