The U.N. human rights chief defended his outspoken criticism of abuses in dozens of countries from Myanmar and Hungary to the United States, insisting that his office doesn’t “bring shame on governments, they shame themselves.”

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein stressed at a farewell news conference at U.N. headquarters Thursday that “silence does not earn you any respect — none.”

Looking back at his four-year term as U.N. high commissioner for human rights, the Jordanian prince said he will give his successor the same advice his predecessor, Navi Pillay, gave him — “be fair and don’t discriminate against any country” and “just come out swinging.”

​Authoritarianism leads to war

Zeid said he leaves the Geneva-based post Aug. 31 very concerned about populism, intolerance and oppression “becoming fashionable again.”

“It all builds because once you start down the path of intolerance, it’s very difficult to stop it, unless at the end of the day you have conflict,” he said.

Zeid said the question he has been asking populist leaders in Hungary, Poland and Austria, who are making political gains thanks in part to their opposition to mass migration, is where do they want to see their countries in 2030.

If the trend is going to be “increasing authoritarianism” where countries pursue individual agendas, he said those agendas will collide “and eventually we have what we’ve already seen in the 20th century.”

Zeid recalled that it took 100 million lives lost through two world wars, the Holocaust and the Spanish influenza epidemic “to drive humanity to the point where it recognized that it had to begin to do things differently.” That led to the formation of the United Nations where countries would try to solve problems together, “not at the expense of one another,” he said.

​Governments, not terrorists, will break world

But if the populists are allowed into “this space,” Zeid said, “I think we’re in very perilous waters.”

He was highly critical of militant attacks, but stressed that “the world is not going to break because of these terrorist outrages.”

“It will break because of the overreaction or the exploitation of this agenda by governments,” Zeid said.

He cited as an example a study by the U.N. Development Program on recruitment by armed groups in northern Mali that found 70 percent of respondents said the major cause was excessive use of force by security forces.

“We have to put up a mirror before all governments,” he said. “They shame themselves when they deprive their people of their basic necessities for a dignified life. They shame themselves when they discriminate against parts of their communities. They shame themselves when they stoke fear and make people fear that they have to bend to the will of the government or face consequences.”

“If an election has been stolen, rigged, by a corrupt government and then they claim that I can’t say anything because I violate their sovereignty, whose sovereignty?” Zeid asked. “Sovereignty always lies with the people. It’s exercised by government on people’s behalf.”

​Working for the victims

Zeid said governments put a lot of pressure on him and his office, but “the real pressure comes from the victims” whose human rights have been violated in Syria, Iraq, Congo and many other countries “because you know the limitations of what you can do.”

The most meaningful part of his work is stopping an execution, getting someone who has been detained for years released, and successfully pushing for human rights adherence — and then receiving a letter of thanks from the family or the individual.

“We have to speak, and we have to engage,” Zeid said, even if it poses difficulties for other U.N. colleagues including Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

“Sometimes we make mistakes and I have apologized publicly to governments,” he said. But “if I’m going to make a mistake, I’d rather make the mistake speaking out and not regretting that I didn’t say anything when I should have said something.”

​‘What are they hiding?’

Zeid cited human rights investigations the Human Rights Council has authorized in Syria, Myanmar, Yemen, and most recently in Venezuela and Nicaragua.

But he said his greatest success has been demanding access for rights officials. He said when access is barred, including in Myanmar’s Rakhine state where about 700,000 Rohingya Muslims lived before fleeing a violent military crackdown last year, and Venezuela, he asks: “What are they hiding?”

The United States pulled out of the Human Rights Council in June, citing “chronic bias against Israel.”

“I think we’ve been fair with everyone and firm with everyone,” Zeid said. “The suggestion that I’m an anti-Semite and my office is, I find it really disgusting.”

Where is Trump taking world?

As for President Donald Trump, Zeid again denounced his repeated attacks on the media.

He said that he felt as if “all of us, humanity, were at the back of a bus and the president was driving the bus, and we’re careening down a mountain road with steep cliffs on either side, and there is this sense that as one of the principal leaders of the world not knowing clearly where he wants to take us. What is his end point?”

He said he didn’t seek a second term because the five permanent members of the Security Council — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — need to give their approval and he knew a long time ago that he wouldn’t have the support of at least three and probably all of them, “which I was happy about.”

“I have no regrets that I’ve said what I said,” Zeid said. “I think I’ve tried my best and I hope others will see that at certain times the U.N. needs to speak.”

Several candidates for the job reached out for advice, and Zeid said he told them that “it’s an extremely meaningful job — the most meaningful job I’ve ever had — but very trying as well, and that they shouldn’t think of it if their health is not perfect.”
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Kosovo’s president reiterated Thursday his idea of “a correction” of the border with Serbia, which is widely seen as essentially a territorial swap as part of a strategy to stabilize relations between both EU-aspirant nations.

“Kosovo’s border with Serbia needs to be redefined, or corrected,” President Hashim Thaci told VOA’s Albanian Service on Thursday, largely repeating comments he made online Wednesday.

Thaci was responding to an idea floated by some Serbian government officials that Kosovo, which has an ethnic Albanian majority but also a Serb minority, should be divided as a possible solution to settle a long-running dispute that is hindering both sides’ ambitions to join the European Union.

No divided Kosovo

Ostensibly dismissing the idea of a divided Kosovo along ethnic lines as unacceptable, Thaci instead proposed the concept of a “redefined” or “corrected” border with its Serbian neighbor to the north.

“It means that in the process of our future dialogue with Belgrade, we will work together with the international community to define the Kosovo-Serbia border,” he said. “I want to emphasize that Kosovo will not be divided; I want to forcefully stress it: Belgrade cannot bring to the table the division of Kosovo, a thing that they have asked for in the past.

“In the context of border correction, I met with the representatives of [Serbia’s] Presevo Valley, who want to have the right to join Kosovo,” he added. “I will officially present their request at the next round of talks with Belgrade.”

Thaci is to meet Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Brussels after the summer break under an EU-sponsored dialogue that has made little progress in normalizing relations between Belgrade and Pristina since it was launched in 2013.

Experts and former diplomats have warned that rethinking borders in the Balkans would pose a risk to the stability in a region still struggling to come to terms with the wars of the 1990s, which tore apart Yugoslavia in Europe’s deadliest post-World War II conflict.

A partition described

Although Thaci told VOA his idea would not amount to a land swap, Daniel Serwer, director of conflict management at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), said what Thaci describes is nonetheless a partition, not a correction of borders.

“It’s a bad idea because it could be destabilizing for the Balkan region, [and it could] enhance political support for those inside Kosovo who oppose Kosovo statehood and want union with Albania,” Serwer, a former U.S. special envoy to the Balkans, told VOA.

“It could also hurt moderates in Serbia,” he added. “It would also have a bad impact more broadly than that, on Macedonia, on Bosnia and Herzegovina … and then you have Russian ambitions to control South Ossetia in Georgia and other territories, so it opens a Pandora(’s) box.”

It was earlier this week that some Serbian government officials informally broached the idea of a land swap based on geographic concentrations of ethnic Serb and Albanian minorities — Kosovo’s northern Mitrovica region for Serbia’s Presevo Valley — as a possible solution to the Kosovo issue.

“I did not talk about a land swap or division, I talked about correction of borders, and a solution can be reached if there is a will on both sides,” Thaci told VOA on Thursday. “Kosovo cannot join EU or NATO without an agreement with Serbia. Serbia, too, cannot join EU without the agreement with Kosovo.”

In 1999, NATO intervened to stop a bloody Serb crackdown on Albanian separatists in Kosovo. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and is recognized as a separate nation by more than 100 countries, but not by Serbia.

Tensions remain high after seven years of negotiations, even though the EU has made it clear to the governments in Pristina and Belgrade that they must normalize relations to advance toward membership in the bloc.

This story originated in VOA’s Albanian Service. Some information is from AP and Reuters.
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Ankara is vowing to hit back against Washington’s sanctions on the Turkish justice and interior ministers in connection with the detention of American protestant pastor Andrew Brunson.

Turkey Vice President Fuat Oktay threatened retaliation in a tweet Thursday, “We will not hesitate for a split second to do what great nations must do under the leadership of our president.” 

However, in a written statement, Berat Albayrak, the powerful economics minister, indicated a less confrontational approach.

“Our priority is to ensure that this process is settled through diplomacy and constructive efforts that would be consistent with the relations between the two allied countries sharing a strong historical background,” Albayrak said.

Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu were hit by financial and diplomatic measures Wednesday, for what Washington called their role in the unjust detention of Brunson.

The American pastor is on trial on terrorism and espionage charges for links to followers of U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is blamed by Ankara for the 2016 failed coup and whom Turkey is seeking to extradite.

Last month, in a move widely seen as a gesture to Washington, Brunson was moved to house arrest after nearly two years in jail. But U.S. President Donald Trump is demanding Brunson’s return to America. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insists Brunson’s detention is a matter for the courts.

Washington accuses Ankara of hostage-taking, claiming the pastor’s detention is part of efforts to extract concessions over several disputes between the countries.

WATCH: Crisis Over Detained Pastor Deepens

News of U.S. sanctions saw Turkish financial markets falling, with the lira hitting record lows amid fears Washington could target Turkey’s fragile economy.

The U.S. Treasury is considering a significant fine against the Turkish state-controlled Halkbank for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran. According to local and international reports, Ankara had pressed for a reduced penalty against Halkbank as part of a deal to release Brunson. Turkish officials have rejected the reports.

A fine is viewed as powerful leverage against Ankara. 

“Just float the news Halkbank is about to receive a major fine, the leak itself would cause such massive damage in Turkish markets,” political analyst Atilla Yesilada of Global Source Partners said, “which would reverberate in inflation, corporate balance sheets, etc., etc. I think we would have to hoist the white flag.”

But Ankara’s robust stand against Washington is playing well domestically.

In a rare display of political unity, the main opposition parties, except for the pro-Kurdish HDP, joined Erdogan’s ruling AKP Party in issuing a joint statement condemning Washington’s sanctions as “unacceptable and incompatible neither with principles of friendship, alliance, NATO membership,” read the statement.

The leader of the main opposition CHP Party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, demanded retaliation. 

“In line with the reciprocity, we are expecting similar actions to be taken against U.S. ministers,” said Kilicdaroglu.

“The anti-Americanism in the past decade has hit a record high among all the social classes, and from all the political parties from left to right,” former senior Turkish diplomat Aydin Selcen said, “so there is no political bill to pay for the government to go against the United States.”

Despite such rhetoric and strong support for facing down Washington, analysts predict Ankara will likely have to step back. 

“Turkey has this unfortunate habit of political hostage taking. We’ve seen this before,” Yesilada said. “German national journalist Deniz Yucel comes to mind, who was jailed without charge for more than a year, to extract concessions from Germany. Germany did not relent. It put the word out, advising banks not to lend to Turkey. Within a few months, Yucel was in Frankfurt.”

But given the strong anti-American sentiment that reverberates among Erdogan’s electoral base, stepping back for the president is not predicted to be easy.

Diplomatic efforts are continuing between the NATO allies. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reportedly spoke Wednesday with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The two men are expected to meet Friday on the sidelines of an ASEAN meeting in Singapore.

“For Brunson, I would prefer not to overplay my hand and send him back immediately,” Selcen said. “From then on, there will be new paths to explore to put relations back on track. But it won’t be easy. I think Erdogan is strong enough to package this and sell this to his supporters.”

Erdogan has refrained mainly from speaking on the controversy and avoided directly criticizing Trump since the announcement of sanctions. The few comments the Turkish president has made over Brunson’s detention have been mostly restrained. 

Analysts suggest Ankara is likely to be looking for a face-saving exit strategy before irreparable damage is done to both U.S.-Turkish relations and the economy.
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Britain’s opposition leader, Jeremy Corbyn, is under increasing pressure to expel far-left allies from his party in a worsening quarrel over anti-Semitism that’s shaking up British politics and damaging the Labour Party’s electoral prospects. One of his party allies has accused Jewish critics, including some Labour lawmakers, of being “Trump fanatics.”

A senior Labour lawmaker, John McDonnell, acknowledged this week that the long-running and bruising argument, with repeated clashes spanning several months between Jewish Labour lawmakers and Corbyn and his hard-core supporters, has “shaken us to the core.”

McDonnell was speaking after Corbyn apologized for a 2010 event he hosted, where a Holocaust survivor compared Israeli policy toward the Palestinians to the actions of Germany’s Nazi regime. Corbyn, who is seen as the most far left leader the party has had since the 1930s, said he “completely rejects” the views of some people he had shared platforms with in the past.

“In the past, in pursuit of justice for the Palestinian people and peace in Israel-Palestine, I have on occasion appeared on platforms with people whose views I completely reject,” Corbyn said in a statement. “I apologize for the concerns and anxiety that this has caused.”

But his critics say he has failed to denounce his historical support for Hamas and Hezbollah. He has spoken sympathetically of both groups in the past, embracing them as brothers. This includes Hamas operative Abdul Aziz Umar, who was given seven life sentences for aiding the preparation of a 2003 suicide bombing of a restaurant in Jerusalem that left seven dead.

Unsettling pattern

Accusations of anti-Semitism have mounted since 2015 when Corbyn won a surprise leadership contest largely thanks to backing from a well-organized Trotskyite youth group known as Momentum. The anti-Semitism dispute has settled into a grim pattern with frequent, ugly flare-ups and then pauses as the warring sides have sought accommodation.

 

Corbyn backers say their critics conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism. But their critics say their opposition to Israel and anti-Zionism bleeds all too easily into anti-Semitism. Britain’s Board of Deputies, an elected representative body of Britain’s Jewish community, has denounced “Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to take strong action against” anti-Semitism.

Earlier this year the outgoing president of the Board of Deputies, Jonathan Arkush, accused the Labour leader of holding “anti-Semitic views,” which could drive Jewish people to leave Britain if he ever becomes prime minister. “Delegitimizing the state of Israel is anti-Semitic,” he said.

The latest clash was triggered this month when the Labour leadership failed to adopt, as it had appeared to promise to do following talks with British Jews, a new code of conduct on anti-Semitism based on the guidelines of International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which is backed by 31 countries. The mainly Europe-based alliance was set up in 1998 to counter Holocaust denial and trivialization.

Heated confrontations

Last week, Britain’s three main Jewish newspapers published the same front page, warning that a government led by Corbyn would represent an “existential threat to Jewish life.” They say there are seams of anti-Semitism within the ranks of the party and have reported regularly on the social media slurs hurled by far-left rank-and-file members at Jewish Labour lawmakers.

Jewish Labour lawmakers say the truncated code of conduct the Labour leadership adopted is not as comprehensive as the international guidelines, and it prompted a party stalwart and Labour lawmaker, Margaret Hodge, to confront Corbyn very publicly in the House of Commons, where she accused him loudly of being a racist and an anti-Semite. She denied reports she had sworn at him.

Hodge is now facing disciplinary proceedings — in marked contrast, say her supporters, to the more lenient and foot-dragging treatment of party members, especially those in the Momentum group, who are accused of expressing anti-Semitic remarks.

Speaking on BBC Radio Thursday, Hodge said British Jews “feel our identity and our values are being challenged by this sudden surge in anti-Semitism, which is not only allowed by the leadership, but I’ve now come to the conclusion that may also be views held by the leadership themselves.”

Britain’s ruling Conservatives and the tabloid newspapers, who have questioned the firebrand Labour leader’s fitness for office, have pounced on the anti-Semitism claims, which have been front page news in London for several days.

Rise of populism

In 2016, Corbyn ordered an independent inquiry into anti-Semitism and other forms of racism in the Labour Party. That came after the party suspended a lawmaker, Naz Shah, and the former Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, for anti-Semitic remarks. Shah was suspended over historical social media posts, including one suggesting Israel should be moved to the United States. After being reinstated, she admitted her comments had been anti-Semitic and were made in ignorance.

The inquiry concluded that while the Labour Party was not overrun by anti-Semitism, there was an “occasionally toxic atmosphere.” It made a series of recommendations, many of which have not been implemented. Jewish lawmakers say the inquiry’s conclusions were not strong enough, that the toxic atmosphere is constant and not just occasional, and that it is ingrained, pointing to the slurs aimed at them on social media.

The party has suspended dozens of local members for anti-Semitism. Among them is Damien Enticott, who trumpeted the view that “Hitler would have the solution to the Israeli problem.”

Historically, Labour has enjoyed strong electoral support from Britain’s 300,000-member Jewish community. Their vote is especially important for the party in London.

Britain isn’t the only European country facing what Jewish leaders say is an upsurge in anti-Jewish sentiment, as well as Holocaust denial — the result, they say, of the rise in far-right and far-left populism.
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