Amnesty warns predator leaders are seeking to impose a new world order

Amnesty International has accused the leaders of the United States, Israel and Russia of driving a new “predatory” world order, warning that too few governments are willing to challenge them.

Presenting the rights group’s annual report in London, Secretary General Dr Agnès Callamard singled out US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, branding them “predators”.

According to the report, such leaders have turned away from the multilateral framework built after World War II in favour of a “vision without moral compass”, one in which “war, not diplomacy, rules”.

Callamard wrote in the report’s preface that it arrives at a “challenging moment” that could “destroy all that was built up over the last 80 years”.

She said these leaders are “destroying all that stands in the way of their domination and greed” and are “assaulting the very foundations of universal human rights”.

“And rather than confront those predators, the majority of governments, most notably European governments, opted instead for appeasement.”

Callamard said the escalating conflict in the Middle East is “just the latest example of this new predatory world order,” rooted in a worldview that is “dehumanised through racist ideology”.

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The Amnesty International chief also accused the US President of carrying out “an unprecedented number of actions undermining the rule of law” and making “arbitrary use of power”.

In a separate interview, Dr Callamard said Mr Trump and Mr Putin share a worldview “that is highly racist, that is highly patriarchal”, pointing to Russia’s crackdown on LGBT rights under the banner of “family values”.

Dr Agnès Callamard said other world leaders showed ‘cowardice’ in standing up to leaders trying to impose a new world order (file image)

She said that under Mr Trump, the US “has done everything it could to undermine years, decades of effort to enshrine women’s rights and to defend access to sexual and reproductive rights”.

China not on ‘predator’ list as ‘much more discreet’

China was not included on the “predator” list because it has been “much more discreet”, she said, though she added that Beijing has nonetheless “supported the junta and the military operations in Myanmar” and is “involved in supporting Russia”.

Turning to Israel’s conduct in Gaza, the report stated: “The world’s most powerful governments failed to take meaningful action to stop the genocide or to bring an end to Israel’s unlawful occupation and apartheid.”

Dr Callamard said that, when confronted with these “bullies and looters”, almost every world leader “has demonstrated cowardice”, describing the current period as the “era of the coward”.

“Most of the world, sadly, has to be defined as a coward,” she said.

“I will tell you that almost the entire European Union is concerned”, she added, naming Spain and Slovenia as exceptions.

Slovenia is among the few EU countries to have characterised Israel’s war in Gaza as “genocide”, alongside Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Callamard said governments worldwide must hold Israel accountable, including through economic pressure.

She called on the EU to scrap what she described as a “shameful” association agreement with Israel and to adopt further steps, including sanctions.

The report also took aim at the United Kingdom for proscribing the Palestine Action group and arresting thousands of peaceful protesters opposing the ban.

“Governments should stop cracking down on and criminalising dissent, including peaceful acts of civil disobedience,” the report said.

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