The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, on Monday blamed Russia’s abandonment of the Black Sea grain deal for the continued rise in food prices that has particularly hurt the Horn of Africa.
‘The Russian Federation’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July and the attacks on grain facilities in Odessa [cidade da Ucrânia] and elsewhere have caused prices to rise again in many developing countries.”he declared at the opening of the 54th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Referring specifically to the high levels of malnutrition in Somalia caused by drought, Volker Türk emphasized that rising prices are putting the right to food “out of reach for many people.”
Russia withdrew two months ago from the U.N.-brokered grain deal, which aimed to ease the global food crisis, arguing that the part aimed at exporting grains and fertilizers from Russia was not fulfilled.
Ukraine has accused Russia of deliberately targeting grain terminals and infrastructure in the Black Sea port of Odessa and elsewhere.
In the same speech, Türk referenced human rights crises around the world and referenced a series of incidents, calling the burning of the Quran in Sweden “disgusting” and calling for “strong corrective measures” from China in response to a previously published report. years by his predecessor, who highlighted possible crimes against humanity against Muslims in Xinjiang.
The High Commissioner also focused his intervention on climate change and its devastating consequences, calling for the fight against the impunity of “those who steal the planet.”
“We need urgent action now. And we know what to do. The real question is: what’s holding us back?,” he asked, following the failure at last weekend’s G20 of a joint call to end the use of fossil fuels. .
Türk also called for a “rapid” phase-out of fossil fuels and welcomed efforts around the world to integrate “ecocide” into the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
However, he admitted he was “shocked” by “the indifference towards the more than 2,300 people declared dead or missing in the Mediterranean this year”, stressing that in other parts of the world a much larger number of migrants and refugees perishes. .
The official pointed to the situations “along the United States-Mexico border, as well as Saudi Arabia, where his services are “urgently seeking clarification of allegations of killings and abuse” of migrants, and denounced “the lies and disinformation” that, thanks to new technologies, “are mass-produced to sow chaos and confusion, deny reality and ensure that no measures are taken – which could endanger the interests of the elites”.
Türk also referred to the decade-long crisis in the Sahel region, which spans North Africa, in countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, and pointed to the lack of investment in services such as education and healthcare. that fuel extremism.
Source: DN
