MOSCOW (Sputnik) — War crimes and other violations of the "laws of war" were committed in almost 20 countries in the past year, including in Burundi and Israel, Amnesty International said in its annual report 2015/2016.
Many governments also unlawfully targeted activists, legal workers and other human rights defenders, partly due to rising global security threats, the rights group added.
"Instead of recognizing the crucial role these people play in society, many governments have deliberately set out to strangle criticism in their country. They have broken their own laws in their crackdowns against citizens," the Amnesty International report reads.
Ill-treatment examples included repressive use of vague national security laws to silence dissent, civilian killings in conflict-torn regions, as well as repeated human rights violations, according to the annual report.