UK accused of complicity as world faces most dangerous moment for human rights - annual report

This is the most dangerous moment for human rights in generations and the UK now faces a defining test of its commitment as a new era of ‘predatory’ power takes hold globally, Amnesty International warned today.

The organisation’s annual report on the state of human rights in 144 countries finds that powerful governments, corporations and anti-rights movements are accelerating attacks on international law, multilateralism and fundamental freedoms. 

Amnesty warns the world is moving beyond a period of gradual erosion into a dangerous phase of systemic breakdown, driven by states acting with increasing impunity. 

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said: 

“We are confronting the most challenging moment of our age. Humanity is under attack from transnational anti-rights movements and predatory governments determined to assert their dominance through unlawful wars and brazen economic blackmail. 

“What marks this moment as fundamentally different is that we’re no longer documenting erosion around the system’s edges. This is a direct assault on the foundations of human rights and the international rules-based order by the most powerful actors for the purpose of control, impunity and profit. 

“The spiralling conflict in the Middle East is a product of this descent into lawlessness. This is what happens when the norms, institutions and legal framework painstakingly built to safeguard humanity are hollowed out for the purpose of domination. 

“Amnesty’s 2025 annual report moves beyond warning of imminent breakdown to documenting a collapse now underway, and exposing its devastating consequences for human rights, global stability and the lives of millions in 2026 and beyond. It calls on states around the world to urgently reject the politics of appeasement embraced in 2025, overcome fear, and resist in words and actions the construction of a predatory world order.” 

Amnesty’s report documents how “predatory” state behaviour is accelerating conflict, undermining international law and inflicting devastating consequences on civilians worldwide. 

In early 2026, the United States and Israel’s unlawful use of force against Iran, in violation of the UN Charter, triggered retaliatory Iranian strikes on Israel and Gulf Cooperation Council countries, while Israel escalated its attacks on Lebanon. From the killing of more than 100 children in a US strike on a school in Iran to widespread attacks on energy infrastructure, the conflict has endangered millions of lives and threatens long term harm to access to healthcare, food, water and energy across the region and beyond. 

Israel maintained its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza despite a ceasefire agreement and continued to enforce a system of apartheid, while expanding illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and taking steps towards annexation. Israeli authorities have increasingly allowed or encouraged settler violence against Palestinians with impunity. 

The report also highlights: 

• Russia’s intensified aerial attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine  
• Myanmar’s military deploying aerial attacks on villages, killing civilians including children  
• The United Arab Emirates supplying weapons to forces in Sudan responsible for mass killings and sexual violence  
• Rwanda backed M23 forces capturing major cities in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and committing killings and torture  
• The Taliban’s escalating repression of women and girls in Afghanistan  
• Iranian authorities’ violent repression of protesters  

At the same time, international accountability mechanisms are under sustained attack. The United States, Israel and Russia have all taken steps to undermine the International Criminal Court, while several states have withdrawn or signalled their intention to withdraw from key international treaties banning cluster munitions and anti personnel mines. 

Amnesty warns that many governments, including in Europe, have failed to consistently challenge these abuses or take meaningful action to uphold international law, instead contributing to a growing climate of impunity. 

The report also documents an accelerating global assault on civil society and freedom of expression. 

Governments around the world have: 

• Used counterterrorism and security laws to criminalise peaceful protest  
• Deployed spyware, AI surveillance and digital censorship to suppress dissent  
• Carried out mass arrests, enforced disappearances and unlawful killings  

In countries including Turkey, Kenya, Nepal and Tanzania, authorities used unlawful force against protesters, while in Latin America, restrictive laws have severely constrained the work of civil society organisations. 

Major economies including the UK, the United States, Canada, France and Germany have cut international aid despite rising global need, in several cases while simultaneously increasing military spending. Amnesty warns these decisions risk millions of avoidable deaths and undermine efforts to address climate change, inequality and displacement. 

Amnesty warns the UK is increasingly reflecting, rather than resisting, these global trends. 

In 2025 to 2026, the UK has: 

• Used counterterrorism powers to restrict peaceful protest  
• Overseen the mass arrest of peaceful protesters, with courts ruling aspects unlawful  
• Intensified hostile policies towards migrants and people seeking asylum  
• Increased surveillance and policing powers  
• Continued arms transfers to Israel despite clear risks of use in serious violations of international law  
• Cut international aid amid escalating global humanitarian need  
• Defended the use of national security vetoes in legacy Troubles cases, undermining truth, accountability and justice for victims and families  
• Pursued economic and social policies that risk pushing more people into poverty, weakening protections for economic and social rights 

Amnesty also warns the UK must not enable potential violations of international law through its international partnerships, including by allowing its military bases to be used in military operations linked to this conflict. 

Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty International UK’s Chief Executive, said: 

“Human rights are facing the most dangerous moment in generations. We are at a tipping point. 

“This is the moment the UK’s moral mettle is being tested. In these desperate times we need strong leadership to defend human rights and international law, but right now we are falling short. 

“It is not good enough to criminalise peaceful protesters while ignoring the injustice they are speaking out against. Keir Starmer knows what is happening on his watch. He knows the peaceful protesters being treated as criminals are expressing their horror at the killing of children in Gaza. He knows powerful states are tearing up international law in pursuit of power and profit, and that the UK has not challenged this with the clarity and consistency required. And he knows a world in crisis will force more people to flee, requiring international protection, not performative hostility or attempts to shirk our responsibilities. 

“You cannot claim to defend the rule of law while undermining it in practice, whether through arms sales, or allowing UK bases to be used in conflicts where international law is being violated. That is not moral leadership, it is complicity.

“The hour has come. This is exactly the moment human rights were created for when populism is rising, when people are struggling to afford the essentials, when asylum seekers and migrants are scapegoated, when war and displacement are everywhere, and when some lives are treated as worth less than others. 

“We can be better than this. The question now is whether the Prime Minister will rise to meet the challenge of our lifetime, or be remembered for standing by when it mattered most.”