The United Nations’ top human rights official warns the fight against terror must not be used as an excuse to undermine democracy and human rights.
In a major speech to the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council, Zeid Raad al-Hussein said efforts by states to combat terrorism are resulting in large scale rights violations against the very citizens they claim to defend.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, al-Hussein, warns that an overreaction to extremist violence threatens to erode the system for global security, which states built 70 years ago to ward off the horror of war.
He says counterterrorist operations that are disproportionate and brutal violate democratic norms and risk handing the terrorists a propaganda tool. In his speech, the high commissioner cites a range of violations committed by terrorist groups, notably the Islamic State, known as ISIS or ISIL, and the Nigerian Boko Haram militants.
He describes acts of murder, torture and other extreme acts of cruelty committed against women and children, genocidal attacks on ethnic as well as religious groups and the destruction of cultural heritage.
As repugnant as these acts are, the high commissioner notes any response to extremist violence must be targeted, proportionate and legal to be truly effective.
“Military campaigns, financial sanctions and attempts to stanch the inflow of weapons-such as the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty-may be part of the solution,” he said. “But other actions are needed to stem the root causes that feed into these conflicts. We must acknowledge that large numbers of people do not join such extremist movements en masse because they have been suddenly and inexplicably hypnotized.”
Zeid says extremism is nurtured by ideology. He also says people who are alienated by years of state tyranny, repression, discrimination and deprivation are vulnerable to the lure of propaganda messages from extremist groups, such as ISIL, which promise them an alternative, as well as a better and more meaningful life.
“Many of the recruits that flock to ISIL from well over 50 countries are drawn, I believe, by messages of persecution and pity,” Al Hussein said. “Filled with an ill-defined rage at what they perceive as unfair treatment in their own context, they may genuinely feel they are signing up to protect the abused…The fact that a vast majority of ISIL’s victims are fellow Muslims receives far less publicity. A real campaign of ideas to discredit ISIL will need to mobilize such facts.”
In his wide-ranging speech, the high commissioner notes deep-seated concerns about restrictions of freedom of expression and the shrinking of democratic space in several countries. These include Armenia, Bangladesh, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Hungry, Russia and Venezuela.
He also expresses regret at the continued extensive use of the death penalty around the world and highlights serious cases of human rights abuses in countries such as the Central African Republic, North Korea, Mexico, Sudan and South Sudan.
These and numerous other issues will be debated and explored during the course of the current session of the Human Rights Council, which continues until the end of the month.
