Amnesty: "State of the World's Human Rights" 2011 report

Amnesty International has published the “State of the World’s Human Rights” report 2011. Surveying progress in the field of human rights protection around the world the report takes into account the vast disclosures from Wikileaks and the role of the internet and social media in publicizing human rights infringements.

It covers the Arab Spring and the responses of indigenous and external governments to the wave of democracy movements in the Middle East and North Africa region, as well as those further afield. It also highlights European governments’ progress in the area of human rights and non-discrimination noting:

“Regrettably, member states continued to block a new EU-wide directive on non-discrimination, which would simply close a legal protection gap for those experiencing discrimination outside of employment on the grounds of disability, belief, religion, sexual orientation and age. EU laws in this field would make a crucial difference to how all forms of discrimination are tackled across Europe.”

Read the report here (pdf file).