“It seems to me we are at a fork in the road. We can either continue on our current path — a treacherous ‘new normal’ — and sleepwalk into a dystopian future. Or we can wake up and turn things around for the better, for humanity and the planet,” Türk said.
“The ‘new normal’ cannot be endless, vicious military escalation and increasingly horrifying, technologically “advanced” methods of warfare, control, and repression. The ‘new normal’ cannot be continued indifference to deepening inequalities within and between States,” he said.
“It cannot be the free-for-all spread of disinformation, smothering facts and the ability to make free and informed choices. Heated rhetoric and simplistic fixes, erasing context, nuance, and empathy. Paving the way for hate speech and the dire consequences that inevitably follow,” Türk said.
“The ‘new normal’ cannot be that national sovereignty is twisted to shroud – or excuse – horrific violations,” he added.
“We can and must make a different choice. Reconnect with our common humanity, nature, and our planet. In other words, we could choose to be guided by human rights and the universal values that we all share,” he said.
“I have been speaking about the negative impact on peoples’ rights of entrenched power structures, and of the misuse of power. And yet, movements such as those against apartheid, racism, for women’s rights, for environmental rights, and many others have shown us how human rights can trigger positive change in society, steering us towards greater justice and stability,” he said.
Amid elections scheduled during 2024, Türk called on voters to keep in mind the issues that matter most to them – be it a home, education for their children, their health or job, justice, their family and loved ones, the environment, to be free from violence, tackling corruption, being heard.
“I urge voters to ask themselves which of the political platforms or candidates will work for the human rights of everyone,” he said.
Türk stressed that States must not – cannot – accept blatant disregard for international law, including binding decisions of the Security Council and orders of the International Court of Justice.
He highlighted how, in many situations, even minimal humanitarian aid to civilians has been instrumentalized, diverted or indeed blocked altogether, as is access for human rights monitors.
“For those of us engaged in this work, it is as if we are standing on the banks of a river watching people drown, with lifebuoys piled at our feet,” Türk said.
“States themselves have designed international human rights and humanitarian law to preserve and guarantee our common humanity. These norms are our mainstay against unbridled power. All parties to conflicts and other States, particularly those with influence, must do everything they can to put an end to violations,” he stated.
ENDS
STORY: UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk – “Human rights are our mainstay against unbridled power”
TRT: 03:35
SOURCE: OHCHR/ UNOG
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: English/NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 9 September 2024 – GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Hospitals continue to overflow with people injured while seeking food - WHO
As besieged Palestinian civilians face widespread malnutrition and starvation, hospitals in the Strip are increasingly overwhelmed by the influx of victims of shootings and other injuries at food distribution areas, warns the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , WHO , UNMAS
Urgent help is needed to halt a deadly cholera outbreak that is sweeping across Sudan, UN agencies said on Friday, while warning that communities continue to be terrorized by parties to the conflict even as they flee violence.
2
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News , Images | UNEP
Negotiations got under way at UN Geneva on Tuesday to agree on a legally binding treaty to curb plastic pollution, with delegates from nearly 180 countries attending.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Gaza: Hundreds of trucks per day of free aid needed “for months”, in addition to commercial supplies - OCHA
Despite the tactical pauses Israel introduced last week to allow some safe passage for humanitarian convoys, the amount of aid that has entered Gaza remains by far insufficient for the starving population, and UN trucks continue to face impediments on their way to delivering aid.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
Aid agencies echoed wider warnings of growing signs of widespread starvation in Gaza on Tuesday, as UN-partnered international food security experts released their most dire assessment yet of the situation in the wartorn enclave.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNDP , UNHCR
Sudan: urgent help needed as more than 1.3 million war-displaced people begin to return home
As conflict rages on across parts of Sudan, pockets of relative safety have emerged in the past four month, spurring more than one million internally displaced Sudanese to make their way home, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM). A further 320,000 cross-border refugees have come back to Sudan since last year, mainly from Egypt and South Sudan, to assess the current situation before deciding to return to their country for good.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
Gaza: SOS messages describe people fainting from hunger; UN health worker detained
Worrying alerts from United Nations staff in Gaza who have been fainting from hunger and exhaustion over the past 48 hours have increased fears for people’s survival in the devastated enclave, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , UNOG
Over 11.6 million refugees risk losing aid access due to funding cuts, says UNHCR
Approximately one in three refugees and other vulnerable individuals normally supported by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) are expected to lose out from funding cuts, it said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, made the following announcement on the Office’s opening of a new mission in Bangladesh.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
“The surge in the number of Afghans forced or compelled to return to Afghanistan this year is creating a multi-layered human rights crisis requiring the urgent attention of the international community,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday called for accountability and justice for the killings and other gross human rights violations and abuses in the southern city of Suweida.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR
Syria: hundreds killed in Sweida, ‘widespread’ violations as civilians flee for their lives
Amid violent clashes in southern Syria’s Sweida governorate, a picture of grave human rights abuses and rising humanitarian needs is emerging by the hour, the UN said on Friday.