February 25, Amnesty International released its 2014/2015 reportdocumenting the state of human rights in over 160 countires and territories. 2014 was "a devastating year for those seeing to stand up for human rights and for those caught up in the suffering of war zones" reads the report.
In introductory remarks, Salil Shetty, Secretary General at Amnesty International wrote, "We must hope that, looking backward to 2014 in the years to come, what we lived through will be seen as an ultimate low point from which we rose up and created a better future".
From Gaza, to Syria, Nigeria and the Central African Republic people have suffered greatly as a result of violent conflicts and attacks. And this is just the surface of much deeper issues calling for immediate action and attention.
In Azerbaijan in 2014, human rights defenders were imprisoned, rights organizations forced to shut down or cease their activities, journalists were harassed, and trumped-up charges prevailed. "Freedom of assembly remained restricted. There were frequent reports of torture and other ill-treatment" concludes the report.
Amnesty International is a global watchdog striving for equality and respect of rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.