4-March-2024″
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk warns the potential spillover of dozens of conflicts around the world is threatening global peace and causing human rights violations to surge in all regions.
Türk, who presented an update about the situation of human rights around the world at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva Monday, painted a frightening picture of a world where proliferating conflicts are devastating the lives of millions of civilians.
“Rarely has humanity faced so many rapidly spiraling crises,” he said, noting that 55 conflicts around the world are “battering people’s lives, destroying economies, and profoundly damaging human rights” by subjecting millions of people to widespread violations and “upending hopes for multilateral solutions.”
He said displacement and humanitarian crises have reached an unprecedented scale, legitimate governments are being toppled and those in power choose war to resolve national and international problems.
Türk warned all these conflicts are having a serious regional and global impact.
Overlapping emergencies make the specter of spillover conflict very real,” he said. “The war in Gaza has explosive impact across the Middle East. Conflicts in other regions including in the Horn of Africa, Sudan and the Sahel could also escalate sharply,” adding that increasing militarization on the Korean Peninsula raises threat levels.
UN Human Rights Chief Speak On Ethiopia, Chad, Mali,Sudan Burkina Faso, Rwanda And Somalia
In Ghana, the President has announced that he will step down following Presidential and Parliamentary elections scheduled for December, having completed his constitutionally limited second term in office. This will mark Ghana’s fifth presidential succession since 1992, further concretising its leadership in terms of respect for rules-based institutional transitions. Ghana’s civil society has been instrumental in enhancing civil and political participation in public affairs, including in the fight against corruption. At the same time, restrictions have been mounting in recent years, including risks for the safety of journalists. Insecurity has also been growing in Ghana, with regional security threats extending through northern areas, in particular.
Rwanda is expected to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in July, against a backdrop of improved economic and social wellbeing over several decades, and an impressive record on women’s political representation. I urge rapid steps to ensure fundamental freedoms, together with genuine investigations into allegations of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture, and intimidation, as well as arbitrary detentions. These are indispensable to creating a conducive environment ahead of elections.
In Somalia, a process is underway to revise the Provisional Federal Constitution, and I urge lawmakers to ensure that it fully complies with Somalia’s international and regional human rights commitments.
Devastating conflict persists, and our staff have confirmed the killing of at least 500 civilians in 2023. The Al-Shabaab armed group is responsible for many of these killings, and I also deplore its recruitment and use of children as fighters. I urge reforms to lift restrictions on freedom of expression to ensure a vibrant civic space.
Given Somalia’s realisation of conditions for the IMF-World Bank Heavily Indebted Poor Countries framework, I encourage the allocation of more resources to education, health and social protection.
Iran’s legislative election three days ago was Iranians’ first opportunity to vote since the “Women, Life, Freedom” protests of 2022 and 2023. It took place in a country that has been deeply divided by the Government’s repression of the rights of women and girls. People who participated in the protests have been persecuted, imprisoned on long sentences and in some cases, put to death.
The draft Bill on “Supporting the Family by Promoting the Culture of Chastity and Hijab”, if adopted, would impose severe punishments for acts that should not be deemed criminal in any country. In my ongoing engagement with the Iranian authorities, I have urged immediate reforms to uphold the rights of all Iranians, including the right of women to make their own choices, and an immediate moratorium on the death penalty.
In Chad, I am following with concern recent developments, including the killing of the opposition leader. I call for a transparent, timely and independent investigation, and for Chad’s transition ahead of upcoming elections to respect fully international human rights law.
Senegal’s planned Presidential election was abruptly cancelled last month. Following the Constitutional Court’s ruling that the vote must take place “as soon as possible”, the President has announced he will do so.
The country’s civic space has been eroded over the past three years, with close to 1,000 opposition members and activists reportedly arrested since 2021.
Many of them have been released conditionally, and I call for the review and release of all those who have not been freed, including prominent opposition figures. I encourage the Government to ensure that the proposed national dialogue includes genuine participation by people of all political views.
In the United Arab Emirates, another mass trial is underway based on counter-terrorism legislation that contravenes human rights law. In December, new charges were brought against 84 people, including human rights defenders, journalists and others who were already in prison. Several were nearing the end of their sentence or have been arbitrarily held in detention after completion of their sentence.
Their joint prosecution constitutes the second-largest mass trial in the UAE’s history, after the so-called “UAE94” case in 2021, and includes many of the same defendants. I remain concerned about broader patterns of suppression of dissent and the civic space in the country, and I urge the Government to review domestic laws in line with international human rights recommendations.
Conflict Spillovers Causing Surge of Human Rights Violations, UN Rights Chief Warns
Dialogue between China and my Office continues in areas such as counterterrorism policies, gender equality, minority protection, civic space, and economic, social and cultural rights. As we move forward, it is important that this dialogue yield concrete results, notably in respect of the policy areas raised during the Universal Periodic Review.
I recognise China’s advances in alleviating poverty and advancing development, and I have urged that these advances be accompanied by reforms to align relevant laws and policies with international human rights standards.
During the UPR, China announced plans to adopt 30 new measures for human rights protection, including amendments to the Criminal Law, and revisions of the Criminal Procedure Law. My Office looks forward to engaging with China on this; I particularly encourage revision of the vague offence of “picking quarrels and making trouble” in Article 293 of the Criminal Law, and I urge the release of human rights defenders, lawyers and others detained under such legislation.
I also call on the Government to implement the recommendations made by my Office and other human rights bodies in relation to laws, policies and practises that violate fundamental rights, including in the Xinjiang and Tibet regions. I am engaging with the Hong Kong authorities on continuing concerns about national security laws.
In the context of civic space, let me also point out that data, where it is available, shows that many States need to adopt comprehensive measures to combat police violence and discrimination. For example, last year’s Being Black in the EU survey by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights indicates that 58% of people stopped by police in the preceding year perceived the action as racially motivated, with highest rates in Germany, Spain and Sweden. Since 2016, this perception has increased in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany and Ireland. It is important to analyse the factors that lie behind these perceptions, and to address them.
Non-governmental data from the United States and Brazil continues to point to disproportionately high levels of deaths of people of African descent in the context of police interventions.
I deplore escalating attacks against LGBTQ+ people and their rights. Discriminatory legislation and policies have recently been expanded, adopted, or are under consideration, in Belarus, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Lebanon, Niger, Nigeria, the Russian Federation, Uganda and several states within the United States of America, among others. I also regret the recent court ruling in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines that maintains colonial-era criminalization of consensual same sex relations, based on long-discredited arguments and harmful stereotypes.
Recognising the rights of LGBTQ+ people goes to the meaning of equality, and the right of everyone to live free from violence and discrimination. In that light, I commend important steps towards full recognition of the rights of LGBTQ+ people in Greece, and the decriminalization of consensual same-sex relations in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Mauritius, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Singapore in the past two years.