UN Chief Slams Violations of Int'l Law 01/16 06:21

   

   UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The United Nations chief lashed out Thursday at 
countries that violate international law and called the concentration of power 
and wealth by the world's richest 1% "morally indefensible."

   At the start of his final year at the helm of the United Nations, 
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the U.N. General Assembly that its 193 
member nations are facing "a world marked by self-defeating geopolitical 
divides, brazen violations of international law, and wholesale cuts in 
development and humanitarian aid."

   All these forces are shaking the foundations of global cooperation at a time 
when it is needed most, said Guterres, whose second five-year term ends on Dec. 
31.

   "Some seek to put international cooperation on deathwatch," the 
secretary-general said. "I can assure you: We will not give up."

   Guterres has repeatedly criticized Russia for violating the U.N. Charter, 
which requires that every country respect the sovereignty and territorial 
integrity of all nations, by invading Ukraine in February 2022. He also has 
criticized the United States for its military operation in Venezuela to capture 
President Nicols Maduro and its deadly attacks on boats in the Caribbean and 
Pacific that the U.S. says are carrying drugs.

   "When leaders run roughshod over international law -- when they pick and 
choose which rules to follow -- they are not only undermining global order, 
they are setting a perilous precedent," Guterres said.

   The U.N. chief said people around the world are watching the erosion of 
international law and the consequences of impunity. He pointed to "the illegal 
use and threat of force; attacks on civilians, humanitarian workers and U.N. 
personnel; unconstitutional changes of government; the trampling of human 
rights; the silencing of dissent; the plundering of resources."

   He also criticized countries that don't pay their U.N. dues on time -- 
another jab at the Trump administration, which did not pay its mandatory dues 
to the U.N.'s budgets in 2025.

   Guterres warned of the dangers of a concentration of power and wealth in the 
world's richest 1%, who hold 43% of global financial assets.

   "Increasingly, we see a world where the ultra-wealthiest and the companies 
they control are calling the shots like never before -- wielding outsized 
influence over economies, information and even the rules that govern us all," 
he said.