Human rights standards worldwide are under “unprecedented pressure,” the UN says, warning that “the rhetoric of fascism” is becoming commonplace in parts of Europe and the United States.
Speaking ahead of the international Human Rights Day on December 10, UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein urges people around the globe to push back against a dangerous erosion of rights protections.
United Nations Human Rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein (screen capture: YouTube/Nizar Abboud)
“2016 has been a disastrous year for human rights across the globe,” Zeid says in a statement, warning that “if the growing erosion of the carefully constructed system of human rights and rule of law continues to gather momentum, ultimately everyone will suffer.”
His comments follow a string of populist victories in Europe, and the stunning November election of Donald Trump as the next US president.
“In some parts of Europe, and in the United States, anti-foreigner rhetoric full of unbridled vitriol and hatred, is proliferating to a frightening degree, and is increasingly unchallenged,” Zeid warns. “The rhetoric of fascism is no longer confined to a secret underworld of fascists, meeting in ill-lit clubs or on the ‘Deep Net’. It is becoming part of normal daily discourse.”
— AFP
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