GENEVA – The UN human rights chief warned on Wednesday of rising hatred and discrimination around the world in a “mega election year”, calling on voters to keep the rights of others in mind when they vote.
Volker Türk made the decision with important elections approaching in places like France It is Great Britain this week and U.S It is Germany still this year. Immigrants, refugees and other foreigners have been “scapegoats” for some political parties, he said.
“I’m always worried when I hear narratives that denigrate others, that dehumanize others, that scapegoat migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, minority groups,” said Türk.
He criticized the “politics of distraction” and said political leaders needed to stand up against hate speech.
“History tells us, particularly in Europe, that the defamation of the other, that the defamation of the other is a harbinger of the worst to come,” he said. “It’s an alarm we need to sound.”
“Especially this year, which is the mega-year of elections,” he noted, the United States, India, Europe and other countries have experienced election times “that often lead to hate speech and dehumanization of others.”
He insisted, in general, that there must be “zero tolerance” for hate speech and rejected any attempt to denigrate “the other”.
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