{"id":556760,"date":"2026-07-24T03:32:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T03:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/556760\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T03:32:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T03:32:17","slug":"israel-russia-oppose-electing-un-human-rights-chief-volker-turk-to-a-new-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/556760\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel, Russia oppose electing UN human rights chief Volker Turk to a new term"},"content":{"rendered":"

GENEVA \u2014 United Nations Human Rights chief Volker Turk, an outspoken critic of Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine and Israel\u2019s conduct in Gaza, faces opposition from both countries to a second four-year term ahead of a potentially contentious vote on Friday, diplomats tell Reuters.<\/p>\n

Turk, a lawyer who has worked for the United Nations for decades in major offices such as Geneva and field locations including Kosovo, ends his first four-year term in October.<\/p>\n

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has worked closely with Turk in the past and who steps down in December, has proposed another term for the Austrian until 2030.<\/p>\n

However, Russia has submitted a counter-proposal to extend his term by just over two months, until the end of 2026, according to a copy seen by Reuters. Three diplomats said Israel also opposed a four-year extension and that Washington had raised doubts, turning what had been expected to be a consensus-backed reappointment into a contentious vote.<\/p>\n

Others have also privately questioned another full term, saying the matter should instead be determined by Guterres\u2019s successor. Guterres\u2019s term ends at the end of 2026, and the selection process for the next UN secretary general kicks off next week. <\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s up to the next SG,\u201d one diplomat said.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tSecretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on May 20, 2026. (Kazuhiro NOGI \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Asked to comment, Russia\u2019s UN mission in New York agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Turk\u2019s reappointment for four years deprives the new secretary-general of the opportunity to make his\/her own choice for such an important post for a long period,\u201d it said. \u201cIt is an arbitrary idea given the sensitivity of the human rights architecture and its role in the United Nations in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mission said the view was shared by \u201cmany\u201d UN states and added: \u201cWe\u2019ll see tomorrow how many of them will be ready to openly state their position without fear of reprisals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the vote is in the UN General Assembly, the veto powers held by Russia and the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council \u2014 China, the United States, Britain and France \u2014 do not apply.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s mission to the UN and the US State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

When asked about his reappointment earlier this week, a spokesperson for Turk\u2019s office, Thameen Al-Kheetan, declined comment, adding: \u201cI believe the high commissioner is ready to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tUN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk (C) delivers a speech next to Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Nada al-Nashif (L) and Human Rights Council President Juerg Lauber during the opening of the 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, in Geneva, on September 8, 2025. (Fabrice COFFRINI \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

The high commissioner, a post created in 1993, plays a critical role in speaking out against the backsliding of freedoms at a time when autocracies are gaining influence at the expense of democracy.<\/p>\n

Some early critics of Turk\u2019s appointment had assumed he would adopt a quieter approach. Instead, he has repeatedly criticized governments including Russia, Israel and the United States.<\/p>\n

He has accused Russia of severe violations of human rights and international humanitarian law since its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, allegations Moscow denies. He has called for investigations into deaths in US immigration custody and denounced hostilities between the United States and Iran. Washington has defended its standard of care in custody.<\/p>\n

Turk has also condemned Israel\u2019s \u201cmass killing\u201d in Gaza, although some including his own staff regret he did not denounce a genocide there \u2014 allegations Israel categorically denies.<\/p>\n

The Russian mission rejected as \u201ctunnel vision\u201d suggestions that Moscow was opposing a four-year extension because of Turk\u2019s criticism of Russia\u2019s actions in Ukraine. It said its considerations included the wish to preserve the UN\u2019s institutional integrity and respect procedures.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tA meeting of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, March 2, 2022. (Denis Balibouse\/Pool via AP)<\/p>\n

Diplomats said Guterres has been consulting governments for months about the proposal \u2014 a process meant to garner consensus and ward off last-minute surprises, like Russia\u2019s motion.<\/p>\n

Turk enjoys strong backing from European states and many Latin American ones, they said. A diplomatic memo from the African Union seen by Reuters showed \u201cno objection\u201d to the proposed four-year reappointment. There are no other known candidates for the position being considered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe secretary-general is following the resolution and following the rules,\u201d UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in New York on Thursday. \u201cI will add, of course, that the secretary-general has very much appreciated the work that Volker Turk has done in his term as high commissioner for human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n


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\t\t\tAlready a member? Sign in to stop seeing this<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GENEVA \u2014 United Nations Human Rights chief Volker Turk, an outspoken critic of Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556761,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1155,85,46,43,29557,224395,4497,177559],"class_list":["post-556760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-human-rights","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news","tag-un-general-assembly","tag-un-high-commissioner-for-human-rights","tag-united-nations","tag-volker-turk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556760"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556760\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}