UN Secretary-General António Guterres (left) and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk.
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UN Secretary-General António Guterres has criticised the attacks on human rights by “those with the most power”. At the start of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis called for efforts to be refocused on the rights that are most at risk.
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Guterres denounced the erosion of the rule of law through the use of force. “Human rights are under total attack around the world,” he said in his speech at the opening of a Council session, possibly his last in Geneva. In a year’s time, a successor will address the member states in his place.
These assaults on the law “do not come as a surprise”, insists the secretary-general. “They take place in front of everyone” and sometimes with “pride” by those who are responsible for them, he said. “Do not let this erosion of human rights be the price of political expediency” or international tensions, he added in his message to the member states.
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He was followed by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, who again lashed out at US President Donald Trump and his declamatory offensives, without naming him. “Incandescent threats are being thrown at sovereign nations, with no regard for the fire they might ignite,” warned the Austrian.
He also deplored a competition for “power”, “control” and “resources” that was “unprecedented” since the end of the Second World War. Türk repeated his calls for a ceasefire in Ukraine and his concern about a possible extension of acts amounting to crimes against humanity in Sudan.
‘We cannot do everything’
In a separate speech to the Council on Friday, Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said it was necessary to target a number of situations that are problematic for human rights. They must be denounced, responsibilities established and action taken,” he said, announcing the launch in the coming weeks of the Global Alliance for Human Rights, on which he has been working for many months.
But we must also “concentrate our efforts where rights are most threatened”, he said. Faced with seemingly “limitless” expectations, “we cannot do everything”, he insisted. Switzerland wants to refocus on the protection of individuals and fundamental freedoms.
After Geneva, Guterres is due to address the UN Security Council in New York on Tuesday on the four years of war in Ukraine. “The time is long overdue to bring the conflict to an end”, he said on Monday.
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Volker Türk: ‘If there is one single message, it’s the centrality of human rights’
Adapted from French by AI/ts
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