Senior officials from across the globe have expressed concern over human rights issues at the ongoing 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The officials voiced their opposition to the "politicization, weaponization and instrumentalization of human rights issues."

The right to survival and the right to development are basic human rights, they emphasized, calling for international dialogue and cooperation on these issues to be reinforced.

Countries should choose their own path

Many senior officials stressed the importance of respecting every country's autonomy to choose their own path of human rights development.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told the Council that no state or group of states should entitle themselves to claim exclusive ownership of human rights, nor should any state force another to submit to its own interpretation of human rights.

It is vital to understand and respect the particularities of each country, and to seek common ground rather than interfering or politicizing issues, said Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam Tran Luu Quang.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov criticized "some states" for trying to take advantage of the current situation.

These countries are exerting pressure on others, and trying to impose their view of human rights across the world, Ryabkov said. In so doing, they are brushing aside cultural, religious and other differences, and attempting to replace the international norms of human rights law.

Retno L.P. Marsudi, Indonesia's foreign minister, said that the Council should avoid politicization of human rights as well as an "us versus them" mentality, because finger pointing and double standards will only divide the Council.

Attempts to convert the Human Rights Council into a "court" to prosecute countries which refuse to bow down to the aims of the powerful will only undermine the credibility of this body, said Bruno Eduardo Rodriguez Parrilla, Cuba's minister of foreign affairs.

Yury Ambrazevich, deputy minister of foreign affairs of Belarus, said that imposing a so-called view of human rights by any country or a group on the whole of the international community is just a cause of conflict.

The devastation of the recent earthquake did not awaken the consciences of some countries, said Fayssal Mekdad, the Syrian minister for foreign affairs and expatriates. These countries continue to impose their unilateral sanction policies based on politicization and double standards, he said, and "turned a blind eye to the cries for help of the victims under the rubble."

Equal priority for all human rights

During the Council, which will last until April 4, senior officials from many countries called for equal attention to be given to all human rights, including the right to development.

Hina Rabbani Khar, minister of state for foreign affairs of Pakistan, emphasized that issues of climate change, underdevelopment, global finance and inequality need to be viewed from a human rights perspective. Developing countries need meaningful assistance from the international human rights machinery, she said.

Many people around the world are living without hope, purpose or dignity, said Ghana's Attorney General and Minister of Justice Godfred Yeboah Dame, with widening poverty gaps, rising unemployment, and inequality.

"There is a need to focus on all rights equally, and ensure that more resources are allocated towards fulfilling economic, social and cultural rights," said South African Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Candith Kwati Mashego-Dlamini.

Human rights can only be advanced in a context of peace and security, said Alan Ganoo, Mauritian minister for foreign affairs.

Meanwhile, India asserted that it gives equal priority to all human rights, whether economic, social, cultural, civil or political.

Collaboration and dialogue

Officials also emphasized at the Council session that cooperation and dialogue are top priorities.

Mashego-Dlamini urged the international community to prioritize peace and dialogue, emphasizing that political solutions remain key to sustainable development and the fulfilment of human rights.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said that in any circumstances, Russia will consistently defend the principles of cooperation and the establishment of a constructive, mutually respectful dialogue among states within the Council in order to find optimal solutions to pressing human rights problems.

International cooperation and compliance with international treaties is a legal as well as an ethical obligation, emphasized Yill Otero, vice minister for multilateral affairs and cooperation of Panama's foreign ministry.

Meanwhile, Malaysia said it was gravely concerned over the challenges created by conflict, climate change, environmental degradation and food insecurity, and the Council must continue to address these issues collectively and collaboratively.

Türkiye expressed deep gratitude for the international show of solidarity after the recent earthquake, which reconfirmed that the international community should adopt a "one humanity one world" approach in tackling problems.