Gaza and the war in Ukraine on the table of the UN Human Rights Council

This Monday morning in Geneva is the opening of the new session of the UN Human Rights Council.

This is the first since the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

The subject should monopolize the debates in the coming days, on par with Ukraine, just two years after the start of the Russian invasion.

Except that not all countries have the same reading of these conflicts, or even of human rights.

The United Nations Human Rights Council meets for a special session on the situation in Iran, November 24, 2022. © VALENTIN FLAURAUD / AFP

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With our correspondent in Geneva,

Jérémie Lanche

For once,

Antonio Guterres

traveled to Geneva to open the 55th session of the Human Rights Council.

The head of the United Nations should emphasize that human rights are inseparable from peace.

And that both notions are today attacked from all sides.

A reference, both to the conflict in

Gaza

and

Ukraine

.  

These two crises represent only a tiny fraction of the topics on the menu for this session.

There are, among others, Sudan, Syria, Haiti and the

Democratic Republic of Congo

, one of the largest humanitarian and internal displacement crises in the world, one of the oldest too.

And this is precisely what Western countries are criticized for by the so-called Southern countries: an unfailing commitment to Ukraine, but little consideration for other crises.

Read alsoWar in Sudan: the UN condemns “appalling violations” committed by both camps

This trial is being fueled secretly by

Russia

, excluded from the Council in 2022, but still very influential behind the scenes.

Last fall, Moscow failed to get re-elected to the Council.

But she still convinced almost half of the member states to reallocate her seat to her.

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