UN rights chief warns against normalising force as global armed conflicts nearly double since 2010, with attacks on healthcare now averaging 10 per day.
GENEVA: The UN rights chief voiced alarm at the normalisation of using force to resolve disputes.
Volker Turk warned the world is becoming a more dangerous place.
He told the United Nations Human Rights Council that armed conflicts have almost doubled since 2010 to around 60. “We must not revert to violence as an organising principle,” Turk said.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the threat and use of force is becoming more frequent. “The world really is becoming a more dangerous place,” he stated.
Turk criticised the relentless competition for power for its own sake. He questioned whether the goal was dominating the global economy or accumulating more power.
“Surely power must serve other purposes,” he said. Turk slammed leaders who exploit and subjugate people for their own ends.
He expressed bafflement that political leaders are not taking urgent steps to reverse current trends. Some are instead attacking institutions designed to keep people safe.
These institutions include the United Nations, the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. Turk also referenced attacks on the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms.
He highlighted a stark change in global reactions to atrocities. A decade ago, an attack on a hospital triggered a global outcry.
Recent figures now show an average of 10 attacks per day on healthcare. “The world cannot stand by as the edifice of international humanitarian and human rights law is dismantled before our eyes,” Turk concluded.
