Austria’s Volker Turk appointed next UN rights chief amid Xinjiang report tensions
- The career diplomat is assuming the role hot on the heels of predecessor Michelle Bachelet’s assessment of China’s actions in the region
- Rights groups have warned that the new UN human rights commissioner must show courage to call out abuses, regardless of the perpetrator
The United Nations on Thursday approved Austrian diplomat Volker Turk to be its new high commissioner for human rights, replacing former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet in the sensitive, high-profile post.
The 57-year-old envoy has spent most of his career within the UN system, with a particular focus on refugees, and worked closely with Secretary General Antonio Guterres when the latter headed the global body’s refugee agency.
Turk, currently serving as assistant secretary general for policy, was tapped by Guterres on Wednesday and approved by the UN General Assembly by consensus on Thursday, to applause.
“Mr Turk has devoted his long and distinguished career to advancing universal human rights, notably the international protection of some of the world’s most vulnerable people – refugees and stateless persons,” Guterres said in a statement.
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UN human rights body says China may have committed crimes against humanity in Xinjiang
“In my thirty-year long #UNHCR work with refugees, I have seen time and again the consequences of hate speech and its dehumanizing effect on people,” Turk wrote in July on Twitter. “Say #NoToHate is the only powerful answer.”
