THE world is on the brink of a perilous new era, driven by powerful states, corporations and anti-rights movements’ assaults on multilateralism, international law and human rights, Amnesty International warned in its annual report today.

The report, The State of the World’s Human Rights, calls on states, international bodies and civil society to reject the politics of appeasement and to collectively resist these attacks to prevent this new order from taking hold.

Amnesty International secretary-general Agnes Callamard 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.”

Ms Callamard added that what we are seeing “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 report particularly blasts the role played by the US and Israel in “this descent into lawlessness,” through their unprovoked attack on Iran

Ms Callamard said the unlawful US-Israeli attacks on Iran “has quickly morphed into an open warfare against civilians and civilian infrastructure, exacerbating the already catastrophic suffering of people across the region.”

She said the conflict was “now engulfing countries around the world, impacting populations everywhere and threatening the livelihoods of millions.”

The report also accuses Israel of continuing its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, despite the October 2025 ceasefire agreement, and its system of apartheid over Palestinians.

The report says Israel is accelerating the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem and taking steps toward annexation.

Amnesty’s report slams the US for committing more than 150 extrajudicial executions by bombing boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific and for carrying out an act of aggression against Venezuela on January 3.

Amongst the other violations identified by Amnesty is the role played by the United Arab Emirates in fuelling the conflict in Sudan by providing advanced weaponry to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The RSF seized control of El Fasher last October after an 18-month siege and is accused of committing mass civilian killings and sexual violence.

Ms Callamard said these violations occur “when the norms, institutions and legal framework painstakingly built to safeguard humanity are hollowed out for the purpose of domination.”

“To appease aggressors is to pour fuel on a fire that will burn us all and scorch the future for generations to come,” she added.