Stop, Look, Listen: Daily Brief

As we noted in yesterday’s Daily Brief, we have published our new World Report 2022, looking at the human rights situations in some 100 countries around the world in 2021, and examining issues on the horizon for the year ahead. The massive project, which takes months of effort, is always capped off by an introductory essay from our executive director, Ken Roth, which is a somewhat unique moment for us given our regular output. For most of the other 364 days of the year, Human Rights Watch staff are digging up details of abuses on the ground in each country, talking to victims and witnesses, gathering evidence… But the annual introductory essay to the World Report is an opportunity for us to STOP, take a step back, examine global trends and try to make sense of the big picture. This year, the essay takes the form of a question: “With Autocrats on the Defensive, Can Democrats Rise to the Occasion?”

It’s been causing a bit of a stir in the media and on Twitter, with some suggesting it may sound a bit too optimistic. After all, conventional wisdom these days is that autocracy is on the ascendant globally, and that view is, as the essay admits, bolstered by the intensifying crackdowns in several countries in 2021, as well as the military takeovers and undemocratic transfers of power in others. But, as Ken writes: “the superficial appeal of the rise-of-autocracy thesis belies a more complex reality—and a bleaker future for autocrats. … In country after country, large numbers of people have recently taken to the streets, even at the risk of being arrested or shot. There are few rallies for autocratic rule.” LOOK around the world: wherever you see people demanding their fundamental rights and refusing to be silenced, you see a reason for hope in 2022.

The essay, the themes of which are further elaborated in this piece for Foreign Policy, also explains that this is no time for complacency in the more democratic parts of the world: “If democracies are to prevail in the global contest with autocracy, their leaders must do more than spotlight the autocrats’ inevitable shortcomings. They need to make a stronger, positive case for democratic rule. That means doing a better job of meeting national and global challenges—of making sure that democracy delivers on its promised dividends.” LISTEN to Ken Roth develop these ideas in this Twitter Space conversation on our World Report.

Speaking of reasons for hope (and Twitter Spaces), we’ve also hosted a separate Twitter Space conversation on the ground-breaking verdict in Koblenz, where a former Syrian intelligence officer has been convicted for crimes against humanity by a German court. It’s a ground-breaking step toward justice for serious crimes in Syria. Do give that a listen, as well.

The Beijing Winter Olympics start in a couple weeks. Several countries have (rightly) announced a diplomatic boycott of the games to protest the Chinese government’s crimes against humanity in Xinjiang province, as well as other serious human rights abuses. Meanwhile, while the authorities in China may hope they can use the Olympics to “sportswash” their appalling record, they keep making one own-goal after another...

If you thought the saga was over, think again: Australia’s authorities have again revoked tennis star Novak Djokovic’s visa - as if they didn't bring enough attention to their shameful immigration regime the first time.