UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday said he is “gravely concerned” over the rising violence in the occupied West Bank and the human rights violations in Gaza.
Guterres, addressing the 58th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, said: “I am gravely concerned by the rising violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers and other violations, as well as calls for annexation.”
“In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, violations of human rights have skyrocketed since the horrific Hamas attacks of October 7 and the intolerable levels of death and destruction in Gaza,” he said.
Describing the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas as “precarious,” he urged: “We must avoid at all costs a resumption of hostilities. The people in Gaza have already suffered too much.”
“It’s 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,” he added.
NO EFFORT MUST BE ‘SPARED’ TO END CONFLICT IN UKRAINE
Guterres said the 58th session of the council begins “under the weight of a grim milestone” as Russia’s war in Ukraine marks its third anniversary “in violation of the UN charter.”
More than 12,600 civilians were killed, with many more injured, he said, noting that entire communities were reduced to rubble while hospitals and schools were destroyed.
“We must spare no effort to bring an end to this conflict, and achieve a just and lasting peace in line with the UN Charter, international law and General Assembly resolutions,” he added.
He stressed that human rights are “being suffocated” by autocrats, patriarchy, wars and violence, warmongers, climate crisis, morally bankrupt global financial system, runaway technologies like Artificial Intelligence, growing intolerance against entire groups, and by voices of division and anger.
“In short, human rights are on the ropes and being pummeled hard,” he said. “This represents a direct threat to all of the hard-won mechanisms and systems established over the last 80 years to protect and advance human rights.”
MORE CITIES FALL IN CONGO, RISK OF REGIONAL WAR RISES
Guterres warned that in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, there is a “deadly whirlwind of violence and horrifying human rights abuses” amplified by the recent M23 offensive, supported by the Rwandan Defense Forces.
“As more cities fall, the risk of a regional war rises,” he said.
On Sudan, he said the “bloodshed, displacement and famine are engulfing the country.”
“The warring parties must take immediate action to protect civilians, uphold human rights, cease hostilities and forge peace,” he said. “And domestic and international human rights monitoring and investigation mechanisms should be permitted to document what is happening on the ground.”
CLIMATE GOALS, SOCIAL MEDIA, AI
Guterres saluted the many member states who legally recognize the right to a healthy environment and urged the rest to do the same.
“Governments must keep their promise to produce new, economy-wide national climate action plans this year, well ahead of COP30 in Brazil,” he said. “Those plans must limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees — including by accelerating the global energy transition.”
Regarding the misinformation on social media and its consequences, he said the recent rollbacks on social media fact-checking and content moderation are “re-opening the floodgates to more hate, more threats, and more violence.”
“Make no mistake. These rollbacks will lead to less free speech, not more, as people become increasingly fearful to engage on these platforms,” he said.
“Meanwhile, the great promise of Artificial Intelligence is matched by limitless peril to undermine human autonomy, human identity, human control — and yes, human rights,” he added.
In the face of these threats, he said, the Global Digital Compact brings the world together to ensure that human rights “are not sacrificed on the altar of technology.”