Western hypocrisy around human rights extends beyond doing nothing to halt Israel’s genocide in Gaza. They’ve also done little to stop atrocities against the Rohingya, Uyghurs, Darfuris and others.
By Fareed Khan
The world seems to be heading towards a precipice, towards a dangerous descent into a reality where human rights are no longer a universal guarantee but a privilege for the select few. The infrastructure of human rights, painstakingly built after the horrors of World War II, is under relentless assault—both at home and abroad. Our political leaders, entrusted with safeguarding these sacred principles, are complicit in their erosion, either through inaction, selective outrage, or outright suppression.
The world seems to be heading towards a precipice, towards a dangerous descent into a reality where human rights are no longer a universal guarantee but a privilege for the select few. The infrastructure of human rights, painstakingly built after the horrors of World War II, is under relentless assault—both at home and abroad. Our political leaders, entrusted with safeguarding these sacred principles, are complicit in their erosion, either through inaction, selective outrage, or outright suppression.
The hypocrisy of Western nations, the very architects of the post-war
international legal order, is glaring. From being complicit in the
ongoing genocide in Gaza to the silencing of dissent in democratic
countries like the United States, the evidence is unmistakable. We are
perilously close to a post-human rights world, and the vast majority of
the public don't even realize the danger this poses. If we fail to
defend the domestic and international human rights framework now, we
risk a future where no one’s rights are secure, and the term will become
meaningless in international law.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, was a beacon of hope, a promise that the atrocities of global conflict and the Holocaust would never be repeated. Eleanor Roosevelt, a champion of this cause, declared, “People who continue to be denied the respect to which they are entitled as human beings will not acquiesce forever in such denial." And we see that today in the oppression of Palestinians by Israel, of Uyghurs by China, of the Rohingya by Myanmar, of Muslims by India, of illegal migrants by the US, and the violation of the rights of people who are LGBTQ2 by Russia. Every assault against the fundamental rights of minority populations is an assault on the human rights of all people, wherever they may be.
Western nations, which claim to uphold the international legal order, display a galling double standard on how they address the matter of violating fundamental rights. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the West mobilized swiftly, condemning Vladimir Putin’s war crimes, talking about how the rights of Ukrainians were violated, and even invoking the term “genocide” to describe Russian actions. Billions of dollars in economic aid and military assistance flowed to Ukraine, a testament to the West’s capacity to act when it feels its interests are under threat. But when Israel’s 20-month campaign of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza unfolded—killing over 63,000 to date, displacing millions, and destroying an entire society—the response is tepid political platitudes and empty calls for restraint. There have been no broad sanctions against Israel as punishment for its crimes, no arms embargoes, no accountability compared to the West’s reaction to Russia’s war in Ukraine. This selective defence of human rights exposes a chilling truth: for the West, some lives are of lesser value, particularly if they happen to be brown or black, and especially if they are Muslim.
Western hypocrisy around human rights extends beyond Palestine. The Rohingya, the Uyghurs, the Kashmiris under Indian rule, and the Darfuris in Sudan face persecution, violence, and erasure, yet Western capitals remain largely silent. Where is the political will to address these crises? As Nelson Mandela once said, “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.” By ignoring these atrocities, Western leaders are not just failing to act—they are denying the humanity of millions. The Centre for Civil and Political Rights notes a “degradation in cooperation” with UN Treaty Bodies, with states like Sri Lanka, Somalia, and Haiti skipping scheduled human rights reviews, and others, like Burundi, openly defying scrutiny. This disengagement signals a broader contempt for the mechanisms designed to protect human rights globally.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, was a beacon of hope, a promise that the atrocities of global conflict and the Holocaust would never be repeated. Eleanor Roosevelt, a champion of this cause, declared, “People who continue to be denied the respect to which they are entitled as human beings will not acquiesce forever in such denial." And we see that today in the oppression of Palestinians by Israel, of Uyghurs by China, of the Rohingya by Myanmar, of Muslims by India, of illegal migrants by the US, and the violation of the rights of people who are LGBTQ2 by Russia. Every assault against the fundamental rights of minority populations is an assault on the human rights of all people, wherever they may be.
Western nations, which claim to uphold the international legal order, display a galling double standard on how they address the matter of violating fundamental rights. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the West mobilized swiftly, condemning Vladimir Putin’s war crimes, talking about how the rights of Ukrainians were violated, and even invoking the term “genocide” to describe Russian actions. Billions of dollars in economic aid and military assistance flowed to Ukraine, a testament to the West’s capacity to act when it feels its interests are under threat. But when Israel’s 20-month campaign of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza unfolded—killing over 63,000 to date, displacing millions, and destroying an entire society—the response is tepid political platitudes and empty calls for restraint. There have been no broad sanctions against Israel as punishment for its crimes, no arms embargoes, no accountability compared to the West’s reaction to Russia’s war in Ukraine. This selective defence of human rights exposes a chilling truth: for the West, some lives are of lesser value, particularly if they happen to be brown or black, and especially if they are Muslim.
Western hypocrisy around human rights extends beyond Palestine. The Rohingya, the Uyghurs, the Kashmiris under Indian rule, and the Darfuris in Sudan face persecution, violence, and erasure, yet Western capitals remain largely silent. Where is the political will to address these crises? As Nelson Mandela once said, “To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity.” By ignoring these atrocities, Western leaders are not just failing to act—they are denying the humanity of millions. The Centre for Civil and Political Rights notes a “degradation in cooperation” with UN Treaty Bodies, with states like Sri Lanka, Somalia, and Haiti skipping scheduled human rights reviews, and others, like Burundi, openly defying scrutiny. This disengagement signals a broader contempt for the mechanisms designed to protect human rights globally.
Closer to home, the democratic West is no bastion of freedom
either. In the United States, the Trump administration has targeted
pro-Palestinian protesters with chilling precision. There is the case of
Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil,
a legal resident of the US married to an American, who was whisked off
by Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents to a Louisiana
prison, and held for months without being allowed easy access to his
lawyer. And then there is the case of Turkish graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk
at Tufts University, who was arrested by masked Department of Homeland
Security agents and sent to the same Louisiana prison as Khalil. Their
“crimes” were that Khalil was a leading voice in anti-genocide protests
at Columbia, while Öztürk co-wrote an op-ed in her campus newspaper
about Israel committing genocide in Gaza. Hundreds of protesters
opposing the Gaza genocide across the US have faced arbitrary arrests
and jail time, their right to free speech trampled under the very
questionable justification of “national security.”
Meanwhile in Canada, the passage in Parliament of Bill C-5 (“Building Canada Act”) grants the federal government sweeping powers to fast-track infrastructure projects, and ignore Indigenous treaty rights despite widespread opposition from first nations. Indigenous leaders have vowed that major civil unrest by Indigenous people will occur if their views are ignored and their rights violated when the federal and provincial governments move forward on major projects.
Across the Atlantic, Germany has banned the display of the Palestinian flag, while France has moved to suppress pro-Palestinian protests, effectively criminalizing solidarity with a people enduring genocide. These actions are not isolated but reflect a broader surge in authoritarian politics in Western democracies, reminiscent of the 1930s when fascist ideologies stifled dissent, marginalized minorities, and fuelled racist and political violence.
This suppression of free expression extends beyond governments. In the US, Canada and parts of Europe employers are disciplining or even firing workers who publicly criticize Israel’s genocidal crimes. In Canada, major news outlets—CBC, CTV, Global, National Post, and the Globe and Mail—consistently frame stories about Israel and Palestine through an anti-Palestinian, pro-Israel lens, perpetuating racism and curbing the rights of Palestinians to be heard, and tell stories of their persecution.
Compounding this crisis is the severe defunding of UN human rights mechanisms. Critical UN agencies, vital for protecting millions of vulnerable people worldwide, face crippling budget shortfalls due to funding cuts from the United States and other nations. The UN Human Rights Committee, responsible for monitoring compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has had to scale back its work, including indefinitely postponing Canada’s first review in a decade. At a time when state-sanctioned violence, inequality, and repression are escalating, weakening these institutions undermines accountability, enables further persecution of minorities, and destabilizes societies.
This assault on human rights is not just an international failure—it’s a domestic concern in the West as well. The rise of fascist elements in the West, often cloaked in populist rhetoric, threatens the rights of anyone who doesn’t conform to the dominant majority. In the US (with its MAGA cult), Canada, and Europe, we are seeing a growing intolerance for dissent, particularly when it challenges powerful interests. The suppression of pro-Palestinian voices, being pushed by Zionist groups and their allies, the erosion of Indigenous rights, and the targeting of minority communities signals a dangerous trend. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” So if we allow these violations to persist unchecked, we pave the way for a world where no one’s rights are safe.
Politicians and the public must wake up and smell the coffee. The global human rights infrastructure is not a luxury we can ignore, it’s the bedrock of a just society and it is under assault like never before. By comparison nations have no qualms about funnelling tens of billions of dollars into military budgets, yet they balk at funding the UN’s human rights mechanisms adequately, which cost a fraction of those sums.
Meanwhile in Canada, the passage in Parliament of Bill C-5 (“Building Canada Act”) grants the federal government sweeping powers to fast-track infrastructure projects, and ignore Indigenous treaty rights despite widespread opposition from first nations. Indigenous leaders have vowed that major civil unrest by Indigenous people will occur if their views are ignored and their rights violated when the federal and provincial governments move forward on major projects.
Across the Atlantic, Germany has banned the display of the Palestinian flag, while France has moved to suppress pro-Palestinian protests, effectively criminalizing solidarity with a people enduring genocide. These actions are not isolated but reflect a broader surge in authoritarian politics in Western democracies, reminiscent of the 1930s when fascist ideologies stifled dissent, marginalized minorities, and fuelled racist and political violence.
This suppression of free expression extends beyond governments. In the US, Canada and parts of Europe employers are disciplining or even firing workers who publicly criticize Israel’s genocidal crimes. In Canada, major news outlets—CBC, CTV, Global, National Post, and the Globe and Mail—consistently frame stories about Israel and Palestine through an anti-Palestinian, pro-Israel lens, perpetuating racism and curbing the rights of Palestinians to be heard, and tell stories of their persecution.
Compounding this crisis is the severe defunding of UN human rights mechanisms. Critical UN agencies, vital for protecting millions of vulnerable people worldwide, face crippling budget shortfalls due to funding cuts from the United States and other nations. The UN Human Rights Committee, responsible for monitoring compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, has had to scale back its work, including indefinitely postponing Canada’s first review in a decade. At a time when state-sanctioned violence, inequality, and repression are escalating, weakening these institutions undermines accountability, enables further persecution of minorities, and destabilizes societies.
This assault on human rights is not just an international failure—it’s a domestic concern in the West as well. The rise of fascist elements in the West, often cloaked in populist rhetoric, threatens the rights of anyone who doesn’t conform to the dominant majority. In the US (with its MAGA cult), Canada, and Europe, we are seeing a growing intolerance for dissent, particularly when it challenges powerful interests. The suppression of pro-Palestinian voices, being pushed by Zionist groups and their allies, the erosion of Indigenous rights, and the targeting of minority communities signals a dangerous trend. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” So if we allow these violations to persist unchecked, we pave the way for a world where no one’s rights are safe.
Politicians and the public must wake up and smell the coffee. The global human rights infrastructure is not a luxury we can ignore, it’s the bedrock of a just society and it is under assault like never before. By comparison nations have no qualms about funnelling tens of billions of dollars into military budgets, yet they balk at funding the UN’s human rights mechanisms adequately, which cost a fraction of those sums.
This is not a question of resources but of priorities. The CCPR Centre’s 2023 Annual Report
highlights the increasing hostility toward human rights defenders, with
some states obstructing dialogue and withdrawing from reviews
altogether. Western leaders claiming to defend human rights, but only
selectively, enables this backsliding. Canada, the US, and European
democracies which repeatedly claim to be upholders of human rights must
reinvest in the UN, strengthen treaty bodies, and hold all
states—friends and foes alike—accountable for their obligations under
international law.
What kind of world awaits us if the powerful and privileged disregard human rights? The result would be a dystopian nightmare. In a world without human rights, dissent against governments and elites would be criminalized, and free speech would be reserved for those aligned with ruling powers, echoing eras when such rights were nonexistent. Protesters, like Palestinian solidarity activists in the US, could face mass detentions without due process, reminiscent of how political dissenters were dealt with in the former Soviet Union. In Canada, Indigenous communities might see their lands exploited for mega-projects without consultation, their treaty rights violated and reduced to hollow words in historical documents. Across Europe, minority groups—whether ethnic, religious, or political—could face unchecked discrimination, their voices stifled by state-sanctioned bans. Globally, atrocities in places like the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Myanmar, or Sudan would multiply, with no international body empowered to take action. The powerless would be left defenceless, their suffering ignored by a world indifferent to their humanity.
This is not exaggeration—it’s a warning of what lies ahead if the silent majority remains passive. Without a robust human rights enforcement framework, the rule of law collapses, replaced by the dominance of powerful and wealthy elites who would be free to violate human rights if it served their interests. Palestinians, Rohingya, Uyghurs, and others would not be the only victims. Everyone, everywhere, would be vulnerable to unchecked authority and power.
Power itself does not always corrupt, but the fear of losing it often does, as seen in nations like China, Russia, North Korea, and El Salvador. The refusal of Western leaders to punish human rights abusing allies like Israel or challenge powerful domestic lobbies that support it, erodes the very principles they claim to champion.
The time for empty promises about upholding human rights is over. Leaders must act decisively, equipping international human rights organizations and UN bodies with the resources to enforce global standards consistently, while safeguarding freedom of expression home by upholding the principles of national foundational documents like Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If we fail to protect the human rights framework we have now, we risk waking up to a world where those rights have been severely weakened or eliminated. The future of our fundamental human rights is in our hands. It is within our power to protect the rights we take for granted or let governments and powerful interests destroy them bit by bit, and return to a darker era, before the concept of human rights existed.
What kind of world awaits us if the powerful and privileged disregard human rights? The result would be a dystopian nightmare. In a world without human rights, dissent against governments and elites would be criminalized, and free speech would be reserved for those aligned with ruling powers, echoing eras when such rights were nonexistent. Protesters, like Palestinian solidarity activists in the US, could face mass detentions without due process, reminiscent of how political dissenters were dealt with in the former Soviet Union. In Canada, Indigenous communities might see their lands exploited for mega-projects without consultation, their treaty rights violated and reduced to hollow words in historical documents. Across Europe, minority groups—whether ethnic, religious, or political—could face unchecked discrimination, their voices stifled by state-sanctioned bans. Globally, atrocities in places like the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Myanmar, or Sudan would multiply, with no international body empowered to take action. The powerless would be left defenceless, their suffering ignored by a world indifferent to their humanity.
This is not exaggeration—it’s a warning of what lies ahead if the silent majority remains passive. Without a robust human rights enforcement framework, the rule of law collapses, replaced by the dominance of powerful and wealthy elites who would be free to violate human rights if it served their interests. Palestinians, Rohingya, Uyghurs, and others would not be the only victims. Everyone, everywhere, would be vulnerable to unchecked authority and power.
Power itself does not always corrupt, but the fear of losing it often does, as seen in nations like China, Russia, North Korea, and El Salvador. The refusal of Western leaders to punish human rights abusing allies like Israel or challenge powerful domestic lobbies that support it, erodes the very principles they claim to champion.
The time for empty promises about upholding human rights is over. Leaders must act decisively, equipping international human rights organizations and UN bodies with the resources to enforce global standards consistently, while safeguarding freedom of expression home by upholding the principles of national foundational documents like Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If we fail to protect the human rights framework we have now, we risk waking up to a world where those rights have been severely weakened or eliminated. The future of our fundamental human rights is in our hands. It is within our power to protect the rights we take for granted or let governments and powerful interests destroy them bit by bit, and return to a darker era, before the concept of human rights existed.
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