Can you believe it’s going to be 2022 already? Well, I most certainly cannot. What I like to do at the end of a year is to go through all the events that have happened in my life in that year―no matter what emotions they evoked, or how big or small they were.

However, I am speaking from a place of privilege―I don't need to fight for my rights, or literally run for my life, or worry that my family will run out of food tomorrow when I go to sleep each night. A lot of people living across the globe had to worry about things that most of us don’t: from the military-coups that are destroying democracy in Myanmar, to the Talibans that are making Afghans risk their lives to leave their homes.

So, in conjunction with International Human Rights Day, here are six violations of human rights which have happened in 2021 that need your attention.

Tatmadaw is a military administration that has held its grip on Myanmar’s government for six decades. In early 2021, a military coup was staged by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. The military refused to accept voting results after their party lost the election to Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s party. Hence, on 1 February, the de-facto leader―Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and several other politicians were detained by the military.

Democracy-advocating protests started out peaceful, but even then, violence with weapons including real bullets have been used on the protestors. Since then, more than 1000 people have been killed by the military, including children as young as five years old. Media outlets, phone services and internet access were also shut down by the military to prevent the citizens from spreading the truth of the situation outside of Myanmar, and also to prevent brainwashed soldiers from questioning their orders.

Ms Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest and was secretly put on trial for various accusations such as “alleged election fraud”. The people of Myanmar are still fighting the military coup till this day with more and more organisations like the all-women fighter group: Myaung Women Warriors, determined to win back their democracy and rights from the cruel dictatorship.

Since the 2020-2021 Thai protests have begun in February 2020, many Thai youths have been charged with lese majeste (royal defamation). The law is known to be a political weapon for the government to oppress the freedom of speech in Thailand. On 14 January 2021, a student was arrested in his dormitory at 3am on charges of lese majeste.

Since then, protests have been going on to revoke the lese majeste law, while more Thai youths are being sent to jail for said charges.

Anti-riot police fired tear gas, water cannons, rubber bullets and even real bullets at one point―when 14-year-old Warit Somnoi was shot in the neck by a bullet that came from the Din Daeng police station while riding a motorcycle on 16 August. After two months of coma, Warit died, without any proper statement from the police.

Till today, Thai people are still fighting for their rights and protesting for the government to meet their demands. They want free Covid-19 vaccines, amendments towards the lese majeste law, the government to end the intimidation towards their people, and many other reasonable demands to redefine their national identity.

We have seen many cases of police brutality in the US, especially towards black people. Since the Black Lives Matter movement was started in 2020, these racism-fueled incidents have gained international attention. A few of the victims include Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and recently in April 2021, Daunte Wright. All of their lives were forcibly ended by the police.

On 11 April, Wright was arrested for an arrest warrant. He tried to break free and re-enter his car while a police officer shouted “taser!” a few times before firing a shot. Wright was shot dead. The police officer claimed that she had mistaken her handgun as a taser after the incident. She has been charged with first-degree manslaughter and second-degree manslaughter.

There is no doubt that racism has played a role in police brutality. Black people in the US have been made to feel unsafe and threatened by the police in numerous cases, just because of their skin colour and ethnicity. They have to be extra careful when encountering the police force by making sure their hands are empty and in sight at every moment, that no resistance is shown towards the officers, to avoid an extra charge of “resisting arrest”, and that they don’t get on the police officers’ ‘bad side’. A white person would never have needed to exercise such caution. They need not worry about getting shot dead just because a police officer thought they had weapons.

A black person and a white person might have been doing the same thing, at the same time, at the same place, but authorities would somehow see the former as a threat.

It genuinely breaks my heart to include Malaysia on the list, but this is the truth. These are events and social issues that need to be seen so they can be addressed and solved.

As previously stated, police brutality is usually associated with racism. It has been reported that over 23 percent of custodial deaths in Malaysia were ethnic Indians, despite the community making up only seven percent of Malaysia’s population. In the span of less than three months in 2021, six Indian males have died in police detention, including V. Mulgilarasu, A. Ganapathy and the latest, Roopan Karnagaran. (Karnagaran’s case was allegedly covered up by the police as the organisation handling the case has noted many inconsistencies between statements by doctors and the police.) On the other hand, these were witnesses who saw Ganapathy being brutally assaulted while in custody, hit by a rubber hose and forcibly dragged across a road.

None of these police officers has ever been held accountable for their actions. The Gombak Police insisted that there had been “foul play” and that there was “no evidence” that Ganapathy was assaulted in custody. They also warned the public against commenting further on the death and “making it a racial issue”.

During times like these, Indian-Malaysians are living in fear. Most Malaysians would most probably know that our country is yet to be a place of racial harmony and national unity. Institutionalised racism and discrimination are, sadly, so deeply rooted into our rakyat, our people. An example is the backdrop of racist stereotypes, including Indians being categorised as ‘gangsters’ or even ‘criminals’—which is far from the truth! These sayings are undoubtedly racist and are very wrong perceptions that have been established by those in power and passed down to separate our community.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a long-standing and complex one. However, the violence between both peoples reached its height in 2021, where Israel began an ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in East Jerusalem.

The outbreak of attacks in 2021 began on 6 May, when Palestinians protested against Israel’s decision to evict six more families from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah. On 10 May, Israel began a series of airstrikes against Gaza, Palestine. It has been reported that rockets and missiles were fired by both Israel and Hamas (a Palestinian militant, nationalist organization). By 17 May, the United Nations estimated that the airstrikes had destroyed 94 buildings, comprising 461 housing , commercial units and 60 condominiums in Gaza. Reported in May, 256 Palestinians, including 66 children (78 reported in August), and 13 Israelis, including two children, have been killed; more than 1900 Palestinians and 200 Israelis have been injured as a result of the violence.

Although the US has ended their 20-year-long war in Afghanistan, the death toll in Afghanistan has increased significantly, in addition to the spread of Covid-19. There were photographs and videos circulating the internet that showed Afghans fleeing from their homes to the Kabul International Airport. The airport as well as the planes evacuating from Afghanistan were overcrowded. Babies were being thrown over the razor-wired wall as Afghan parents tried to at least let their children escape from the extremist Taliban rule.

Women were, and are still, threatened by the Taliban rule, since the new laws specifically targets them. These laws include banning females from studying in secondary schools and universities, banning traditional Afghan dresses and forcing them to wear black niqabs and burqas that are not of Afghan culture; removing photos of women in public, like the posters in a beauty salon; as well as banning women from all sports. Despite these extreme circumstances, many Afghan women are protesting against these laws and more so, the Taliban rule. However, the Taliban responded to these protests with violence using weapons like tear gas, ammunition and even whip lashes.

Many cruel, unjust actions had been taken upon innocent civilians this year, and all of them should have our attention and concern. Although our little efforts of reading an article regarding social issues like these seem insignificant to the cause, it does contribute in the spreading of awareness which is as important.

Hence, we should actively share whatever knowledge we have about these events to help amplify the voices of victims. This way, people would be more prone to help demand for a change from those who are sitting in socially or politically higher positions of power.

I really hope this article gave you some insight on these events that you’d want to learn more about, or simply make this your next conversation topic with someone. On this International Human Rights Day, let us not forget the instances when human rights have been violated, and strive to change the world for the better, one step at a time.