UN Geneva - Multimedia Newsroom : HRC61 - Opening statements

Secretary General of the United Nations, Director General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, High Commissioner for Human Rights, Vice President of the Federal Council and head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, Excellencies, distinguished participants, I hereby declare open the 61st session of the Human Rights Council.

It is my great honour to welcome you all today.

Your strong presence with over 120 high level dignitaries from all regions sends a powerful and unmistakable message that this Council matters, that human rights matter and that multilateral cooperation remains indispensable in navigating our shared challenges, even amid pressures on the foundations of multilateralism.

Your presence reaffirms the determination enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and that is to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human persons, and in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.

As we mark the 20th year since the establishment of the Human Rights Council, we reflect not only on 2 decades of meaningful contributions, from fostering dialogue and cooperation among states, to advancing norms and standards, to strengthening accountability mechanisms, but also on the resiliency of this body.

The Council has evolved.

It has expanded its tools.

It has responded to emerging crises and it remains a central pillar of the international human rights architecture.

From digital and technological risks to the impacts of climate change, conflict, inequality and food insecurity, the Council has sought not only to deliberate but to promote tangible improvements on the ground.

This sustained engagement reflects the Council's enduring relevance and our shared commitment to universal respect for human rights, guided by universality, objectivity, non selectivity, and the equal treatment of all rights, including the right to development.

At the same time, you must acknowledge the ongoing financial constraints within the United Nations have affected our collective ability to fully implement our mandates.

Yet rather than retreat, these constraints compel us to act with greater resolve to innovate, remain responsive and reinforce the multiple layers of the global human rights architecture.

Regional organisations and national human rights institutions, alongside civil society, are therefore the Council's indispensable partners.

Let this session therefore serve as a renewed call to listen, to cooperate and to act, and mark the Council's rise to the demands of the moment.

Excellencies, distinguished participants.

Before handing over the floor to our distinguished guests for their opening statements, I now call on the Council to observe a moment of silence in memory of all victims of human rights violations around the world.

Excellencies, distinguished participants.

We now have the honour of hearing statements from our distinguished guests which will mark the opening of the 61st session of the Human Rights Council.

I now have the honour to give the floor to the Secretary General of the United Nations, says Excellency Mr Antonio Guterres.

Distinguished President of the Human Rights Council, High Commissioner, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, human rights are under a full scale attack around the world.

The rule of law is being outmuscled by the rule of force, and this assault is not coming from the shadows or by surprise.

It is happening in plain sight and often led by those who hold the greatest power around the world.

Human rights are being pushed back deliberately, strategically and sometimes proudly.

The consequences are devastating, as witnessed in the Council and as written in the lives of people who suffer twice, first from violence, oppression or exclusion, and then again from the world's indifference.

When human rights fall, everything else trembles.

Peace, development, social cohesion, trust, solidarity.

This is precisely why the tools of Human Rights Council, such as the Special Rapporteurs, Special Procedures, Investigative Mechanisms and Universal Periodic Review are essential.

And it is precisely why, as we mark the Council's 20th anniversary, we also recognise it's more important than ever to translate geopolitical engagement into a path towards strengthening human rights everywhere.

Excellencies, tomorrow I should address the Security Council on the 4th anniversary of Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine, where more than 50,000 civilians have been killed.

It is more than past time to end the bloodshed.

I began this month speaking to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inaliable Rights of the Palestinian People about blatant violations of human rights, human dignity and international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The current trajectory is stark, clear and purposeful.

The two state solution is being stripped away in broad daylight.

The international community cannot allow these to happen and a few days ago I was at the African Union summit where Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sayel and other crises were front and centre Excellencies.

We are living in a world where mass suffering is excused the way where humans are used as bargaining chips, where international law is treated as a mere inconvenience.

Conflicts are multiplying and the impunity has become a contagion that is not due to a lack of knowledge, tools or institutions.

It's the result of political choices.

The crisis of respect for human rights does not stand alone.

It mirrors and magnifies every other global fracture.

Humanitarian needs are exploding while funding collapses.

Inequalities are widening at staggering speed.

Countries are drowning in depth and despair.

Climate chaos is accelerating.

And technology, especially artificial intelligence, is increasingly be used in ways that suppress rights, deeper inequality and expose marginalised people to new forms of discrimination, both online and offline.

Across every front, those who are already vulnerable are being pushed further to the margins.

And human rights defenders are among the first to be silenced when they try to warn us in this coordinated offensive.

Human rights are the first casualty.

We see it in a tightening grip on civic space.

Journalists and activists gaoled.

NGOs shut down, women's rights rolled back, children's rights ignored, persons with disabilities excluded, democracies eroding, the right of peaceful assembly crushed.

And I can then once again the recent violent repression of protests in Iran.

Migrants arrest, arrested and expelled with total disregard for their human rights and their humanity.

Refugees scapegoated L GB TIQ plus communities vilified, minorities and indigenous peoples targeted.

Religious communities attacked.

Online spaces poisoned by disinformation and hate resulting in real world harm.

Excellencies Human rights are not a slogan for good times, dire duty at all times, and so we must stand up for them.

And even when it is difficult and convenient or costly, especially then, that requires action on three urgent fronts.

First, we must defend our shared foundations without compromise.

Given Charter, Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the internationals of international human rights law are not a menu.

Leaders cannot pick the parts they like and ignore the rest.

And human rights themselves are also not divisible.

Economic rights, social rights, cultural rights, civil rights and political rights.

These are inherent, universal, inalienable and interdependent excellence.

[Other language spoken]

The bomb is when the concert security take a reflect le mondo Jordi parcel with the Disney song current sank ilon varde man por lacita financier international.

I found the guarantee of pays on development in participation real El vaqui cont Calle Pele property le pre vulnerable sompriso Pierre de la debt E previs de vistis Mor sufiso le population some previous le dua Huma Y compri le educacion lisuen de sante la security eladinity not initiative only catreva reinforcing almoralia onto dua Huma PE development durable E protection context humanitare I think sedo menagiste mania plucoro is reinforced mutual more El proposing almond the Korean group the drawing male shell the system then as soon as you need F and don't create people from the only drawing mental ensemble the politic, it is activity the organisation.

[Other language spoken]

There were many city for excellencies.

Sir, we must unlock the power of human rights.

After all, human rights are not only what we defend, they are what lifts the world to a better place.

When rights are upheld, people live more freely, economies grow more fairly, communities trust more deeply, and peace and stability take old because dignity takes root.

Human rights are not an obstacle to progress.

They are essential to progress.

We have seen it at time and time again all over the world.

Where rights advance, conflict loses ground.

Where justice strengthens, violent extremism weakens.

[Other language spoken]

Where freedom prevails, societies flourish.

And so we must change course.

And that human dignity set the direction by renewing our commitment to respect for the rule of law at every level, by supporting the pivotal work of the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court, by delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals, by accelerating climate action, by upholding what makes us human excellencies.

Ladies and gentlemen, in my first address to this Council as Secretary General, I spoke of a deep personal commitment to human rights.

Growing under the Salazar dictatorship taught me that the denial of human rights corrodes every aspect of society.

Working for the United Nations has shown me our respect for human rights brings out the best in humanity.

And now, in my tense here at the helm of the UN, the power of human rights has never been more clear.

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.

We still have much work ahead together.

But these.

Since this is my final address to the opening of your session, I leave you with this appeal.

Do not let the erosion of human rights become the accepted price of political expediency or geopolitical competition.

Do not let power write a new rule book in which the vulnerable have no rights and the powerful have no limits.

Let these Human Rights Council be the voice and shield for all those he needs.

Let these be the place that helps end the broad and brutal assault on human rights.

Because a world that protects human rights protects itself.

And I thank you.

Thank you, Secretary General.

I now have the pleasure to give the floor to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr.

[Other language spoken]

You have the floor, Mr.

President, of the Human Rights Council.

Mr Secretary.

[Other language spoken]

Excellencies, a fierce competition for power, control and resources is playing out on the world stage at a rate and intensity unseen for the past 80 years.

People are feeling unmoored, anxious and insecure.

The Gears of global power are shifting and the consequences are not clear.

Some are signalling the end of the world order as we know it.

But today I want to talk about another world order, one that is organised from the crowned up and that is unshakeable.

A foundational system of how people relate to each other based on our inherent worth, our hopes and our common values.

I'm referring to the people's pursuit of dignity, equality and justice.

This quest is innate to what makes us human, to be free, to be heard and to have our basic needs met, and it is a strong counterbalance to the top down autocratic trends that we see today.

The use of force to resolve disputes between and within countries is becoming normalised.

Inflammatory threats against sovereign nations are thrown about with no regard to the fire they could ignite.

The laws of war are being brutally violated.

Mass civilian suffering from Sudan to Gaza to Ukraine to Myanmar is unfolding before our eyes.

In Sudan, there needs to be accountability for all violations by all parties, notably the war crimes and and possible crimes against humanity committed by the Rapid Support Forces in Al Fasher.

Such atrocities must not be repeated in Kordofan or elsewhere, and all those with influence need to act urgently to put an end to this senseless war.

The situation in Gaza remains catastrophic.

Palestinians are still dying from Israeli fire, cold, hunger and treatable disease.

The aid allowed in is not enough to meet the massive needs.

There are concerns over ethnic cleansing in both Gaza and the West Bank, while Israel is accelerating efforts to consolidate unlawful annexation.

Any sustainable solution must be based on two states living side by side in equal dignity and rights, in line with UN resolutions and international law.

Tomorrow marks four years since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine.

4IN terminable and agonising years, civilian casualties have soared and Russia's systematic attacks on Ukraine's energy and water infrastructure could amount to international crimes.

The fighting needs to end and I urge a focus on human rights and justice in any ceasefire or peace agreement.

In Myanmar, five years after the military coup, the awful conflict is claiming even more civilian lives and the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate.

The recent elections staged by the military have only deepened people's despair.

Across most violent conflicts today, journalists, health and aid workers are targeted in blatant violation of international law.

These actions must not be allowed to harden into the new normal.

States needs to be persistent objectors to violations of the law by pursuing accountability and by clearly denouncing these egregious crimes with consistency and without exception.

Meanwhile, violence and tensions are researching in some countries, including South Sudan and Ethiopia, and authorities in Iran have violently repressed mass protests with lethal force, killing thousands.

I will provide more detail on these and other country situations in my global update later this week.

Excellencies developments around the world point to a deeply worrying trend.

Domination and supremacy are making a comeback.

If we listen to the rhetoric of some leaders, what lurks behind it is a belief that they are above the law and above the UN Charter.

They claim exceptional status, exceptional danger, or exceptional moral judgement to pursue their own agenda at any cost.

And why wouldn't they try when they are unlikely to face consequences?

They build and sustain systems that perpetuate inequalities within and between countries.

Some weaponize their economic leverage.

They spread disinformation to distract, silence and marginalise.

A tight clique of tech tycoons controls an outside proportion of global information flows, distorting public debate, markets and even governance systems.

Corporate and state interests ravage our environment, robbing the riches of the earth for their own gain.

But at the same time, people are not watching all this from the sidelines.

They are activating their power from the ground up.

Women and young people especially are leading these movements.

They are claiming their rights to basic living conditions, to fair pay, to bodily autonomy, to self determination, to be heard, to vote freely and many other rights.

From Nepal to Madagascar, from Serbia to Peru and beyond, people are demanding equality and denouncing corruption.

Neighbours and communities standing up for each other, sometimes even risking their lives.

People are protesting war and injustice in places far from home, expressing solidarity and pressuring their governments to act.

They see human rights as a practical force for good.

And they are right.

Human rights are anathema to supremacy.

They are a direct challenge to those who seek and cling on to power.

That is what makes human rights radical and that is what gives them force.

They are universal, timeless and indestructible.

[Other language spoken]

I'll find you Disney of the MCA cleleses clav the lactual IT sussan sulve controla tominacion colonial honour de legalite racial le revolucion American en Frances en romi en Cos la toriti and control a the movement abolucionist ET en Roche en Roche de la trete transatlantic des clav le sisteme das service small E plutal quisto orebu designe nuneson le famse santuni poro von D que le le Tri de vaote la lute politicality de chandre suppose 3 April le duquermondial sanglante la chois la charter de naciones unia reafa Fundamento Levante MCA Cle en suite 18 Marques parin perio de decolonization queria firm electrois aloto de terminacion le peplus somobilis E prometro fan a la ciga gracion graciale porrecla me le trois de traviere de travios EPO protegee El etrois de person LGPT the mayor on de fillet ensemble porrecla me justis polarz en Frances Peru the largentin Siri or Sri Lanka Y legend enfi entente or levoir polacius tis climatic excellencies human rights are the thread that runs through all these movements and we do not take their achievements for granted tyranny will seize any chance and exploit any opening we must keep standing up for human rights in solidarity with each other and when we come together we wield more power than any autocrat or tech billionaire the struggle for human rights can never be derailed by the whims of a handful of leaders with reactionary supremacist agendas while some states are weakening the multilateral system we need bolder and more joined.

[Other language spoken]

This means calling out violations of international law regardless of the perpetrators.

Too often, denouncing violations by one party is labelled as siding with the enemy.

In reality, it is upholding the universality and the pursuit of justice for all.

The alternative, selective, fragmented responses weakens international law and hurts us all.

The entire human rights ecosystem is designed to promote universality and ensure consistency.

This includes the tools that are mandated by this Council, and I condemn all attacks against them.

Second, we need stronger commitment to accountability.

This includes strengthening the International Criminal Court and encouraging national prosecutions under the principle of universal jurisdiction.

We need to increase the cost of breaking international law.

Third, let's forge coalitions to champion what unites us and uphold equality, dignity, and justice for all.

We must protect the diversity of the human family and demonstrate what we gain by standing together.

In the coming weeks we will set in motion a global alliance for human rights to capture the energy and commitment that is palpable everywhere.

It will be cross regional, multi stakeholder involving states, businesses, cities, philanthropists, scientists, artists, philosophers, young people and civil society.

It will confront top down domination with grassroots solidarity and support.

It will represent the quiet majority who want a different world.

Human rights are not a political currency.

They are not up for grabs.

Our future depends on our joint commitment to defend every person's rights every time, everywhere.

[Other language spoken]

I thank the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

We will now listen to the address by Her Excellency Miss Annelina Berbach, President of the United Nations General Assembly, followed by His Excellency Mr Ignacio Cassis, Vice President of the Federal Council and Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation, in his capacity as representative of the whole States.

Following the statements, we will officially commence the high level segment of this session.

Now I have the honour to give the floor to the President of the 80th Session of the General Assembly, Her Excellency Miss Annelina Berba.

Distinguished president of the Human Rights Council, Mr Secretary General, Mr High Commissioner for Human Rights, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, apologies.

New York is still not so used to snow, so I'm very happy that I made it, especially in these very challenging times.

And as you have heard already, the importance of human rights and as we are all agreeing, at least in principles, otherwise we would not speak at the Human Rights Council about the importance in the 20th year of this Human Rights Council to protect human rights.

I would like to start a bit differently, bit self reflectively to our own work here, especially given the latest headlines of the worst structural human rights violation, some call it gender apartheid system against Afghan women and girls.

Because frankly speaking, I cannot stop thinking about the debates we had also here in our UN system, also here in Geneva and New York, in different capitals, about how we should deal with the humanitarian aid delivery and the principles of humanitarian aid and support while women were not allowed to work anymore, also not for the UN anymore, and girls could not go to school anymore.

And I think you also remember very well, because these are hard debates and hard decisions, that there was also some of the argumentation saying, well, this is Kandahar, Kabul might be different, there might be more moderate, which could prevail.

And in some speaking points of capitals and maybe also of UN officials, the before most important point of protecting human rights and women rights was in some of these debates a bit lowered.

So therefore, I think this is also a moment where we should remember once and for all and again that appeasement in the light of most severe human rights violations never prevails.

And that we should not learn the hard lesson again that women rights are indeed the benchmark for the state of a society, the state of the world, because of women, meaning half of the world population, 4 billion people, are not safe.

No one will be safe.

So as we are seeing not only a dramatic bachelors in women, but also human rights and other rules and standards which were believed to be set in stone and are now openly questioned, dismissed or violated.

My speech today, I would say similar as a SD speech, is a call to action to all of us, to all of you, because 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 staying silent until one day what seemed permanent simply vanishes.

So being a member of this Human Rights Council, a member state, an ambassador, a minister and UN official in these times is not a spectator sport.

We are not bystanders who have the luxury of standing on the sidelines while injustice unfolds.

[Other language spoken]

Inaction is a choice, and it has consequences.

Yet the good news is action is a choice as well and it lies in our own hands and the human rights system.

The Universal Declaration, the principles as enshrined in the Charter need this action of every one of us now.

Action by governments and diplomats, officials and parliamentarians.

It needs all of us.

It needs you, your support, your leadership, your principled stance, your cross regional cooperation to protect and defend and champion all the three principles of the Charter, peace and security, development and human rights.

As we all know, they are interconnected, that they benefit us all individually and collectively.

It needs you as ambassadors to stand up when the next attack on human rights comes by single amendments to resolutions for which we thought they were written in stone, and suddenly deleting some humans, women or L GB TIQ plus persons, people with disabilities, refugees, migrants.

You don't know who will be next.

As a Pact for the future states, these three pillars are equally important, interlinked and mutually and reinforced.

We cannot have one without the others.

It means always endeavouring to bridge divides and find compromise, insofar as compromise doesn't become appeasement.

When compromise shifts from mutual accommodation to the slow erosion or deliberate dismantling of the very foundations of this institution, then it's no longer longer compromise.

It's compromising, therefore it needs you distinguished ministers as well to uphold human rights, not only here in the Council when we are meeting all together, but in your national debate.

When in highly populistic times with social media pressure in seconds, some challenge suddenly the 1951 Refugee Convention again or start lowering the age of marriage, meaning de facto allowing child well girls marriage.

Or when we have the spread of anti-Semitic racist, the Islamophobic propaganda trying to rewrite our criminal law, our civil law.

It needs a clear commitment from every Member State that UN premises belong to the United Nations, including UNRWA, and that their schools are currently essential for guaranteeing Palestinian children their right to education.

It needs a clear commitment from every Member States that the abduction of Ukrainian children is the war crime.

It needs a clear commitment of every Member States that everywhere around the world people have the right to demonstrate peacefully and freely.

Also in Iran, it needs all of us to neither give in nor give up if we're seeing humanitarian catastrophes, starvation, mass killings and mass rape in Sudan year after year, seeing the devastating situation of the Rohingya, yet continuing to try even harder for delivery of humanitarian assistance, for people to return, for people to be safe.

It needs our common understanding that our human right work is not static, yet must evolve as new threats to human dignity emerge.

This includes rapidly evolving fields of technology and artificial intelligence.

Youth responsible.

It can expand knowledge, improve healthcare, strengthen disaster response and support climate resilient agriculture.

But without safeguard, the same technologies can entrenching biases, amplifying harm, even teaching our own children how to commit suicide currently in some countries without any consequence.

Therefore, responsible global governance of technology is essential.

And the AI Summit just the other day, as well as U NS Independent International Scientific Panel on AI approved by the General Assembly just 11 days ago, are great proof that even and especially in these challenging times, we are indeed Better Together if we take the step forward.

And in this regard, I would really like to thank our dear Secretary General, because he was the one pushing forward the artificial intelligence framework, the debate that this is also responsibility for our United Nations, because it's not true that we have to lower our ambitions for caring around the world.

The United Nations means especially facing new chances but also challenges.

And for sure, in these times when our system is heavily under pressure and 80 years is quite some time, we have to reform.

So it needs all of you, all of us in Geneva, as well as in New York and the other places around the world together to engage jointly in our UNAD reform process.

And we have to be true to ourselves.

Again, there is an overlap between the Human Rights Council and the Third Committee.

There are duplication across agencies.

And this is the reason why we are doing this reform, to make this institution stronger and better, more efficient and not weakening it.

Finally, for an institution built on human rights representing all of the people, one questions looms large.

How is it that within 80 years a woman has never served as Secretary General, even though half of the 8 billion people we are supposed to serve are women and girls?

[Other language spoken]

But action as well, after member states called in consensus to strongly encourage women nomination, do not suddenly as a decision about it comes closer.

Let them ask you again to explain.

[Other language spoken]

And what is about the competence, the question we never hear about when we talk about male applications?

On the contrary, make them explain.

Why not after 80 years, half of the society, half of the world has also right to be represented.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, leadership matters.

We are just around the corner of Italy, obviously, where the Olympics are just closing and the Paralympics are starting.

And they're athletes from all around the world.

And all their diversity showed us again what we can achieve when we come together, despite our differences, or especially because of our diversity, to compete fiercely yet fairly on the same playing field, governed by the same rules, always in mutual respect.

That a life is a life, That a human being is a human being.

Now it's up to us, to you, to all of us to stand up in this spirit.

It needs your support, your leadership, your principal stand, your cross regional corporation to defend these principles, our common global human rights here in Geneva, in New York, in your capital, your government.

Now every day I thank you.

I thank the President of the General Assembly.

I now have the honour of inviting His Excellency Mr Ignacio Cassis, head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, to make a statement on behalf of the host country.

We have the floor, Excellency.

Merci, Monsieur le President, you conceded waddelom.

[Other language spoken]

Secretary General of the United Nations, Director General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, High Commissioner for Human Rights, Vice President of the Federal Council and head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, Excellencies, distinguished participants, I hereby declare open the 61st session of the Human Rights Council.

It is my great honour to welcome you all today.

Your strong presence with over 120 high level dignitaries from all regions sends a powerful and unmistakable message that this Council matters, that human rights matter and that multilateral cooperation remains indispensable in navigating our shared challenges, even amid pressures on the foundations of multilateralism.

Your presence reaffirms the determination enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, and that is to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human persons, and in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.

As we mark the 20th year since the establishment of the Human Rights Council, we reflect not only on 2 decades of meaningful contributions, from fostering dialogue and cooperation among states, to advancing norms and standards, to strengthening accountability mechanisms, but also on the resiliency of this body.

The Council has evolved.

It has expanded its tools.

It has responded to emerging crises and it remains a central pillar of the international human rights architecture.

From digital and technological risks to the impacts of climate change, conflict, inequality and food insecurity, the Council has sought not only to deliberate but to promote tangible improvements on the ground.

This sustained engagement reflects the Council's enduring relevance and our shared commitment to universal respect for human rights, guided by universality, objectivity, non selectivity, and the equal treatment of all rights, including the right to development.

At the same time, you must acknowledge the ongoing financial constraints within the United Nations have affected our collective ability to fully implement our mandates.

Yet rather than retreat, these constraints compel us to act with greater resolve to innovate, remain responsive and reinforce the multiple layers of the global human rights architecture.

Regional organisations and national human rights institutions, alongside civil society, are therefore the Council's indispensable partners.

Let this session therefore serve as a renewed call to listen, to cooperate and to act, and mark the Council's rise to the demands of the moment.

Excellencies, distinguished participants.

Before handing over the floor to our distinguished guests for their opening statements, I now call on the Council to observe a moment of silence in memory of all victims of human rights violations around the world.

Excellencies, distinguished participants.

We now have the honour of hearing statements from our distinguished guests which will mark the opening of the 61st session of the Human Rights Council.

I now have the honour to give the floor to the Secretary General of the United Nations, says Excellency Mr Antonio Guterres.

Distinguished President of the Human Rights Council, High Commissioner, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, human rights are under a full scale attack around the world.

The rule of law is being outmuscled by the rule of force, and this assault is not coming from the shadows or by surprise.

It is happening in plain sight and often led by those who hold the greatest power around the world.

Human rights are being pushed back deliberately, strategically and sometimes proudly.

The consequences are devastating, as witnessed in the Council and as written in the lives of people who suffer twice, first from violence, oppression or exclusion, and then again from the world's indifference.

When human rights fall, everything else trembles.

Peace, development, social cohesion, trust, solidarity.

This is precisely why the tools of Human Rights Council, such as the Special Rapporteurs, Special Procedures, Investigative Mechanisms and Universal Periodic Review are essential.

And it is precisely why, as we mark the Council's 20th anniversary, we also recognise it's more important than ever to translate geopolitical engagement into a path towards strengthening human rights everywhere.

Excellencies, tomorrow I should address the Security Council on the 4th anniversary of Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine, where more than 50,000 civilians have been killed.

It is more than past time to end the bloodshed.

I began this month speaking to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inelible Rights of the Palestinian People about blatant violations of human rights, human dignity and international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The current trajectory is stark, clear and purposeful.

The two state solution is being stripped away in broad daylight.

The international community cannot allow these to happen and a few days ago I was at the African Union summit where Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sayel and other crises were front and centre Excellencies.

We are living in a world where mass suffering is excused the way where humans are used as bargaining chips, where international law is treated as a mere inconvenience.

Conflicts are multiplying and the impunity has become a contagion that is not due to a lack of knowledge, tools or institutions.

It's the result of political choices.

The crisis of respect for human rights does not stand alone.

It mirrors and magnifies every other global fracture.

Humanitarian needs are exploding while funding collapses.

Inequalities are widening at staggering speed.

Countries are drowning in depth and despair.

Climate chaos is accelerating.

And technology, especially artificial intelligence, is increasingly be used in ways that suppress rights, deeper inequality and expose marginalised people to new forms of discrimination, both online and offline.

Across every front, those who are already vulnerable are being pushed further to the margins.

And human rights defenders are among the first to be silenced when they try to warn us in this coordinated offensive.

Human rights are the first casualty.

We see it in a tightening grip on civic space.

Journalists and activists gaoled.

NGOs shut down, women's rights rolled back, children's rights ignored, persons with disabilities excluded, democracies eroding, the right of peaceful assembly crushed.

And I can then once again the recent violent repression of protests in Iran.

Migrants arrest, arrested and expelled with total disregard for their human rights and their humanity.

Refugees scapegoated L GB TIQ plus communities vilified, minorities and indigenous peoples targeted.

Religious communities attacked.

Online spaces poisoned by disinformation and hate resulting in real world harm.

[Other language spoken]

Human rights are not a slogan for good times.

Dire duty at all times.

And so we must stand up for them.

And even when it is difficult and convenient or costly, especially then, that requires action on three urgent fronts.

First, we must defend our shared foundations without compromise.

[Other language spoken]

Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the internationals of international human rights law are not a menu.

Leaders cannot pick the parts they like and ignore the rest.

And human rights themselves are also not divisible.

Economic rights, social rights, cultural rights, civil rights and political rights.

These are inherent, universal, inalienable and interdependent.

[Other language spoken]

The bomb is when the concert security take it reflect le mondo Jordi parcel with the Disney of Sankaran sank ilon VAT the main por lacite tu financier international.

I found the guarantee of pays on development in participation real El vaqui cont Calle Pele property le pre vulnerable sompriso Pierce de la Det E previs de vistis Mor sufiso la population some previous le dua Huma Y compri le educacion lisuen de sante la security eladinite not initiative only catreva reinforcing al manoliya onto dua Huma PE development durable a protection context humanitare I think sedo menagiste mania plucoro is reinforced mutual more El proposing almond the Crean group.

The drawing male shelled the system.

Then as soon as you need F and don't create people from the only draw human ensemble the politique, it is activity the organisation.

There were many city for excellencies.

Sir, we must unlock the power of human rights.

After all, human rights are not only what we defend, they are what lifts the world to a better place.

When rights are upheld, people live more freely, economies grow more fairly, communities trust more deeply, and peace and stability take old because dignity takes root.

Human rights are not an obstacle to progress.

They are essential to progress.

We have seen it at time and time again all over the world.

Where rights advance, conflict loses ground.

Where justice strengthens, violent extremism weakens.

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Where freedom prevails, societies flourish.

And so we must change course.

And that human dignity set the direction by renewing our commitment to respect for the rule of law at every level, by supporting the pivotal work of the International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court, by delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals, by accelerating climate action, by upholding what makes us human excellencies.

Ladies and gentlemen, in my first address to this Council as Secretary General, I spoke of a deep personal commitment to human rights.

Growing under the Salazar dictatorship taught me that the denial of human rights corrodes every aspect of society.

Working for the United Nations has shown me our respect for human rights brings out the best in humanity.

And now, in my tense here at the helm of the UN, the power of human rights has never been more clear.

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.

We still have much work ahead together, but these.

Since this is my final address to the opening of your session, I leave you with this appeal.

Do not let the erosion of human rights become the accepted price of political expediency or geopolitical competition.

Do not let power write a new rule book in which the vulnerable have no rights and the powerful have no limits.

Let these Human Rights Council be the voice and shield for all those in need.

Let these be the place that helps end the broad and brutal assault on human rights.

Because a world that protects human rights protects itself.

And I thank you.

Thank you, Secretary General.

I now have the pleasure to give the floor to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr.

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You have the floor, Mr.

President, of the Human Rights Council.

Mr Secretary, General, Excellencies, a fierce competition for power, control and resources is playing out on the world stage at a rate and intensity unseen for the past 80 years.

People are feeling unmoored, anxious and insecure.

The Gears of global power are shifting and the consequences are not clear.

Some are signalling the end of the world order as we know it.

But today I want to talk about another world order, one that is organised from the ground up and that is unshakeable.