Governments failing to protect civilians from militant violence: AmnestyFebruary 25, 2015 - 10:07 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Governments are failing to protect millions of civilians from violence by states and armed groups, Amnesty International said on Wednesday, Feb 25 describing the global response to widespread conflict from Nigeria to Syria as "shameful and ineffective", according to Reuters. A year of catastrophic violence had led to one of the worst refugee crises in history, as the number of displaced people worldwide topped 50 million for the first time since the end of the World War Two, the rights group said in its annual report. Almost 4 million refugees have fled a four-year civil war in Syria, and about 95 percent are being hosted by Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, according to the UN refugee agency, which has repeatedly urged rich nations to take more refugees. "As people suffered an escalation in barbarous attacks and repression, the international community has been found wanting," Amnesty secretary general Salil Shetty said in a statement. "It is abhorrent to see how wealthy countries' efforts to keep people out take precedence over their efforts to keep people alive." The growing influence of non-state armed groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State was a major concern, Amnesty said. Islamist militants Boko Haram have killed thousands of people in northeastern Nigeria in a five-year insurgency, while Islamic State has taken vast parts of Iraq and Syria and declared a caliphate in territory under its control. Armed groups committed abuses in more than 35 countries in 2014, including the Central African Republic and India, the rights group said. Amnesty said there would be more victims of abuse and persecution as the influence of such groups spilled across national borders. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |