GENEVA
\nHuman rights are under \u201cfull-scale attack around the world\u201d, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned Monday, with the most powerful often leading the charge.
\n\u201cThe rule of law is being outmuscled by the rule of force,\u201d he told the opening of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
\n\u201cThis assault is not coming from the shadows, or by surprise. It is happening in plain sight \u2014 and often led by those who hold the greatest power.\u201d
\nThe UN secretary-general did not delve into specific situations, although he did voice outrage at Russia\u2019s continuing war in Ukraine, where he said more than 15,000 civilians had been killed in four years of violence.
\n\u201cIt is more than past time to end the bloodshed,\u201d he said.
\nHe also highlighted the \u201cblatant violations of human rights, human dignity and international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory\u201d.
\nHe charged that the current trajectory in the conflict-torn territories under Israeli occupation was \u201cstark, clear and purposeful: the two-state solution is being stripped away in broad daylight\u201d.
\n\u201cThe international community cannot allow it to happen,\u201d he insisted.
\n– Suffering \u2018excused away\u2019 –
\nGuterres said the worst conflict-hit areas were not the only places where rights were eroding.
\n\u201cAround the world, human rights are being pushed back deliberately, strategically and sometimes proudly,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cWe are living in a world where mass suffering is excused away, where humans are used as bargaining chips, where international law is treated as a mere inconvenience.\u201d
\nAnd, he warned, \u201cwhen human rights fall, everything else tumbles\u201d.
\nThe crisis of respect for human rights \u201cmirrors and magnifies every other global fracture\u201d, he said, pointing for instance to how \u201chumanitarian needs are exploding while funding collapses\u201d.
\nAt the same time, \u201cinequalities are widening at staggering speed (and) countries are drowning in debt and despair\u201d, he said.
\nAnd he pointed to how \u201cclimate chaos is accelerating, and technology, especially artificial intelligence, is increasingly being used in ways that suppress rights, deepen inequality and expose marginalised people to new forms of discrimination both online and offline\u201d.
\n\u201cAcross every front, those who are already vulnerable are being pushed further to the margins.\u201d
\nThe UN chief called for urgent action to reverse the trend.
\n\u201cWe must defend our shared foundations, without compromise,\u201d he said, insisting that \u201cthe UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the instruments of international human rights law are not a menu\u201d.
\n\u201cLeaders cannot pick the parts they like and ignore the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GENEVA Human rights are under \u201cfull-scale attack around the world\u201d, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres warned Monday, with the most powerful often leading the charge. \u201cThe rule of law is being outmuscled by the rule of force,\u201d he told the opening of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. \u201cThis assault is not coming from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":448937,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-533157","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n