21 Mar 2025
Where Is Human Rights?
Verbal Statement by the International Public Legal Service Association (IPLSA)(General Debate on Item 5 at the 58th Session of the Human Rights Council)
Mr. Chairman,
Mr. HO Kwan Yiu, Founder of the International Public Legal Service Association (IPLSA), addresses this Council with deep concern over the United States' increasing use of executive orders and national emergency declarations to impose unilateral sanctions. This raises serious doubts about whether the U.S. remains committed to a rules-based international order, upholding democratic principles, and fulfilling its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
In January of this year, the U.S. issued an administrative order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC). This action undermines the ICC's ability to prosecute individuals guilty of war crimes and genocide, effectively granting impunity to such offenders. This move not only strikes a blow to justice but also emboldens the Israeli government to continue its genocidal acts against the Palestinian people.
If this dangerous precedent is allowed to stand, it will weaken governance and accountability mechanisms, ultimately eroding civil liberties. What is most disheartening is the silence of U.S. allies, who stand idly by as these injustices unfold. Their complicity is truly unforgivable.
In closing, Mr. HO Kwan Yiu solemnly asks: Where is human rights in this Council?