The number of children deaths in global conflicts tripled in 2023 compared to the previous year, and the number of women doubled, the high commissioner of the UN for human rights, Volker Türk, in his update on the situation of fundamental freedoms on the planet.
In total, civilian victims in the multiple conflicts that ravage the planet in places such as Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Burma, Syria and Yemen, among many others, grew by 72%Türk said at the opening of the 56th session of the Human Rights Council, citing statistics from the office he heads.
“It is disheartening to see how the different parties in conflict exceed the limits of what is acceptable and legal on many fronts, with total contempt for the other, trampling on human rights”assured the head of human rights before the delegations of the United Nations member states.
Given this, “The murder of civilians has become a daily routine, as has the destruction of infrastructure. “Children being shot, hospitals bombed, heavy artillery against entire communities.”he denounced.
Loop
Türk gave the situation in Gaza as the first example of these abuses, where he recalled that 120,000 people have been killed or injured in eight months of Israeli attacks.
“The relentless attacks on Gaza are causing immense suffering and widespread destruction, and the arbitrary obstruction of humanitarian aid continues. Israel continues to arbitrarily detain thousands of Palestinians. “This cannot continue”Türk noted, recalling that UN reports indicate that Israel and Hamas could be committing war crimes.
The Austrian also stressed that since Israel intensified its operations in Rafah in May, at the southern end of the Gaza Strip and the last refuge for many Palestinians who left their homes in areas further north, “more than a million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced once again.”
Ukraine
In the war in Ukraine, the high commissioner expressed his concern about the deterioration of the situation in the country after two and a half years of Russian invasion and particularly denounced the situation in Kharkiv, where the recent Russian ground offensive “has destroyed entire communities”.
“Many inhabitants, mostly elderly, are hiding in the basements, without electricity, water or adequate food, while the area suffers intense attacks with explosives”highlighted the Austrian.
Türk also recalled that Russia’s repeated waves of large-scale attacks against energy infrastructure have destroyed the 68% of Ukraine’s electricity production capacity, “placing the system at a point of no return, especially in the face of winter.”
Other fronts
But Türk also alluded to other conflicts less present in the headlines and on television, in places such as the Sahel, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, Haiti or Sudan, the latter country which, according to the high commissioner, “it is being destroyed before our eyes.”
The generals leading the two sides in conflict in Sudan “they have responsibility for the commission of possible war crimes and other atrocities”including ethnically motivated attacks and sexual violence, he said.
“They are ultimately responsible for the impact of their actions on civilians, with effects such as mass displacement, the threat of famine, or a growing humanitarian disaster,” said the high commissioner.
At other levels that have not yet reached that of open conflict, Türk also warned this Tuesday about the speeches “that turn migrants into scapegoats”something that in his opinion has become common “among populists and the extreme right” in electoral campaigns in Europe, North America and other regions.
She also denounced setbacks in the situation of women and girls in various countries, with flagrant examples in Iran and Afghanistan, where they suffer serious violations of their fundamental freedoms.
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Source: Gestion
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