Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Thursday that the guideline of thumb of regulation is at grave threat of becoming “the Rule of Lawlessness,” pointing to a bunch of illegal moves throughout the globe from Russia`s invasion of Ukraine and coups in Africa`s Sahel area to North Korea`s unlawful nuclear guns application and Afghanistan`s extraordinary assaults on women`s and girls` rights.
The U.N. leader additionally referred to as examples the breakdown of the guideline of thumb of regulation in Myanmar for the reason that navy ousted the elected authorities of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 main to “a cycle of violence, repression and intense human rights violations,” and the susceptible rule of regulation in Haiti that’s beset via way of means of sizeable rights abuses, hovering crime rates, corruption and transnational crime.
“From the smallest village to the worldwide stage, the guideline of thumb of regulation is all that stands among peace and balance and a brutal conflict for energy and resources,” Guterres advised the U.N. Security Council.
The secretary-wellknown lamented, however, that during each area of the arena civilians are struggling the results of conflicts, killings, growing poverty and starvation even as international locations continue “to flout global regulation with impunity” together with via way of means of illegally the usage of pressure and growing nuclear guns.
As an instance of the guideline of thumb of regulation being violated, Guterres pointed first to Russia`s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
The Ukraine struggle has created “a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe, traumatized a era of children, and multiplied the worldwide meals and strength crisis,” the secretary-wellknown stated. And relating to Russia`s annexation of 4 areas in Ukraine in past due September in addition to its 2014 annexation of Crimea, he stated any annexation because of the risk or use of pressure is a contravention of the U.N. Charter and global regulation.
The U.N. leader then condemned illegal killings and extremist acts in opposition to Palestinians and Israelis in 2022, and stated Israel`s enlargement of settlements — which the U.N. has again and again denounced as a contravention of global regulation — “are riding anger and despair.”
Guterres stated he is “very concerned” via way of means of unilateral tasks in latest days via way of means of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu`s new conservative authorities, that’s enforcing an ultra-nationalist schedule that might threaten a two-nation solution.
“The rule of regulation is on the coronary heart of accomplishing a simply and complete peace, primarily based totally on a two-nation solution, in step with U.N. resolutions, global regulation and former agreements,” he stressed.
More broadly, the secretary-wellknown stated the guideline of thumb of regulation is the inspiration of the United Nations, and key to its efforts to locate non violent answers to those conflicts and different crises.
He advised all 193 U.N. member states to uphold “the imaginative and prescient and the values” of the U.N. Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to abide via way of means of global regulation, and to settle disputes peacefully.
The council assembly on strengthening the guideline of thumb of regulation, presided over via way of means of Japan`s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi whose u . s . determined at the topic, sparked clashes, particularly over the strugglefare in Ukraine, among Russia and Western supporters of the Kyiv authorities. Nearly eighty international locations spoke.
“Today, we’re beset via way of means of the strugglefare of aggression in Europe and conflicts, violence, terrorism and geopolitical tensions, starting from Africa to the Middle East to Latin America to Asia Pacific,” Hayashi stated.
“We, the member states, need to unite for the guideline of thumb of regulation and cooperate with every different to get up in opposition to violations of the Charter which includes aggression” and “the purchase of territory via way of means of pressure from a member nation,” he stated in a clean connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield advised the council “an ironclad dedication” for the U.S. and a essential precept of the United Nations is that “no person, no top minister or president, no nation or u . s . is above the regulation.”
Despite “unparalleled” improvements in the direction of peace and prosperity for the reason that U.N. changed into based at the ashes of World War II, she stated a few international locations are failing of their dedication to the U.N. Charter`s principles — “the maximum obvious instance” Russia — or are “allowing rule breakers to hold on with out accountability.”
Thomas-Greenfield known as for folks that don`t admire sovereignty, territorial integrity, human rights and essential freedoms to be held accountable, naming Russia, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Myanmar, Belarus, Cuba, Sudan and Afghanistan`s Taliban rulers.
Russia`s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused the West of the usage of the council assembly “to promote the narrative approximately the obvious duty of Russia for inflicting threats to global peace and security, ignoring, however, their very own egregious violations.”
He stated that earlier than final Feb. 24, “global regulation changed into again and again flouted,” claiming the roots of the contemporary situation “lie withinside the spectacular preference of Washington to play a position of world policeman.”
Nebenzia pointed to severa times together with NATO bombings in former Yugoslavia and Libya, the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq “the usage of a fake pretext” of the presence of guns of mass destruction, of the “strugglefare on terror” in Afghanistan — and he blamed the West for what Moscow calls the contemporary “unique navy operation.”
Ukraine`s First Deputy Foreign Minister Emine Dzhaparova stated “it`s very black and white” that Russia is liable for the crimes in Ukraine and need to be held accountable.”
She additionally warned the Security Council: “The regulation of pressure that Russia has been barbarically working towards nowadays over Ukraine offers a completely clean sign to anyone on this room: No one is stable any more.”