United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Monday that human rights are under assault around the world as he opened the 61st session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, citing widespread abuses of international law and devastating civilian suffering in conflicts such as Sudan, Gaza and Ukraine. “The rule of law is being outmuscled by the rule of force,” Guterres said, stressing that fundamental freedoms are being “pushed back deliberately, strategically and sometimes proudly.”
Guterres also highlighted critical funding shortfalls that are hampering the U.N.’s ability to monitor abuses and respond to crises. The United States, the U.N.’s largest donor, has paid only a fraction of its assessed contributions, contributing to what U.N. officials describe as the human rights system being in “survival mode.” This financial strain has delayed investigations into alleged violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Afghanistan, among other contexts.
Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, echoed these concerns, noting intense global competition for power and resources that is exacerbating rights violations. Guterres also warned that blatant breaches of international law in the occupied Palestinian territories threaten long-term peace prospects.
This warning comes amid mounting geopolitical tensions and deepening challenges to international norms designed to protect human dignity and freedoms worldwide — News as reported.
