"The killings of prominent human rights lawyer Thulani Maseko in Eswatini and journalist Martinez Zogo in Cameroon, and the suspicious death in custody of Rwandan investigative journalist John Williams Ntwali, within a week in January 2023, marked a grim moment for the human rights movement," the organization said in the document.

The report on "The State of the World's Human Rights" stresses that, in relation to the African continent, criticizing governments "continued to be dangerous in many countries".

"Crackdowns on those protesting government excesses, failures or alleged corruption were widespread, targeting in particular journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and opposition leaders and members," it describes.

In its assessment of human rights in Africa throughout 2023, AI highlights "the renewed violence in Sudan" as illustrating "the immense suffering of civilians caught in armed conflict across the region and the warring parties’ utter disregard for international humanitarian law".

"Reports of mass civilian casualties were frequent and shocking, particularly given the scale of indiscriminate and targeted attacks. Sexual violence continued to be a feature of the armed conflicts," it adds.

The issue of displaced persons is also highlighted by AI, which says that a combination of factors, including inflation, corruption, climate change and conflict, created "intolerable living conditions".

"Millions of people lacked access to basic economic and social rights. Many countries were disproportionately affected by soaring food inflation, and food insecurity reached alarming levels," it adds.

The perpetuation of armed conflicts and the effects of climate change "displaced millions of people from their homes, yet authorities in several countries failed to meet their obligations to protect refugees and asylum-seekers".

Discrimination based on gender and violence against women and girls "remained entrenched" and "homophobic attacks and repression of LGBTI people’s rights increased across the region", it summarizes.

"African governments remained largely indifferent to calls to address impunity, allowing it to flourish and fuelling the cycle of violations and abuses, as well as disregard for the rule of law," Amnesty International accuses.

As a result of the policies they implemented, "many governments undermined justice and accountability initiatives or openly defied international scrutiny of their human rights records," the organization outlines.

"In several countries, extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings, as well as enforced disappearances, continued to be used as tools of repression," AI signals, giving the example of Burkina Faso, where it highlights that public figures were abducted or forcibly detained and disappeared.

In summary, Amnesty International argues that "governments must end the harassment and intimidation of journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and opposition members and leaders; immediately and unconditionally release anyone arbitrarily detained; and ensure respect for media freedom, including allowing independent media to operate".

Read Also: 2023 was one of unprecedented solidarity, despite human rights violations (Portuguese version)