GENEVA, Feb 27, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The UN rights chief voiced alarm Friday at 
the normalisation of the use of force to resolve disputes, saying armed 
conflicts had almost doubled since 2010.

"We must not revert to violence as an organising principle," Volker Turk said 
as he provided an update on rights situations around the world to the United 
Nations Human Rights Council.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that "the threat and use of 
force to solve disputes is becoming more frequent and normalised".

"The number of armed conflicts has almost doubled since 2010, to around 60," 
he said. "The world really is becoming a more dangerous place".

Turk said there was the increasingly relentless competition for power for 
power's sake, to the detriment of rights everywhere.

"Players compete for control over land, energy, attention. But to what end?" 
he asked.

"Dominating the global economy? Accumulating more power? Putting AI into 
space? Surely power must serve other purposes."

Turk slammed leaders who "use power for their own ends, (who) exploit and 
subjugate," adding that it was "baffling that political leaders are not 
taking urgent steps to reverse (current) trends".

Instead some were actually "attacking the institutions designed to keep us 
safe - the United Nations, including International Court of Justice; the 
International Criminal Court; this Council, and its mechanisms".

Turk said a decade ago, "an attack on a hospital triggered a global outcry... 
(But) recent figures show there are now an average of 10 attacks per day on 
healthcare".

"The world cannot stand by as the edifice of international humanitarian and 
human rights law is dismantled before our eyes".