UN rights chief urges voters to beware 'strongman' politicians who 'throw glitter in our eyes'

GENEVA -- The U.N. human rights chief on Monday urged voters to be wary of “strongman” politicians and personalities "that throw glitter in our eyes” as more elections loom in a busy electoral calendar this year.

Volker Türk didn't mention leaders or countries by name, but alluded to a schedule that includes votes to come in countries like Georgia, Tunisia and the United States.

Türk spoke in his traditional opening remarks to sessions of the Human Rights Council, which typically list a wide array of rights concerns globally. The 47-country body — whose membership changes each year — was opening a five-week autumn session.

“I urge voters to ask themselves which of the political platforms or candidates will work for the human rights of everyone,” he said. “And I urge all voters to be vigilant. Be wary of the shrill voices, the ‘strongman’ types that throw glitter in our eyes, offering illusory solutions that deny reality.”

He denounced some politicians who “scapegoat migrants, refugees and minorities” around electoral periods in places like France, Germany, Hungary, the United Kingdom and the U.S.

High in his mind were the spillover of conflicts on civilians. He warned of “cycles of hatred” that could continue in the Middle East after the “horrific” Oct. 7 attacks in Israel — in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed. More than 40,000 Palestinian have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count.

Ukrainian civilians were “trapped in cycles of terror” because of repeated military strikes by Russian forces in Ukraine, Turk said. He also lamented that Russia has declined to grant access to his team to look into the rights situation in its southwestern Kursk region — which Ukrainian forces recently invaded.

"Troubled by the impact of recent escalations on civilians, including in Kursk, my office has pursued access to all affected areas to be able to monitor the human rights situation. I regret the Russian Federation has so far declined to grant such access to relevant areas,” he said.

The rights chief spoke of a humanitarian crisis amid conflict in Sudan and cited estimates that at least 20,000 people have been killed, saying: “The world cannot let this continue.”

The Austrian-born U.N. veteran contrasted both hopeful and worrying developments. He noted a “positive trend” toward the abolition of the death penalty worldwide, but a rise in executions in Iran and Saudi Arabia.

He hailed a shift toward decriminalization of same-sex relations in many places, but decried “a spate of laws” that aimed to penalize them in countries like Ghana, Indonesia, Iraq and Uganda.

Türk blasted “attempts to muzzle” freedoms of expression and assembly and a free press, pointing to detentions of journalists in Azerbaijan — which hosts a U.N. climate conference in November — arrests of opposition leaders in Tunisia, and “undue restrictions on civic space” in China, among others.

Also Monday, the rights council was taking up discussions on rights situations in Afghanistan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

This year's council president — Omar Zniber, Morocco's ambassador in Geneva — cautioned that a U.N. liquidity crisis has crimped some council activities. He cited a 60% budget shortfall for the United Nations as of July, saying “that automatically has an impact on all the organization's activities.” The U.N. had a $3.6 billion budget for 2024 approved last year.

For example, Zniber said that council staffers had to appeal for funding to allow for an extra two days of operation in this session — allowing it to run until Oct. 11 instead of Oct. 9 — and said that 17 council activities had to be postponed during its June session.

“So we can only say that, indeed, the (council) activities suffer from this lack of liquidity," he told reporters Wednesday before the session. Council sessions at the U.N. Geneva complex incur costs like security, facilities management and interpretation.