António Guterres
UN Rights Council at 20 Amid Global Turmoil
UN Leaders Decry Impunity, Rights Backslide
UN Calls for Justice in Ongoing Conflicts
Geneva: Marking 20 years of dialogue and institutional commitment to equality, the United Nations Human Rights Council today convened representatives from more than 120 countries in Geneva against the backdrop of what leaders described as runaway global instability and intensifying conflict. The anniversary session unfolded amid wars in Gaza, Myanmar, Ukraine, Sudan and other regions, with senior United Nations officials warning that the multilateral system itself is under visible strain.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on Member States to “hold the line” on human rights, cautioning that they are facing a “full-scale attack…often led by those who hold the greatest power.” He said the erosion of norms is not abstract but unfolding in real time across conflict zones and political systems.
“We are living in a world where mass suffering is excused away, where humans are used as bargaining chips, where international law is treated as a mere inconvenience,” he stated, drawing a direct link between weakening multilateral resolve and growing impunity for aggressors.
Referring to Ukraine, Guterres noted that Tuesday, February 24, will mark four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, a conflict that has claimed more than 15,000 civilian lives. “It is more than past time to end the bloodshed,” he said, underscoring that any ceasefire or peace arrangement must place rights and justice at its core.
He further warned that in multiple theatres of conflict, aggressors continue to act with impunity because governments are disregarding the fundamental human rights obligations enshrined in international law. At the same time, humanitarian needs are “exploding” even as financial support is collapsing, deepening vulnerabilities across regions.
President of the United Nations General Assembly Annalena Baerbock reinforced the urgency of moral clarity, stating that human rights are “not a spectator sport.” Addressing diplomats and officials, she said, “Silence is a choice…and it has consequences.”
“History teaches us that large systems rarely collapse in one dramatic moment; they erode slowly, rule by rule, commitment by commitment, with those who should defend them rather than staying silent. Until one day, what seemed permanent simply vanishes,” she observed, framing the present moment as one of gradual but dangerous backsliding.
Baerbock highlighted the plight of Afghan women, citing reports that under a new Taliban edict, women may reportedly be beaten by their husbands so long as there are no visible marks. “We should remember once, and for all and again that appeasement in the light of the most severe human rights violations never prevails,” she said, adding that the world is witnessing not only a backlash against women’s rights but also against broader human rights standards once considered firmly established.
She also appealed for “a clear commitment from every Member State that the abduction of Ukrainian children is a war crime,” referring to children separated from their families since 2014 following the annexation of Crimea, including those transferred within occupied Ukrainian territory and those deported to Russia.
On the occupied West Bank, where Israeli settler expansion is accelerating, Guterres warned that the two-State solution is being “stripped away in broad daylight.” “The international community cannot allow it to happen,” he asserted.
The Secretary-General also drew attention to patterns beyond active battlefields: migrants being “harassed, arrested and expelled,” refugees being scapegoated, and LGBTIQ+ communities facing vilification. “Countries are drowning in debt and despair, climate chaos is accelerating,” he said, particularly pointing to small and vulnerable nations deprived of adequate investment.
Emerging technologies, especially artificial intelligence, were cited as a growing concern. Guterres warned that such tools are increasingly used to “suppress rights, deepen inequality and expose marginalised people to new forms of discrimination both online and offline.”
In what he described as his final address to the Council before the conclusion of his second five-year term on 31 December, the Secretary-General called for renewed commitment to the principles of multilateral solidarity enshrined in the United Nations Charter. “Human rights are not West or East, North or South, they are not a luxury, they are not negotiable. They are the foundation of a more peaceful and secure world. And States are bound by their obligations under the Charter and international law,” he said.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expanded on the theme, cautioning against what he termed rising “top-down domination” and the deliberate weakening of multilateral safeguards. Violations of international law, he said, must be called out “regardless of the perpetrators.”
To counter these trends, Türk announced the forthcoming launch of his Office’s Global Alliance for Human Rights, an initiative intended to bring together States, businesses, cities, philanthropists, scientists, artists, philosophers, young people and civil society actors in defence of universal rights.
“Our future depends on our joint commitment to defend every person’s rights, every time, everywhere,” he said.
As the Human Rights Council enters its third decade, the commemorative session in Geneva served not only as a reflection on two decades of institutional dialogue but also as a stark reminder that the durability of the international human rights system will depend on whether Member States match rhetoric with sustained, principled action.
– global bihari bureau
