UN rights chief seeks 'urgent reversal' of military takeovers in Africa

The UN human rights chief called for an "urgent reversal" of military takeovers and return to civilian rule in countries in Africa where coups have driven out elected leaders in recent years as he assailed a multitude of crises across the globe.

On Monday, Volker Turk's comments set the early tone for the UN's top human rights body as he opened its fall session against the backdrop of conflicts and crises — including the plights of migrants from Myanmar to Mali and Mexico.

Speaking of the decade-old crisis in the Sahel region that stretches across North Africa, in countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, he pointed to the impacts of climate change and a lack of investment in services like education and health care as factors that have fueled extremism.

"The unconstitutional changes in government that we have seen in the Sahel are not the solution," Turk said.

"We need instead an urgent reversal to civilian governance and open spaces where people can participate, influence a company and criticize government actions or lack of action."

In his catch-all address at the Human Rights Council, Turk laid out a litany of concerns from "extreme gang violence" in Haiti and "nonchalance" about the deaths of 2,300 irregular refugees in theMediterranean this year to the 1.2 billion people — half of them children — who now live in acute poverty across the world.

Quran desecration lamented

He criticised incidents of recent public burnings of Islam's holy book, the Quran, as "the latest manifestation of this urge to polarise and fragment — to create divisions, both within societies and between countries.”

He floated the possibility of an “international fact-finding mission" to examine human rights violations linked to the deadly 2020 explosion in Beirut and backed creating the crime of "ecocide" under international law to boost accountability for environmental damage.

Among other things, Turk encouraged countries to enable women to choose to terminate a pregnancy safely and cautioned that expedited deportations and expulsions of refugees and people seeking protection alongthe US-Mexico border raised "serious issues."

Turk also expressed his concern about a proposed bill in Iran that would impose severe penalties for violations of the country's strictly enforced law on women's mandatory headscarf or hijab.

His remarks came just days before the first anniversary of the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained by Iran's morality police allegedly over violating the dress code, and the nationwide protests that were sparked by her death.