Source: United Nations – Geneva

The Human Rights Council this morning opened its fifty-eighth regular session, hearing statements from the President of the General Assembly, the United Nations Secretary-General, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland.  The President of the Council called for a minute of silence for victims of human rights violations around the world. 

Jürg Lauber, President of the United Nations Human Rights Council, declared the fifty-eighth session of the Human Rights Council open, saying they were gathered at a time of profound global challenges and an alarming backlash against human rights around the world.  The Council’s responsibility was to make a tangible impact on people’s lives.  Victims of human rights violations needed to be at the centre of discussions.  The international community needed to rise to the challenge and reaffirm that human rights were not optional; they were essential for peace, security and development. 

Philemon Yang, President of the General Assembly, said the three pillars of the United Nations were deeply interwoven.  Upholding human rights was fundamental to achieving lasting peace and security, and constituted a sound basis for the realisation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  The world faced serious global challenges and was witnessing a sharp decline in human rights, with growing violations and often brazen disregard for international humanitarian law.  The human suffering and destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo were intolerable; these injustices must end.  Mr. Yang said protecting human rights and dignity was a cornerstone of his role as President of the General Assembly. 

António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, said the session was beginning under the weight of a grim milestone: the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in violation of the United Nations Charter.  Human rights were the oxygen of humanity.  But one by one, human rights were being suffocated: by autocrats; by a patriarchy that kept girls out of school, and women from basic rights; by wars and violence; by warmongers who disregarded international law and the United Nations Charter; by the climate crisis; by a morally bankrupt global financial system; by runaway technologies like artificial intelligence; by growing intolerance against entire groups; and by voices of division and anger.  This represented a direct threat to all the hard-won mechanisms and systems established over the last 80 years to protect and advance human rights. 

Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the international system was going through a tectonic shift, and the human rights edifice built up over decades had never been under so much strain.  Last year, the Office contributed to the release of some 3,145 arbitrarily detained people and took part in some 11,000 human rights monitoring missions.  It also observed nearly 1,000 trials, and documented some 15,000 situations of human rights violations around the world.  Mr. Türk said upholding human rights made eminent sense for stability, for prosperity, for a better common future, and was a winning proposition for humanity. 

Ignazio Cassis, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, said today, he had mixed feelings.  He was proud because Switzerland had been elected to the Human Rights Council and because Ambassador Lauber had been elected as the Council’s President, the first appointment of a Swiss President to the Council.  However, Mr. Cassis said, he was also deeply concerned as they lived in a time of global uncertainty, influenced by the climate crisis and global authoritarianism; a large portion of the global population lived under authoritarian rule. In this context, the Council had a duty to act. 

The webcast of the Human Rights Council meetings can be found here.  All meeting summaries can be found here.  Documents and reports related to the Human Rights Council’s fifty-eighth regular session can be found here.

The fifty-eighth session of the Council is being held from 24 February to 4 April.  At 10 a.m., the Council started its high-level segment.

Opening Remarks by the President of the Council

JÜRG LAUBER, President of the United Nations Human Rights Council, declared the fifty-eighth session of the Human Rights Council open.  They were gathered at a time of profound global challenges and an alarming backlash against human rights around the world.  All needed to reflect on whether they were doing enough to protect the most vulnerable.  When human rights weakened, conflicts escalated, and societies fractured. Today, they were seeing this play out in real time with the escalation of violations and the shrinking of human rights protections.  This required an urgent response.  The Council’s responsibility was to make a tangible impact on people’s lives. Victims of human rights violations needed to be at the centre of discussions.  Their dignity needed to be everyone’s priority, Mr. Lauber said.

Mr. Lauber said all needed to rise to the challenge and reaffirm that human rights were not optional; they were essential for peace, security and development. They needed to engage in earnest discussions and ensure that their words translated into actions, he concluded.

At the request of the President, the Council held a minute’s silence in memory of victims of human rights violations around the world.

Statements by Keynote Speakers

PHILEMON YANG, President of the General Assembly, congratulated the President of the Council and the Bureau on their election. The three pillars of the United Nations were deeply interwoven.  Upholding human rights was fundamental to achieving lasting peace and security, and constituted a sound basis for the realisation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  The world faced serious global challenges and was witnessing a sharp decline in human rights, with growing violations and often brazen disregard for international humanitarian law.  Those violations had devastating consequences: more than 300 million people now required humanitarian assistance.  In every conflict, the victims were often women, children and minorities who bore the heaviest burden.  The human suffering and destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of Congo were intolerable; these injustices must end.  Even war had rules.  Civilians must never be targets. 

The recent special session and the establishment of an independent fact-finding mission to investigate and document violations in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo were good symbols.  The Council had demonstrated its availability to act swiftly and uphold accountability.  The recent ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza offered a glimmer of hope.  Just and lasting peace in the Middle East depended on the two State solution, which would allow Israel and Palestine to exist in peace and stability.  Dialogue was a powerful weapon which needed to be used for peace everywhere.  With the eightieth anniversary of the United Nations approaching, calls for global peace needed to be more resolute, harnessing the powerful symbolism of this milestone year.

Last September, world leaders unanimously adopted the Pact for the Future, along with the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration for Future Generations.  The Pact charted a course toward a more just, equitable, and sustainable world, and reaffirmed international law, including the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international humanitarian law.  The challenge now was implementation which required full global mobilisation, with robust engagement from governments, United Nations agencies, and civil society.   Organizations in Geneva would play a critical role in this process.

Mr. Yang said protecting human rights and dignity was a cornerstone of his role as President of the General Assembly.  Last month, he convened a signature event on preserving dignity in armed conflict.  He was encouraged by the strong political will of Member States to uphold and reinforce their commitment to international humanitarian law.  Advocacy would be continued to eliminate child labour in all forms, including in armed conflict, and a discussion on child labour would be held in this regard. 

Additionally, in the coming months, a high-level meeting would be convened to consider the recommendations of the working group on aging, to ensure older persons had full enjoyment of their human rights.  The spirit that guided the decision of Member States last December to declare a second International Decade for People of African Descent would be upheld.  Mr. Yang said he would convene the annual commemorative meetings for the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

Mr. Yang said he had joined the gender champions network, pledging to promote gender equality and empowerment and implementing a gender perspective throughout the work of the General Assembly.  He had re-established the Advisory Board on Gender Equality to focus on women’s economic empowerment and was happy that the Human Rights Council had followed this good practice.  Additionally, co-facilitators had been appointed to lead consultations in preparation for a high-level meeting, which would commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action—Beijing+30.

This year marked the thirtieth anniversary of the World Programme for Youth, underscoring the critical role of young people in driving sustainable development.  A discussion would be held in May on how digitalisation could enhance the Sustainable Development Goals.  Throughout these engagements, Mr. Yang said he would outline the importance of civil society’s work in enhancing human rights.  The annual high-level debate on crime prevention would be held, which would mark the ten-year anniversary of the Nelson Mandela Rules.  This year, the Nelson Mandela prize would also be awarded to two individuals who had dedicated their lives to serving humanity.  States and relevant stakeholders were invited to submit their nominations this month. 

These topics aimed to promote human rights and preserve human dignity for all everywhere.  Strengthening cooperation between the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council had never been more urgent.  The shared goal of the two mechanisms was upholding human rights and dignity, for everyone, everywhere. 

ANTÓNIO GUTERRES, United Nations Secretary-General, said the session was beginning under the weight of a grim milestone: the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in violation of the United Nations Charter.  More than 12,600 civilians had been killed, with many more injured.  Entire communities had been reduced to rubble, hospitals and schools destroyed.  All needed to spare no effort to bring an end to this conflict and achieve a just and lasting peace in line with the United Nations Charter, international law and General Assembly resolutions.  Conflicts like the war in Ukraine exacted a heavy toll on people; on fundamental principles like territorial integrity, sovereignty and the rule of law; and on the vital business of this Council.  Without respect for human rights — civil, cultural, economic, political and social — sustainable peace was a pipedream.

Like the Council, human rights shone a light in the darkest places. Through its work, and the work of the High Commissioner’s Office around the world, the Council was supporting brave human rights defenders risking persecution, detention and even death.  It was working with governments, civil society and others to strengthen action on human rights.  And it was supporting investigations and accountability.  Five years ago, the United Nations launched its Call to Action for Human Rights, embedding human rights across the work of the United Nations around the world in close cooperation with partners.  Mr. Guterres said he would continue supporting this important work, and the High Commissioner’s Office, as the United Nations fought for human rights everywhere.

Mr. Guterres said that human rights were the oxygen of humanity.  But one by one, human rights were being suffocated — by autocrats, crushing opposition because they feared what a truly empowered people would do; by a patriarchy that kept girls out of school, and women at arm’s length from basic rights; by wars and violence that stripped populations of their right to food, water and education; and by warmongers who thumbed their nose at international law, international humanitarian law and the United Nations Charter.

Human rights were being suffocated by the climate crisis; by a morally bankrupt global financial system that too often obstructed the path to greater equality and sustainable development; by runaway technologies like artificial intelligence that held great promise, but also the ability to violate human rights at the touch of a button; by growing intolerance against entire groups — from indigenous peoples, to migrants and refugees, to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex plus community, to persons with disabilities; and by voices of division and anger who viewed human rights not as a boon to humanity, but as a barrier to the power, profit and control they sought.  In short, human rights were on the ropes and being pummelled hard.  This represented a direct threat to all the hard-won mechanisms and systems established over the last 80 years to protect and advance human rights.

But as the recently adopted Pact for the Future reminded all, human rights were, in fact, a source of solutions.  The Pact provided a playbook on how the world could win the fight for human rights on several fronts.

First, human rights through peace and peace through human rights. Conflicts inflicted human rights violations on a massive scale.  In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, violations of human rights had skyrocketed since the horrific Hamas attacks of October 7 and the intolerable levels of death and destruction in Gaza.  Mr. Guterres expressed grave concern about the rising violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers and other violations, as well as calls for annexation. The world was witnessing a precarious ceasefire.  The world needed to avoid at all costs a resumption of hostilities.  The people in Gaza had already suffered too much.  It was time for a permanent ceasefire, the dignified release of all remaining hostages, irreversible progress towards a two-State solution, an end to the occupation, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, with Gaza as an integral part.

In Sudan, bloodshed, displacement and famine were engulfing the country. The warring parties needed to take immediate action to protect civilians, uphold human rights, cease hostilities and forge peace.  Domestic and international human rights monitoring and investigation mechanisms needed to be permitted to document what was happening on the ground.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the world was seeing a deadly whirlwind of violence and horrifying human rights abuses, amplified by the recent M23 offensive, supported by the Rwandan Defence Forces.  As more cities fell, the risk of a regional war rose.  It was time to silence the guns, time for diplomacy and dialogue.  The recent joint summit in Tanzania offered a way forward with a renewed call for an immediate ceasefire.  The sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo needed to be respected.  The Congolese people deserved peace.

Mr. Guterres called for a renewed regional dialogue in the Sahel to protect citizens from terrorism and systemic violations of human rights, and to create the conditions for sustainable development.

In Myanmar, the situation had grown far worse in the four years since the military seized power and arbitrarily detained members of the democratically elected government.  The world needed greater cooperation to bring an end to the hostilities and forge a path towards an inclusive democratic transition and a return to civilian rule, allowing for the safe return of the Rohingya refugees.

In Haiti, the world was seeing massive human rights violations, including more than a million people displaced, and children facing a horrific increase in sexual violence and recruitment into gangs.  Mr. Guterres said that in the coming days, he would put forward proposals to the United Nations Security Council for greater stability and security for the people of Haiti, namely through an effective United Nations assistance mechanism to support the Multilateral Security Support Mission, the national police and Haitian authorities.  A durable solution required a political process led and owned by the Haitian people that restored democratic institutions through elections. 

The Pact for the Future called for peace processes and approaches rooted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international law and the United Nations Charter.  It proposed specific actions to prioritise conflict prevention, mediation, resolution and peacebuilding.  It also included a commitment to tackle the root causes of conflict, which were so often enmeshed in denials of basic human needs and rights.

Second, the Pact for the Future advanced human rights through development. The Sustainable Development Goals and human rights were fundamentally intertwined.  They represented real human needs: health, food, water, education, decent work and social protection.  With less than one-fifth of the Goals on track, the Pact called for a massive acceleration through a Sustainable Development Goal Stimulus, reforming the global financial architecture, and taking meaningful action for countries drowning in debt.  This needed to include focused action to conquer the most widespread human rights abuse in history: inequality for women and girls.  The Pact called for investing in battling all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls, and ensuring their meaningful participation and leadership across all walks of life.

Along with the Declaration on Future Generations, the Pact also called for supporting the rights and futures of young people through decent work, removing barriers for youth participation, and enhancing training.  The Global Digital Compact called on nations to champion young innovators, nurture entrepreneurial spirit, and equip the next generation with digital literacy and skills.

Third, the Pact for the Future recognised that the rule of law and human rights went hand-in-hand.  The rule of law, when founded on human rights, was an essential pillar of protection. It shielded the most vulnerable. It was the first line of defence against crime and corruption.  It supported fair, just and inclusive economies and societies.  It held perpetrators of human rights atrocities to account.  It enabled civic space for people to make their voices heard, and for journalists to carry out their essential work, free from interference or threats.  It also reaffirmed the world’s commitment to equal access to justice, good governance, and transparent and accountable institutions.

Fourth, the world needed to achieve human rights through climate action. Last year was the hottest on record, capping the hottest decade on record.  Rising heat, melting glaciers and hotter oceans were a recipe for disaster. Floods, droughts, deadly storms, hunger, mass displacement — the war on nature was also a war on human rights.  The world needed to choose a different path. Mr. Guterres said he saluted the many Member States who legally recognised the right to a healthy environment, and he called on all countries to do the same. 

Governments needed to keep their promise to produce new, economy-wide national climate action plans this year, well ahead of the thirtieth Conference of the Parties in Brazil.  Those plans needed to limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees, including by accelerating the global energy transition.  The world also needed a surge in finance for climate action in developing countries, to adapt to global heating, slash emissions and accelerate the renewables revolution, which represented a massive economic opportunity. They needed to stand up to the misleading campaign of many in the fossil fuel industry and its enablers, who were aiding and abetting this madness, while also protecting and defending those on the front lines of climate justice.

Fifth, the Pact promoted human rights through stronger, better governance of technology.  Mr. Guterres expressed deep concern about human rights being undermined as fast-moving technologies expanded into every aspect of everyone’s lives.  At its best, social media was a meeting ground for people to exchange ideas and spark respectful debate.  But it could also be an arena of fiery combat and blatant ignorance; a place where the poisons of misinformation, disinformation, racism, misogyny and hate speech were not only tolerated, but often encouraged.  Verbal violence online could easily spill into physical violence in real life.  Recent rollbacks on fact-checking and content moderation online were re-opening the floodgates to more hate, more threats, and more violence.  These rollbacks would lead to less free speech, not more, as people became increasingly fearful to engage on these platforms.  Meanwhile, the great promise of artificial intelligence was matched by limitless peril to undermine human autonomy, human identity, human control and human rights.

In the face of these threats, the Global Digital Compact brought the world together to ensure that human rights were not sacrificed on the altar of technology. This included working with digital companies and policymakers to extend human rights to every corner of cyberspace, including a new focus on information integrity across digital platforms. Mr. Guterres said the Global Principles for Information Integrity that he launched last year would support and inform this work as all pushed for a more humane information ecosystem.

The Global Digital Compact also included the first universal agreement on the governance of artificial intelligence that brought every country to the table and set commitments on capacity building, so all countries and people benefited from artificial intelligence’s potential — by investing in affordable internet, digital literacy, and infrastructure; by helping developing countries use artificial intelligence to grow small businesses, improve public services, and connect communities to new markets; and by placing human rights at the centre of artificial intelligence-driven systems. The Pact’s decisions to create an Independent International Scientific Panel on Artificial Intelligence and an ongoing global dialogue that ensured all countries had a voice in shaping its future were important steps forward.  All needed to implement them, Mr. Guterres said.

Mr. Guterres said all could help end the suffocation of human rights by breathing life into the Pact for the Future and the work of this Council.  He called for the Council’s cooperation, saying that there was no time to lose.

VOLKER TÜRK, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the international system was going through a tectonic shift, and the human rights edifice built up over decades had never been under so much strain. Today marked the third anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.  Any sustainable peace must be anchored in the rights, needs and aspirations of the Ukrainian people, in accountability, and in the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law.  In Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, where the suffering had been unbearable, Mr. Türk repeated his call for an independent investigation into grave violations of international law, committed by Israel in its attacks across Gaza, and by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. Any sustainable solution must be based on accountability, justice, the right to self-determination, and the human rights and dignity of both Israelis and Palestinians.  Any suggestion of forcing people from their land was completely unacceptable. 

Beyond Ukraine and Gaza, conflicts and crises were tearing communities and societies apart, from Sudan to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, Myanmar and Afghanistan.  Social tensions were rising; the richest one per cent controlled more wealth than most of humanity; and the climate crisis was a human rights catastrophe.  Digital technologies were widely misused to suppress, limit and violate rights, with artificial intelligence bringing new speed and scale.  This was the backdrop against which the Office and the broader human rights ecosystem, including the Council, were working to safeguard and promote the rights of everyone, everywhere. 

Last year, the Office contributed to the release of some 3,145 arbitrarily detained people and took part in some 11,000 human rights monitoring missions; observed nearly 1,000 trials, and documented some 15,000 situations of human rights violations around the world.  In addition to daily interventions with governments, the team issued about 245 statements, shining a light on human rights concerns in some 130 countries.  Teams on the ground contributed to human rights-based approaches to sustainable development, taxation and public spending, from Cambodia to Jordan and Serbia. Mr. Türk called on the international community to ensure the Office, national human rights institutions, and human rights non-governmental organizations could continue their essential work. 

Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, despite setbacks, there had been steady progress, but today this could no longer be taken for granted.  The global consensus on human rights was crumbling under the weight of authoritarians, strongmen and oligarchs, with autocrats now controlling around one-third of the world’s economy, more than double the proportion 30 years ago. 

Everywhere, there were attempts to ignore, undermine, and redefine human rights, to chip away at gender equality and the rights of migrants, refugees, people with disabilities, and other minorities. 

There needed to be an all-out effort by everyone, to make sure that human rights and the rule of law remained foundational to communities, societies and international relations.  Otherwise, the picture was very dangerous.  In previous centuries, the unrestrained use of force by the powerful, indiscriminate attacks on civilians, population transfers, and child labour were commonplace.  Dictators could order atrocity crimes consigning vast numbers of people to their deaths.  This could happen again.  But the world was far from powerless to prevent it.  The tools were the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the body of international law; and the institutions that worked to implement them.

Today, there needed to be an alternative vision, rooted in facts, the law and compassion.  Human rights were about facts.  That was why the Office was monitoring, documenting, and reporting on violations and abuses in war zones and crises around the world, including Ukraine, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan and Haiti.  Facts on their own could and must prompt action, which was why the work of the Council, and the other human rights mechanisms, was so important.  International legal frameworks and institutions, including the International Criminal Court, were fundamental to ensuring justice and achieving accountability, preventing future violations, and making the world safer for everyone. It was also important to have strong institutions at the national level to protect vulnerable people.

Finally, human rights were nothing without compassion, going beyond thought leadership, to heart leadership.  Human rights had been central to movements for equality and justice throughout history and had the universal power to move people to action. In countries where human rights were not widely respected, people would risk their lives to defend them.  Mr. Türk paid tribute to brave human rights activists everywhere.  Upholding human rights made eminent sense for stability, for prosperity, for a better common future, and was a winning proposition for humanity. 

IGNACIO CASSIS, Chief of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, said today, he had mixed feelings — a sense of pride and deep worry.  He said he was proud because Switzerland had been elected to the Human Rights Council and because Ambassador Lauber had been elected as the Council’s President, the first appointment of a Swiss President to the Council.

However, Mr. Cassis said, he was also deeply concerned as they lived in a time of global uncertainty, influenced by the climate crisis and global authoritarianism — a large portion of the global population lived under authoritarian rule.  In this context, the Council had a duty to act.

Last year was marked by major elections.  More than four billion citizens, half of the world’s population, went to the ballot box.  This was a test for global democracy, and the result of these elections was deep unease. Young people were becoming more radical and social networks were exposing all to unfiltered hatred. Globalisation had reduced poverty but had led to deindustrialisation.  Identity claims had taken on a scale that was destabilising societies.  Social networks and the climate crisis were fuelling a sense of chaos and distrust in governments.

Human rights were a fundamental bedrock on which all could stabilise societies. Rights to free and transparent elections, the right to work and the right to a sustainable environment were all very important, but the challenges to these and all rights were growing. Today, the world marked the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine.  There was also conflict in the Middle East, instability in southern Africa and war in sub-Saharan Africa.  It was more necessary than ever before to focus efforts on fundamental rights, including the right to education, ownership and the total prohibition of torture and slavery.  The Human Rights Council needed to act in a united manner and with determination. Concerted action was needed to guarantee peace and stability.  This was something the Swiss Presidency could achieve.

Human rights were not a luxury but a necessity.  Switzerland was concerned by the decisions of some Member States to withdraw from the Council.  Every member of the United Nations needed to shoulder their responsibilities toward human rights.  Mr. Cassis expressed his full support for Ambassador Lauber, whose experience inside and outside the United Nations system would serve him well.

Switzerland would also endeavour to uphold international humanitarian law and human rights as pillars of peace and security, as a member of the United Nations Security Council.  The state of the world was a reminder that Switzerland’s mission was far from complete. Mr. Cassis closed by wishing the Council fruitful discussions.

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Produced by the United Nations Information Service in Geneva for use of the media; 
not an official record. English and French versions of our releases are different as they are the product of two separate coverage teams that work independently.

 

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