General Segment, delivered by Australia's Special Envoy for International Human Rights the Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP – 25 February 2026
I am honoured to speak to you as Australia's Special Envoy for International Human Rights.
Respect for human rights is respect for each other's humanity.
Yet every day across the world we see the cost of failure to respect that humanity.
In December, on Sydney's Bondi Beach, fifteen innocent people were murdered by antisemitic terrorists at a Chanukah celebration.
There is no place for hatred in Australia, or elsewhere.
We will do all we can to combat antisemitism, Islamophobia, and attacks on all communities, including on our First Nations peoples.
Regrettably, human rights situations are getting worse.
Constraints on civil society are increasing, and human rights defenders, journalists and dissenting voices are being targeted.
Regression in gender equality, and conflict-related sexual violence is increasing.
This is unacceptable.
Conflict has exacerbated catastrophic human rights situations around the world, including in Myanmar, Sudan and Gaza.
We call on Russia to comply with its international human rights obligations and end its immoral invasion of Ukraine.
We remain gravely concerned by China's human rights violations against Uyghurs, Tibetans, and the erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong.
Last year saw an alarming increase in executions in countries that retain the death penalty – including in Iran, which continues brutal oppression of its people.
Australia has a proud record of human rights leadership in areas that I will focus on as Special Envoy, including the abolition of the death penalty, and the rights of children, older persons, people living with a disability, and LGBTQIA+ individuals.
Friends, we will work with the international community because human rights are by definition international.
And because when people are marginalised or persecuted, humanity suffers.
I thank you.
https://www.dfat.gov.au/international-relations/themes/human-rights/hrc-statements/61st-session-human-rights-council#ns1
