Edited News | OHCHR
“I sometimes fear that we are losing the art of de-escalation, of keeping communication channels open, of actually embracing a culture of peace in line with international law and with the United Nations Charter,” Türk told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“Human rights is a factor of stability. In the chaos. it guides us, it offers solutions it offers orientations, it offers signposts, and it offers a direction of travel,” he said.
“Selectivity and double standards are an anathema to the foundation of the international level system. From Sudan to Myanmar, OPT, Israel to many other places – the victims of the most serious violations deserve the equal attention of the international community,” the High Commissioner said.
“Human rights issues are a matter of international concern. It is not an issue of interference in domestic affairs or in national sovereignty. That was established early on, through the UN Charter,” Türk said.
“The apartheid regime in South Africa, the decolonisation process, gender equality and feminism – all of these various things would not have happened without that external pressure. And it means as a result, there will be uncomfortable conversations. We need to be prepared to have them. And they are going to be about sensitive issues at times. That's part of this struggle. And it also will mean speaking truth to power,” he said.
“That human rights will challenge the status quo. It will challenge existing unhealthy power dynamics because they suppress, they repress, they exploit, they capture. And they often are predatory in their mechanisms, and that is power dynamics that will always be challenge to the human rights course.,” Türk said.
And the big human rights achievements have only been possible because of individuals, human rights defenders, because of their perseverance, their courage and their determination,” he said.
“So these robust, honest discussions are part of the human rights discourse. But they have to take they have to take place away from geopolitics and really out of deep concern for human rights, for everyone, everywhere,” he said.
ENDS
For more information and media requests, please contact:
In Geneva
Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org or
Liz Throssell - + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org or
Jeremy Laurence - +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org or
Marta Hurtado - + 41 22 917 9466 / marta.hurtadogomez@un.org or
Thameen Al-Kheetan - + 41 76 223 77 62 / thameen.alkheetan@un.org
Tag and share
Twitter @UNHumanRights
Facebook unitednationshumanrights
Instagram @unitednationshumanrights
STORY: UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk Interactive Dialogue with the 56th Human Rights Council
TRT: 03:22
SOURCE: OHCHR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/ NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 20 June 2024 – Geneva, Switzerland
SHOTLIST
1. Exterior: Alley of flags, Palais des Nations
2. Interior: Room 20
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “I sometimes fear that we are losing the art of de-escalation, of keeping communication channels open, of actually embracing a culture of peace in line with international law and with the United Nations Charter.”
4. Cut Aways: Room 20
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “Human rights is a factor of stability. In the chaos, it guides us, it offers solutions, it offers orientations, it offers signposts, and it offers a direction of travel.”
6. Cut Aways: Room 20
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “Selectivity and double standards are an anathema to the foundation of the international level system. From Sudan to Myanmar, OPT, Israel to many other places – the victims of the most serious violations deserve the equal attention of the international community.”
8. Cut Aways: Room 20
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “Human rights issues are a matter of international concern. It is not an issue of interference in domestic affairs or in national sovereignty. That was established early on, through the UN Charter.”
10. Cut Aways: Room 20
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “The apartheid regime in South Africa, the decolonisation process, gender equality and feminism – all of these various things would not have happened without that external pressure. And it means as a result, there will be uncomfortable conversations. We need to be prepared to have them. And they are going to be about sensitive issues at times. That's part of this struggle.And it also will mean speaking truth to power.”
12. Cut Aways: Room 20
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “It means human rights will challenge the status quo. It will challenge existing unhealthy power dynamics because they suppress, they repress, they exploit, they capture. And they often are predatory in their mechanisms, and that is power dynamics that will always be a challenge to the human rights course.”
14. Cut Aways: Room 20
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “And the big human rights achievements have only been possible because of individuals, human rights defenders, because of their perseverance, their courage and their determination.”
16. Cut Aways: Room 20
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Volker Türk UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: “So these robust, honest discussions are part of the human rights discourse. But they have to take they have to take place away from geopolitics and really out of deep concern for human rights, for everyone, everywhere.”
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday warned of the risk of the violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo escalating throughout the Great Lakes sub-region, following the recent takeover of Goma city by the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
UN human rights chief Volker Türk expressed profound concerns at the ongoing violent escalation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) caused by the ongoing Rwanda-backed M23 offensive. “If nothing is done, the worst may be yet to come, for the people of the eastern DRC, but also beyond the country’s borders,” he told a Special Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNAIDS
US aid funding cuts create confusion, put HIV prevention at risk, says UNAIDS
The US pause in foreign assistance funding has created “a lot of confusion” in community HIV prevention work, despite the waiver issued for HIV/AIDS programmes, the UN agency to combat AIDS (UNAIDS) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNFPA , OCHA , UNOG
UN agencies offered a dire assessment on Tuesday about the global impact of deep cuts to grassroots humanitarian funding by the incoming US administration and reiterated calls for Washington to retain its position as a global aid leader.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
While West Bank camp is destroyed, UNRWA delivers bulk of aid in Gaza
Large swathes of Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank have been completely destroyed following a series of controlled detonations by the Israeli security forces (ISF), the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday raised the alarm about the growing human rights crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the UN bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence and the head of UN Human Rights Myanmar team James Rodehaver, describedunprecedented levels of killing in 2024, four years since the coup.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNRWA
The largest UN agency in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, UNRWA, said on Friday that its staff are still helping the people of Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusalem who depend on them “for their sheer survival”, a day after the Israeli parliament ban on its activities entered into force.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WFP , WHO
Goma: ‘Critical’ moment for population caught in crossfire – UN humanitarians
In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), civilians caught up in heavy fighting face a “critical” 24 hours, with food and water running low and aid unable to enter, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
Nazi death camp survivor Ivan Lefkovits shared harrowing testimony of his experiences on Monday to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, with a timeless message for present and future generations: “Don't be neutral, especially not towards human suffering."
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday said it was “deeply concerned by the use of unlawful lethal force in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank”, as part of an ongoing Israeli military operation.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“We are deeply alarmed at the heightened risk of an attack by the M23 armed group on Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,” Ravina Shamdasani said.