Herbie Gomez NO-NONSENSE and very credible human rights watchdog Amnesty International (AI) just released a disturbing assessment of human rights around the world. In its annual “The State of the World’s Human Rights” report, AI stated: “Today’s politics of demonization shamelessly peddles a dangerous idea that some people are less human than others, stripping away the humanity of entire groups of people. This threatens to unleash the darkest aspects of human nature.” AI secretary general Salil Shetty said, “2016 was the year when the cynical use of ‘us vs them’ narratives of blame, hate and fear took on a global prominence to a level not seen since the 1930s. Too many politicians are answering legitimate economic and security fears with a poisonous and divisive manipulation of identity politics in an attempt to win votes. “Divisive fear-mongering has become a dangerous force in world affairs. Whether it is Trump, Orbán, Erdogan or Duterte, more and more politicians calling themselves anti-establishment are wielding a toxic agenda that hounds, scapegoats and dehumanizes entire groups of people.” To be included by AI in the league of US President Donald Trump, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not flattering. Trump is turning his outrageous views into official US government policies. His is a politics of intolerance, and his ideas reek of authoritarianism. He has called for the torture of people on mere suspicion of being into terrorism, and advocated the mass deportation of migrants without documents. He has also threatened to bring journalists whom he perceives to be unfriendly to his causes to court. Orbán is behind the massive indiscriminate detention of asylum-seekers, holding large numbers of them in closed camps, and his government wants migrants fleeing war and poverty placed in--hold your breath!--shipping containers. United Nations member states have already voiced out concerns about Orbán’s policies on asylum seekers, hate speech, and the poor state of press freedom in Hungary. Edrogan has jailed more journalists than any other country, and has turned Turkey as the site of the biggest prison for journalists in the world. He has thrown teachers, professors and police officers, among others, in jail without any due process. He has also moved to limit his people’s access to social media after his government’s critics used these to leak allegations of government corruption. Youtube, for one, was banned. And Duterte? Oh, well... It is worth noting that these spooky leaders have one thing in common: they don’t like the press asking them tough questions and so, they either demonize its members, and media outfits or simply jail journalists. The AI report was downplayed by presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella, pointing out that Duterte received an overwhelming mandate in the 2016 elections, and that over eight of 10 Filipinos trust and are satisfied with his war on illegal drugs. But the same may also be said of Turkey’s Erdogan, a charismatic politician, who enjoys popular support. As the world is seeing, political popularity is no guarantee against repressive government policies, and acts that undermine basic rights and the rule of law. Since when did election results and popularity ratings been an argument in favor of mass atrocities, Mr. Abella? None of these make the wrong right. It’s very difficult to discredit an organization that has bagged Nobel and UN prizes for its human rights advocacy like Amnesty International. The group has been doing this since the 1960s, long before these creeps were in the political radar. Pastilan.