Geneva (AFP) – The UN Secretary General denounced on Monday the rise of "the law of the strongest", which translates into "a large-scale attack all over the world" against human rights and which is carried out in particular by artificial intelligence.

Published on: 02/23/2026 - 12:21

“This aggression is carried out neither in secret nor by surprise. It takes place in broad daylight, often under the direction of the most powerful. All over the world, human rights are sacrificed, deliberately and strategically, and sometimes with pride,” thundered Antonio Guterres, at the opening of a session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“The rule of law is crushed by the law of the strongest,” he lamented, without naming any country or leader.

And "when human rights crumble, everything else crumbles," he added, lamenting that we live "in a world where massive suffering is accepted... where human beings are used as bargaining chips... where international law is considered a mere inconvenience."

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, also considered that "a fierce struggle for power, control and resources is currently playing out on the world stage, at an intensity and pace not seen in 80 years", with a use of force which is becoming "trivialized".

“People feel helpless, anxious and vulnerable. The cogs of global power are changing,” he noted, calling for a counterbalance “to autocratic tendencies.”

“Democracies are eroding”

The United Nations' findings are bitter: conflicts are increasing, impunity is spreading, human rights are being trampled and humanitarian needs are exploding while funding is falling, in a context of drastic cuts in American foreign aid decided by Donald Trump since his return to the White House.

And according to the UN chief, “technologies – particularly artificial intelligence – are increasingly used in ways that repress, accentuate inequalities and expose marginalized people to new forms of discrimination, online and offline.”

In a similar vein, Volker Türk attacked leaders, whose names he withheld, who "spread disinformation to divert attention, silence and marginalize", while "a small clique of technology moguls controls a disproportionate share of information flows (...), distorting public debate, markets, and even governance systems".

Denouncing more generally "the iron fist that tightens civic space", Mr. Guterres cited, among other things, the imprisonment of journalists and human rights activists, the closure of NGOs, the decline in women's rights and the exclusion of people with disabilities.

“Democracies are eroding. (...) Migrants are harassed, arrested and deported with total disregard for their human rights and humanity. Refugees are singled out. LGBTIQ+ communities are vilified. Minorities and indigenous peoples are targeted,” he also said.

Iran and Ukraine

Antonio Guterres, who will leave office at the end of the year after ten years at the head of the UN, recalled that "growing up under the Salazar dictatorship" in Portugal had taught him that when human rights "are violated, all aspects of society suffer."

In his last annual speech to the Human Rights Council, which Donald Trump's United States is boycotting, he however only mentioned three current crises, notably once again condemning "the violent repression of demonstrations in Iran".

On the eve of the fourth anniversary of Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine, he also said that "it is high time to put an end to the bloodshed" as the conflict "has led to the deaths of more than 15,000 civilians."

Finally, he mentioned the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, deploring that the two-state solution was "openly rendered unworkable."

© 2026 AFP

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