The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) has criticized what he sees as attempts to thwart the enforcement of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights around the world.
“Instead of unity of purpose, and decisive, cooperative leadership, we’re seeing the politics of division and distraction,’’ Volker Türk said.
Türk said this at the start of the autumn session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday.
He referred to the attempt by some Islamic-influenced countries such as Pakistan or Egypt to remove mentioning of the rights of transgender people from documents.
Türk condemned what he called the fabrication of artificial disputes over gender, migration or imagining a ‘clash’ of civilizations.
China in particular has been trying for years to place economic, social and cultural human rights above the civil and political rights of individuals, he said.
This means, for example, that the right to freedom of expression would take a back seat so that the state can first fight poverty and promote economic development.
This division is “an ideological artefact that is not supported by reality.
“There is no such division or hierarchy in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and 75 years after its adoption, we urgently need to return to that core,’’ Türk said.
Türk condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and said he viewed the human rights situation in Russia with deep concern.
“The authorities continue to use the judicial system to silence critical voices, targeting human rights activists and groups for legitimate work,’’ he said.
