London - (AFP) - Human Rights Watch, which publishes its annual report Thursday, said the intense international mobilization in defense of human rights in Ukraine since the Russian invasion should be repeated in other countries where these rights are being violated.

In this more than 700-page report, which refers to the condemnation of human rights violations, it documents the "chain of violations" committed in 2022 in the world, from China to Afghanistan, passing through Iran, Ethiopia and Ukraine.

"Amidst the fog of war and the darkness that we saw in this war in Ukraine, there was a bright light: the international response and commitment to international justice," Tirana Hasan, acting executive director at Human Rights Watch, told AFP.

And while the non-governmental organization noted "violations from all sides", the Russian forces are the source of a "large number" of them, especially against the civilian population.

The report indicated that in the occupied Ukrainian regions, "Russian or pro-Russian forces committed what appear to be war crimes, including torture, summary executions, sexual violence, and enforced disappearances."

The report stated that some of the violations were committed by both Ukrainian and Russian forces.

Human Rights Watch welcomed the speed with which the International Criminal Court launched an investigation and with which the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow.

"Never in the history of conflict responses have we seen such a coordinated international response," she added. "What we need to do now is ensure that other countries are held accountable to the same level that was seen in Ukraine."

In particular, the organization called on the international community to "continue pressure" to hold accountable those responsible for the violations committed in the Tigray region of Ethiopia following the peace agreement concluded last November, while Russia and China prevent the inclusion of this conflict on the agenda of the UN Security Council.

The same is true in China, where Beijing has not yet had to justify its policy towards the Muslim Uighur minority, despite a report issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, which concluded that some of the actions committed by the regime may amount to crimes against humanity.

The same is true in Iran, where the regime is escalating its repression of demonstrations. Hassan stressed that "we cannot wait for the Iranian people to single-handedly change" the human rights situation in the country.

She explained, "A major change to this powerful regime requires the mobilization of the international community, not only to express solidarity, but also to put effective pressure on the regime."

In its report, the non-governmental organization accused countries of "double standards" in taking action in the face of human rights violations committed in the world.

Human Rights Watch cited, for example, US President Joe Biden, who restored relations with Saudi Arabia in the midst of the energy crisis after pledging to make it a "pariah" state, or even Europe that opens its arms to Ukrainian refugees, but deals in a more stringent manner with refugees from other countries such as the Syrians and Palestinians. Afghans and Somalis.