In his speech to the opening of the 54th session of the Council, Mr Türk strongly condemned the “old, blunt, brutal policy of repression” as exemplified by an increase in military coups and the suppression of dissent – “in short, the fist”.
Following the military takeovers in Niger and Gabon, he stressed that the “unconstitutional changes in government” recently seen in the Sahel are “not the solution.”
“Instead, we urgently need a turn to civilian rule, and open spaces where people can participate, influence, guide and criticize – or inaction – from government,” he said.
Interrelated rights and development challenges
Mr Türk said the challenges faced by countries in the Sahel, which have left their people “struggling in the daily struggle for survival”, are interconnected.
The devastating effects of climate change, lack of investment in essential services and weak governance “are the sources from which violent extremism draws,” he warned.
He also sounded the alarm about the mass production of “lies and disinformation,” aided by new technologies, stressing that “people everywhere want – and have the right to – objective information, not propaganda.”
‘Leave no one behind’
The UN rights chief underlined that it had become clear to him during his years at the UN that development issues “underlie almost every challenge we face”.
“Leaving no one behind is not an empty slogan. It is a human rights action plan that covers the entire spectrum of human rights,” he said.
He lamented the fact that the world “betrayed.” [its] pledge” to end hunger and poverty by 2030.
‘Collective failure of human rights’
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), around 600 million people are expected to be chronically undernourished by the end of this decade, despite the enormous financial and technological resources at our disposal, Mr Türk said.
He also highlighted that 1.2 billion people, almost half of whom are children, now live in “acute multidimensional poverty” and are at risk of being joined by millions more due to climate change, as predicted by the World Bank.
“This is a terrible collective failure of human rights,” he declared.
Fight against inequality
The High Commissioner has taken detailed steps to address the “chasm between rich and poor” and the inequalities holding humanity back from achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He spoke of the need for a reform of the international financial architecture that provides ‘fairer debt relief deals’, urgent financing for developing countries in the form of an SDG stimulus, a push towards international tax cooperation and a reinvigorated global fight against corruption and illegal practices. financial flows.
Environmental responsibility
Mr Türk also called for “effectively financed, human rights-based climate action” to help developing countries adapt to the impacts of climate change, to which they have contributed so little, and offset the damage caused.
He stressed the need for a “rapid, just phase-out of fossil fuels” and welcomed the consideration of measures to ensure “accountability for environmental damage”, such as the proposed inclusion of the international crime “ecocide” in the Rome Statute. the UN-backed International Criminal Court.
‘Politics of indifference’
In his speech, the UN rights chief highlighted a wide range of human rights crises around the world. He said he was shocked by the “nonchalance” and “policy of indifference” towards the more than 2,300 people dead or missing in the Mediterranean this year, “including the loss of more than 600 lives in one shipwreck the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Greece in June”.
He strongly condemned the fact that many more migrants and refugees were dying “unnoticed” in Europe, in the Bay of Bengal, at the US-Mexico border and beyond.
Russian warfare in Ukraine ‘horrific’
Mr Türk also spoke about Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine and the “horrific warfare” that has ravaged the country.
“The Russian Federation’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July and attacks on grain facilities in Odesa and elsewhere have once again pushed prices sky-high in many developing countries, putting the right to food far out of reach for many people.” he said.
He reiterated his “deep concerns” about restrictions on fundamental rights in Russia and the “particularly severe repression” of the anti-war movement and human rights activists, as illustrated by the harsh prison sentences imposed on opponents Alexei Navalny and Vladimir Kara-Murza.
Palestine and Iran
The High Commissioner expressed his “profound shock” at the escalating violence in the occupied Palestinian territories, as well as his concern about the “continued restrictions on civil space” by the Palestinian authorities and de facto authorities in Gaza.
He also deplored the “insufficient” accountability for the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran a year later and reiterated his concerns about the restriction of the rights of women and girls, as well as the renewed deployment of the vice squad, a force “almost exclusively is on ‘to keep them under control.
‘Disgusting’ Koran burnings
“Inventing artificial disputes about gender” was part of what Mr. Türk called “the politics of division and distraction.” In this context, he raised the “abhorrent” series of some 30 recent incidents in which the Quran was burned to “create divisions, both within societies and between countries.”
He announced that he would discuss this topic in detail on October 6, as required by a resolution adopted during an emergency debate at the previous Council session.
Minute of silence
Monday’s meeting opened with a minute’s silence in honor of the victims of the devastating earthquake in Morocco on September 8, which has claimed at least 2,100 lives so far.
The Vice-President of the Council, Permanent Representative of the Gambia to the UN in Geneva, Muhammadou MO Kah, urged solidarity with the victims and emphasized to the delegations present that they were “not just representatives of nations or organizations” but “part of of a global community, humanity”. Moroccan Ambassador Omar Zniber thanked delegates for the gesture and Geneva-based organizations for their support.
Marathon session
The Human Rights Council 54e The session runs until October 13 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. During the five-week marathon session, the Council will focus on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, Belarus, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Ukraine, among others.