The human rights watchdog has published its annual report, urging more human rights protections. Amnesty has warned that "hate-filled rhetoric" from US President Donald Trump and others has eroded human rights globally.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/R. Ehrhardt
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Human rights watchdog Amnesty International on Thursday published its annual report, warning of increased violations across the globe.
"There are complex links between human rights abuses and social inequality," Griffiths added. "But one of the ways we see them connected is how many leaders have exploited people's fears about economic fragility in order to promote hatred and fear."
But the United States isn't the only place to witness a dangerous erosion of human rights due to populist leaders. Across the globe, Amnesty said, political leaders have used divisive rhetoric to shore up support for their causes, including in Turkey, Hungary and Myanmar.
"But it is not just killing; it is also intimidation and smears and harassment, making life very difficult for those who choose to stand up for human rights," he said. "And those threats are coming from lots of different places, whether it is governments or armed groups or companies or others."
Deniz Yücel's release triggers joyful reactions — and continued warnings
German-Turkish reporter Deniz Yücel has been released from prison in Turkey, where he was held for a year without charge. Many leading figures in Germany reacted with delight at the news.
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Deniz Yücel: A year behind bars
Yücel's story has gripped Germany for the past year. Following his arrest on February 14, 2017, he was accused of sedition and spreading terrorist propaganda but never charged. Articles he wrote about Ankara's conflict with the Kurdish minority and the failed coup of July 2016 may have prompted the allegations. He also spent time in solitary confinement which he described as "almost like torture."
Image: Imago/Müller-Stauffenberg
Angela Merkel: 'I am happy'
The German chancellor expressed her pleasure at the news of Yücel's release during a joint press conference with Poland's prime minister: "I am pleased, like many, many others, that he could leave prison today. I am happy, of course, for him and for his wife." She noted, however, that that there were still some "not so prominent cases" of journalists in jail in Turkey.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Joyfully reunited
Yücel was met outside the prison by his wife, TV producer Dilek Mayatürk. They married while he was behind bars. During his time in prison, she was allowed to visit him only once a week, according to a report in the Sunday edition of Welt.
Image: Twitter/Veysel Ok
Sigmar Gabriel expects Yücel's return
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel had made continued efforts at the diplomatic level to gain the journalist's release. "This a good day for us all." He added that he expected Turkish officials to allow Yücel to leave the country.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Kappeler
German journalists and Amnesty: 'Don't forget the others'
The German Federation of Journalists (DJV) and Amnesty International, however, warned that other journalists should not be forgotten amid the good news. "The freedom of the press is still being massively eroded," said DJV's Frank Überall (pictured). Markus Beeko of Amnesty International Germany echoed his sentiment, reminding that his counterpart in Turkey remains in prison after eight months.
Image: Frank Sonnenberg
Yücel released, while others given life sentences
Shortly after news came that Deniz Yücel had been freed, it was reported that three prominent Turkish journalists — Mehmet Altan (above), his brother Ahmed Altan and Nazlic Ilicak — had been sentenced to life imprisonment for links to exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. Ankara holds Gulen responsible for the failed coup. The journalists' cases have raised new alarm over the rights situation in Turkey.
Image: DHA Doğan Haber Ajansı
Crackdowns continues
Turkey is still under a state of emergency more than a year and a half after an attempted coup. More than 38,000 people, including journalists and teachers, are in jail, while over 110,000 have been sacked from government jobs. Ankara has told international critics that it is necessary to root out all Gulen followers for security reasons.
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Protests at detentions in Turkey
The crackdowns have, however, been met with a number of protests both in Turkey and in Germany, whose nationals have also been scrutinized by the Turkish government. The German Foreign Office is aware of 28 German citizens who were arrested in the crackdown, while 31 German nationals are banned from leaving the country.
Image: Imago/snapshot/K.M. Krause
Heiko Maas: 'Overdue news'
Expressing his delight at the news of Yücel's release, German Justice Minister Heiko said that Berlin would continue to do everything in its power to gain the freedom of all German nationals unjustly imprisoned in Turkey "as quickly as possible."
Image: picture alliance / Daniel Naupold/dpa
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70 years since Universal Declaration
The report called on Germany to do more at the international level to defend human rights, especially for the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Rupert Colville, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, told DW that the human rights situation is "getting alarmingly worse in many places" across the globe.
"It seems people are forgetting it now, and that's very worrying because then you risk a repeat of many of the awful things that have happened in not-so-distant history," Colville said.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, backed by 48 of the 58 UN member states in 1948, was created in response to the atrocities committed during World War II.
"The anniversary this year is a critical opportunity to try and reclaim those values that are articulated so beautifully in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - the idea of the fundamental dignity and equality of every member of the human family," Griffiths said.
