UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warns human rights are under full-scale attack, with the powerful leading a shift from rule of law to rule of force.
GENEVA: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has decried a global assault on human rights, warning that the rule of law is being “outmuscled by the rule of force”.
Addressing the opening of the UN Human Rights Council, Guterres stated this deliberate attack is happening in plain sight and is often led by those who hold the greatest power.
He expressed outrage at Russia’s continuing war in Ukraine, where he said more than 15,000 civilians have been killed in four years of violence.
Guterres also highlighted blatant violations of human rights and international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, charging that the two-state solution is being stripped away in broad daylight.
“The international community cannot allow it to happen,” the UN chief insisted.
He warned that mass suffering is being excused away and international law treated as a mere inconvenience in a world where humans are used as bargaining chips.
Guterres said the crisis of respect for human rights mirrors and magnifies every other global fracture, from exploding humanitarian needs amid funding collapses to widening inequalities.
He further pointed to accelerating climate chaos and the use of technology, especially artificial intelligence, to suppress rights and deepen discrimination.
The UN chief called for urgent and uncompromising action to defend the foundational instruments of international law.
“Leaders cannot pick the parts they like and ignore the rest,” Guterres concluded.
