UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, said that warring parties around the world had exceeded “the limits of what is acceptable – and legal – on many fronts, with total contempt for the other, trampling human rights at their core” and stressed the urgent need “to find our way back.” “To peace.”
Presenting his annual report on the global human rights situation – in which he spoke about the situations in Gaza and Sudan, among other regions – Mr. Türk said that the gap between humanitarian funding requirements and available resources amounts to $40.8 billion. He pointed out that humanitarian appeals are funded at an average of only 16.1 percent, while global military spending last year reached $2.5 trillion.
He said that the data collected by his office shows that the number of civilian deaths in armed conflicts rose by 72 percent in 2023, while it shows that the percentage of women killed has doubled and the percentage of children has tripled compared to the previous year.
He added: “Killing and injuring civilians has become a daily occurrence, and the destruction of vital infrastructure has become a devastating and reckless daily occurrence. Children are being shot, hospitals are being bombed, and heavy shells are being fired at entire communities, and alongside all of that (spreading) hate speech, division, and inhumanity.”
“I have notified both generals of their responsibility for possible war crimes and other atrocity crimes, including through sexual violence and ethnically motivated attacks,” he said. “They are ultimately responsible for the impact of their actions on civilians, including mass displacement and impending famine,” he said. and the worsening humanitarian catastrophe.”
