Human rights are under attack from all sidescomplained Monday in Geneva, the head of the UN, Anthony Guterresurging them to give them “a new impetus” in a world that is “going backwards”.

Guterres, along with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, participated in the opening of the 52nd session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), which was to run for nearly six weeks.

Volker Türk, for its part, denounced the return of the “ancient authoritarianism” and the “destructive wars of aggression”.from a bygone era, which have global repercussions”, referring to “Russia’s senseless invasion of Ukraine”.

The Russian occupation of Ukrainebut also the situation in Iran, Syria, Nicaragua, Haiti or Ethiopia, will be the main themes of this 52nd session.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has led to the most massive violation of human rights that is known today,” stressed UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Never before has the Human Rights Council met for so long, reflecting the importance of the moment when the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is celebrated. The war in Ukraine, poverty, racism… the UN chief stressed the Universal Declaration “attacked from all sides” and denounced governments that “undermine their foundations” or “bring down”.

Much progress has been made in the last century on human rights and development, but now, Guterres warned, “instead of continuing this progress, we are going backwards.”

We need to give them “a new impetus”, he insisted, recalling that they are the solution to many planetary problems, such as climate change or the disastrous use of new technologies.

War crimes in Ukraine

About 150 senior leaders, including the heads of diplomacy from France, Iran and China, will participate in HRC meetings through Thursday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will speak via video link on Monday.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov is expected to speak on Thursday. Despite the NGO’s calls, it is not certain that the diplomats will leave the room when the Russian official is speaking, as they did last year when the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, participated via videoconference.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine will be at the center of the talks. At the end of the session, a vote will be taken to continue the work of the bureau’s investigators in the former Soviet Republic, who will present their first report on March 20, after reporting possible war crimes in September.

Ukrainian ambassador Yevheniia Filipenko calls for a “strengthening” of the resolution, so that the mandate of the investigators is defined. But it is not guaranteed that the final text will reflect the will of Kiev, due to the possible blockade by other countries.

“We will have to be very dynamic and very active so that other countries’ resolutions are adopted and prevent a China-Russia-Iran-Venezuela-Cuba axis from building a wall against resolutions,” a European diplomat told AFP.

In Iran, following the repression of demonstrations sparked by the death in captivity of the young Mahsa Amini, the mandate of the country’s rapporteur is at stake.

“The priority is that the mandate is extended. But the second priority is that the text reflects the terrible deterioration of the situation that has occurred in recent months since the assassination of Mahsa Amini,” said a Western diplomat.