Guterres: Human rights are under comprehensive attack in the Palestinian territories and around the world

SadaNews - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned today, Monday, that human rights are facing a "comprehensive attack worldwide," noting that "the law of power has begun to prevail" over the rule of law.

In the opening of a Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, he stated that "this attack does not come from the shadows, nor does it happen suddenly. It takes place in broad daylight and is often led by those who hold the most power."

The Secretary-General did not mention specific cases, although he expressed his discontent with the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine, stating that more than 15,000 civilians have died during four years of violence.

He said, "We have passed the stage of waiting. It is time to put an end to the bloodshed."

He pointed to the "gross violations of human rights, human dignity, and international law in the occupied Palestinian territories."

He noted that the current trajectory in the occupied Palestinian territories is "strikingly clear, and its goal is defined: the two-state solution is being undermined in plain sight."

He added, "The international community cannot allow this to happen."

Guterres reminded that rights do not only vanish in the most conflict-affected areas, stating, "Human rights are systematically and strategically being curtailed globally, sometimes with pride."

He continued, "We live in a world where mass suffering is justified while people are used as bargaining chips, and international law is treated as merely an inconvenience."

He warned that "when human rights collapse, everything collapses with them."

He stated that the crisis of respect for human rights "reflects and exacerbates every other global imbalance," citing how "humanitarian needs are escalating as funding collapses."

He added that meanwhile, "inequality is escalating at a staggering rate while countries drown in debt and despair."

He also noted that "climate chaos is accelerating while technology, particularly artificial intelligence, is increasingly used in ways that suppress freedoms, deepen inequality, and pit the marginalized against new forms of discrimination both online and offline."

He added, "On every front, there are already vulnerable people being pushed further to the margins."

The UN Secretary-General called for urgent action to change this trend.

He said, "We must defend our common foundations without any concession," emphasizing that "the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the tools of international human rights law are not a menu" from which leaders can "pick what they like and ignore the rest."