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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for greater respect for human rights and peace around the world, but has warned that combatants in countries such as Congo, Gaza, Myanmar, Ukraine and Sudan are “turning a blind eye” to international law. said.
The world is “becoming less safe by the day,” Guterres warned Monday as the U.N.’s top human rights body opened its latest session.
“Our world is changing at warp speed,” he told the Human Rights Council. “The rise in conflict is causing unprecedented suffering. But human rights remain constant.”
The UN chief said attacks on human rights take many forms, and reiterated his frequent calls for debt relief for some of the world’s poorest countries and increased spending to fight climate change. He defended UNRWA, the Palestinian refugee aid agency, as the “backbone” of Gaza relief efforts, even as top Israeli authorities have called for its dismantling.
UN human rights chief Volker Türk also slammed the “attempts to undermine the legitimacy and operations” of the UN and its related agencies.
“The United Nations has become a lightning rod for manipulative propaganda and a scapegoat for policy failures,” he said. “This is a gross destruction of the public interest and a heartless betrayal of the many people whose livelihoods depend on it.”
The council began its six-week session on Monday amid a rash of human rights crises. Many will remember him this month for his death in custody in President Vladimir Putin’s Russia, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.