Speech to the UN Human Rights Council In Geneva, Volker Türk stressed that international human rights and humanitarian law “are our pillars against unbridled power.”
Halfway through his four-year mandate, Mr Türk gave a speech in which he deviated from his usual overview of specific country situations, instead offering broader reflections on the current state of human rights.
Choose the path
“It seems to me we are at a crossroads,” he said. said.
“We can either continue on our current path – a treacherous ‘new normal’ – or sleepwalking into a dystopian future. Or we can wake up and turn things aroundfor humanity and the planet.”
Against endless escalation
He said the new normal “cannot consist of endless, brutal military escalation and ever more horrific, technologically ‘advanced’ methods of warfare, control and repression.”
Nor can it mean that there is ‘continuing indifference to growing inequality within and between states’.
“There cannot be a free spread of disinformation, suppressing facts and obscuring the ability to make free and informed choices.. Heated rhetoric and simplistic solutions that erase context, nuance and empathy, paving the way for hate speech and the dire consequences that inevitably follow,” he added.
Another choice
Moreover, “the ‘new normal’ cannot be the distortion of national sovereignty to cover up – or excuse – horrific abuses, the discrediting of multilateral institutions, or attempts to rewrite the international rules, thereby undermining universally agreed norms.”
Mr Türk continued to insist that “this cannot be the world we want”, saying that “we can and must make a different choice” by reconnecting with our common humanity, nature and the planet.
“In other words, we can choose to be guided by human rights and the universal values that we all share,” he said.
Leadership crisis
Mr Türk told the Council that “Human rights are not in crisis. But the political leadership needed to make them a reality is.”
He said that “in every region of the world we see deep-rooted power dynamics aimed at seizing or retaining power at the expense of universal human rights.”
For example, despite progress in women’s rights, the ‘shadow of patriarchy’ still hangs over them and there are alarming setbacks in gender equality, with Afghanistan representing the most extreme case.
Migrants as scapegoats
Societies continue to face racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, which are “supported by entrenched power structures, vested interests, institutional inertia and harmful stereotypes, often rooted in the legacies of colonialism and slavery,” he added.
“Then there are the politicians, reinforced by some media, who scapegoat migrants, refugees and minorities, as we have seen for example around election periods in Austria, France, Germany, Hungarythe United Kingdom and the United States of Americajust to name a few,” he said.
Mr Türk also warned of the threat posed by “incorrectly or insufficiently regulated digital technologies”, which includes the exploitation of personal data.
He said human rights must be “at the forefront” of regulation, while also working to stop online violence, disinformation, hate speech and incitement to hatred.
UN Bangladesh/Mithu
A young boy with the Bengali word for “free” written on his cheek is carried by an adult during a recent protest in Bangladesh.
The power of human rights
While pointing out how entrenched power structures and the abuse of power negatively impact people’s human rights, Mr. Turk also spoke about how “human rights are regulators and correctors of power dynamics that have gotten out of hand.”
He referred to the recent situation in Bangladeshwhere “the student movement carried human rights as a torch”.
The High Commissioner said that his Office, OHCHRsupports the new authorities there, including by conducting an independent fact-finding mission into recent alleged violations, and into accountability, reconciliation and healing processes, and other essential reforms.
Advice for voters
With elections being held in many countries this year, Mr. Türk gave advice to citizens going to the polls.
“I call on all voters to keep in mind the issues that matter most to them – whether it is a home, education for their children, their health or jobs, justice, their family and loved ones, the environment, to be free from violence, to tackle corruption, to be heard. These are all human rights issues,” he said.
War in Sudan
Mr Türk also recalled that this year marks the 75th yearand anniversary of the four Geneva Conventions, which elaborate the rules of war, while the UN Charterwith the promise of “saving future generations from the scourge of war,” was adopted nearly 80 years ago.
“And yet, here we are,” he noted. “Crossing countless red lines, or the willingness to walk right into them.”
He said Sudan was “experiencing one of the worst humanitarian and protection crises in the world, fuelled by prolonged impunity, a storm of power struggles where no one is equal to a majority, competing economic interests and instrumentalisation of ethnic tensions.”
More than 20,000 people are estimated to have died, he said, and “the world cannot allow this to continue.”
© UNRWA
A family in Gaza moves through a wasteland of destruction.
Fear of conflict in Gaza
“We to know that wars spill over into future generations, perpetuating repeated cycles of hatred if their causes are not addressed. Unfortunately, war in Gaza “The ultimate example is,” he continued.
He told the Council that ending the war and preventing a large-scale regional conflict is an absolute and urgent priority.
“Similarly, there is a broader situation of illegality in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which results from the policies and practices of Israel, as so clearly set out in the International Court of Justice (IGH) should be addressed in detail in his July advice,” he said.
He stressed that states should not – cannot – accept blatant disregard for international law, including binding UN decisions. Security Council and orders of the International Court of Justice.
Concerns about Ukraine
The human rights chief also spoke about the conflict in Ukraine, where “civilians are trapped in a cycle of terror, due to the continued attacks by the Russian Federation”.
Civilian facilities, such as schools and hospitals, have been hit and energy infrastructure has been targeted. He also expressed concern about the upcoming winter season.
Crisis in Myanmar
In the meantime, “The crisis in Myanmar continues to plumb the depths of inhumanity“, he said, pointing to recent airstrikes, mass arrests and continued reports of extrajudicial killings, amid stifling impunity.
“Civilians are paying the highest price, with one of the highest civilian casualties reported since the current crisis began in 2021, and the Rohingya community has been violently cornered in northern Rakhine State with nowhere safe to go,” he said.
He added that in many of these situations, even minimal humanitarian assistance to civilians is being instrumentalised, diverted or blocked, as is the access of human rights observers.
“For those of us who do this work, it is like standing on the bank of a river watching people drown, with lifebuoys on our feet,” he said.
Reminder of the obligations of states
Mr Türk reminded the Council that States have established international human rights and humanitarian law to preserve and guarantee our common humanity.
“These norms are our mainstay against unbridled power,” he said.
He stressed that all parties to conflicts and other states, especially those with influence, must do everything they can to end the violations.
“A concrete action would be for States, in accordance with their obligations under the Geneva Conventions and human rights due diligence, to refrain from exporting or transferring arms to a party to an armed conflict where there is a real risk that they might be used in violation of international humanitarian law,” he said.
In this context, the High Commissioner welcomed the fact that some States have already taken steps in this direction.