UN rights chief concerned by ‘elementary shift’ in US direction

GENEVA: The UN rights chief voiced deep concern Monday over the United States’ “fundamental shift” in direction since Donald Trump returned to energy and decried the “unchecked power” of “unelected tech oligarchs”.
Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council, Volker Turk voiced his strongest rebuke so far of the dramatic about-face seen in the United States in current weeks.
“We have enjoyed bipartisan support from the United States of America on human rights over many decades,” he stated, earlier than including: “I am now deeply worried by the fundamental shift in direction that is taking place domestically and internationally”.
Without naming Trump, he decried that “policies intended to protect people from discrimination are now labelled as discriminatory”.
“Progress is being rolled back on gender equality. Disinformation, intimidation and threats, notably against journalists and public officials, risk undermining the work of independent media and the functioning of institutions.”
Turk additionally lamented that “divisive rhetoric is being used to distort, deceive and polarise”.
“This is generating fear and anxiety among many,” he warned.
“On these issues and more, my office will continue building on our long history of constructive engagement.”
Since returning to the White House on January 20, Trump has signed a whopping 79 government orders pertaining to points from overseas coverage to transgender rights.
With his Republican Party solely holding slim majorities in Congress, and searching for to maneuver shortly to remake the US authorities, Trump has brandished his pen as a weapon focusing on commerce, civil rights and federal paperwork.
He has additionally made X and Tesla proprietor Elon Musk his cost-cutter-in-chief, as head of the so-called division of presidency effectivity (DOGE).
Without mentioning Musk by title, Turk on Monday voiced concern over the rising affect wielded by “a handful of unelected tech oligarchs”, who’ve individuals’s knowledge.
In feedback not restricted to the scenario in the United States, he warned that such tech oligarchs “know where we live, what we do, our genes and our health conditions, our thoughts, our habits, our desires and our fears”.
“They know us better than we know ourselves. And they know how to manipulate us.”
Turk pressured that “any form of unregulated power can lead to oppression, subjugation, and even tyranny: the playbook of the autocrat”.
He known as on international locations in every single place to “adapt fast”.
“States must fulfil their duty to protect people from unchecked power, and work together to achieve this,” he stated.