UN chief: Human rights are losing ground in the world

Antonio Guterres stresses need to ‘defend defenders,’ saying more than 1,000 journalists and activists killed in 3 years

By AP 25 February 2019, 1:32 pm

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference after his meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, on June 21, 2018. (AFP Photo/Yuri Kadobnov)

GENEVA, Switzerland — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday denounced a “groundswell of xenophobia, racism and intolerance,” and said human rights are losing ground in the world.

The UN chief kicked off the high-level segment of the Human Rights Council by expressing alarm at “shrinking civic space,” with journalists and activists targeted.

Guterres said more than 1,000 journalists and human rights defenders have been killed over the past three years.

Four environmental activists, mostly indigenous to their regions, were killed on average every week last year, he said.

“We must do more to defend defenders and end reprisals against those who share their human rights stories,” Guterres said.

Broadening the message, he also expressed concerns about economic inequality and warned that “big data” and facial-recognition technologies are being misused.