Human rights violations to lead to disastrous outcomes: UN official

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, warned Monday that disrespect for human rights could lead to "a colossus of violence and death."

"Human rights violations are like a signal, the sharp zig-zag lines of a seismograph flashing out warnings of a coming earthquake," said the official in an opening statement at the 31st session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva's Palais des Nations.

In a damning speech, Al Hussein deplored the increasing departure from the body of institutions and laws encapsulated by the UN in favor of generalized indifference.

"More and more states appear to believe that the legal architecture of the international system is a menu from which they can pick and choose, trashing what appears to be inconvenient," he said.

In light of myriad crises affecting millions across the world, the high commissioner called out the simplistic approach used by a number states when addressing complex issues.

"Many leaders are pandering to a simplistic nationalism which mirrors the simplified and destructive 'us' versus 'them' mind-set of the extremists and fans a rising wind of prejudice and fear," he added.

The Jordanian warned that international humanitarian law, which provides extra protection to fighters, civilians, the sick and wounded, and people who have laid down their arms, was also being side-lined.

"In Syria, previous to the temporary cessation of hostilities which began last weekend, this has been the case for five long years," he reminded.

The 52-year-old further condemned similar wide-ranging disregard for human life in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, South Sudan and Yemen.

"The damage done by these violations, in bloodshed, and needless suffering, and deaths from treatable illnesses and wounds, is dreadful," Al Hussein noted, while also cautioning against the anti-immigrant and anti-minority rhetoric prevalent in many of the world's societies.

Last year, over one million refugees and migrants reached European soil, most of them having fled conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq.

"The ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu is said to have observed, 'We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center space that makes the wagon move'." That central space is our values. Our principles are the force that create resilience, the capacity to resist threats," he iterated.

"I urge member states to rise above the crescendo of xenophobia and gather lessons from the great integrative forces of history," Al Hussein said, while lauding the growing role played by the council within the United Nations.

"In its second decade, the Human Rights Council must have an important impact on world events and help to ensure that the frightful human rights violations which we are seeing today are not the prologue to even greater suffering and chaos, tomorrow," he concluded.

Created in 2006, the HRC is an inter-governmental body within the UN made up of 47 states and is responsible for the promotion and protection of all human rights around the globe.

The 31st HRC session will take place between Feb. 29 and March 24. Endit