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The new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Austria’s Volker Türk, granted a wide-ranging interview to FRANCE 24 from Geneva. This week, the High Commissioner travelled to Ukraine to observe first-hand the consequences of Russia’s invasion on the Ukrainian people. During his visit, Türk had to take cover in an underground shelter in Kyiv as Russian missiles hit civilian targets. Speaking to FRANCE 24, he condemned what he called “war crimes” in Ukraine: “The picture that emerges is [one of] torture, summary executions, disappearances, wilful killings of civilians and that’s very, very tragic and shocking.”
Turning to the situation in Iran, where the authorities have carried out the first execution of a protester following months of peaceful anti-regime demonstrations, with others likely to follow, Türk said: “I hope that reason will come back to the authorities and [that] they will actually impose a moratorium on executions and abolish the death penalty.”
Asked about a recent deal on a political transition in Sudan, a country he also visited recently, Türk said: “I came back with guarded optimism about the course that the country wants to take and I was therefore very pleased to see that this political framework agreement was signed.”
Pressed on the follow-up to the UN report on serious human rights violations in China, which was published under his predecessor Michelle Bachelet, the High Commissioner said: “My focus is on the recommendations and yes, we have started discussing it with them (the Chinese authorities) and I will continue doing this. This is my duty, I have to follow up on the recommendations. And hope springs eternal.”
Finally, with human rights under attack around the world, Türk urged political leaders around the globe to “read, embrace and follow up on” the text of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He concluded: “That text is as important now as it was when it was drafted” almost 70 years ago.
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