Global system undergoing 'tectonic shift': UN
GENEVA
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is seen on a screen delivering a speech at the opening of the 58th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, on February 24, 2025.
The international system is in upheaval with human rights being "suffocated," the United Nations said on Monday, warning that an era of "dictators" could return.
During an opening address at the U.N. Human Rights Council's main annual session, U.N. rights chief Volker Türk painted a dark picture of a "very dangerous" situation in a world increasingly dominated by authoritarians.
He did not mention any country, but he said it was clear that "the international system is going through a tectonic shift."
"The human rights edifice we have built up so painstakingly over decades has never been under so much strain."
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned the council that one by one, human rights were being "suffocated," adding: "Ny autocrats, crushing opposition because they fear what a truly empowered people would do. By a patriarchy that keeps girls out of school and women at arm's length from basic rights."
Governments behind wars "thumb their nose at international law, international humanitarian law and the U.N. Charter," he said, while conflicts were stripping people "of their right to food, water and education."
Türk also cautioned that "the global consensus on human rights is crumbling under the weight of authoritarians, strongmen and oligarchs."
He stressed a need for "an all-out effort by everyone to make sure that human rights and the rule of law remain foundational to communities, societies and international relations."
"Otherwise, the picture is very dangerous."
Türk pointed to "the unrestrained use of force by the powerful" in previous centuries.
"Dictators could order atrocity crimes consigning vast numbers of people to their deaths," he said, adding: "Be aware: This can happen again."
He pointed to how some modern day leaders "cite national security and the fight against terrorism to justify gross violations".
Without naming countries, he warned that "regional powers that are neutral or hostile to human rights are growing in influence".
"Everywhere, we see attempts to ignore, undermine, and redefine human rights; and to create a false binary that pits one right against another in a zero-sum game," Türk lamented.
