GENEVA, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Wednesday urged nations to come together to work on critical human rights issues in a "concerted, multilateral fashion."
"International agreements such as the Paris climate agreement, the Global Compact for Migration and the Global Compact on Refugees provide solid, pragmatic advice, and of course the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and relevant human rights treaties chart the way," said Bachelet.
"I believe my past experiences and the multiple perspectives they give me have served me well in this job," she said at the press conference here one year after taking up her post.
Concerning the unrest witnessed in many parts of the world, Bachelet called for all sides "to renounce the use of violence, to exercise restraint and to prioritize open and inclusive dialogue."
Taking Syria -- "one of the worst crises we have seen over the past eight years" -- as an example, she told reporters that in just the past four months, since the escalation of hostilities on areas in the demilitarized zone of Idlib and its surroundings, her office has managed to verify that 1,089 civilians have been killed by parties to the conflict.
"I should not need to emphasize that these figures are appalling, shameful and deeply tragic," the UN rights chief said while appealing to all parties to the conflict and to those states with influence to put aside political differences and halt the carnage.
She also mentioned large numbers of people flee their countries due to armed conflicts, insecurity, political oppression, climate crises and failure to protect economic, social and cultural rights.
"We see also this with the fires that are raging in the Amazon, and with the ice caps melting in Greenland and elsewhere."
"We see this in the ease with which the fires of hate speech, racist and xenophobic rhetoric can spread through the darkest webs of the Internet and openly on social media," said the UN rights chief.
