GENEVA: The international system is in upheaval with human rights being `suffocated`, the United Nations said on Monday, warning that an era of `dictators` could return.

During an opening address at the UN Human Rights Council`s main annual session, UN rights chief Volker Turk painted a dark picture of a `very dangerous` situation in a world increasingly dominated by authoritarians.

He did not mention any country even as the world grapples with the RussiaUkraine war, dramatic changes in the United States and a more assertive China. It was clear, he said though, that `the interna-tional system is going through a tectonic shift`.

`The human rights edifice we have built up so painstakingly over decades has never been under so much strain.` The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is to give a more detailed address to the council next week, when he will assess specific country events.

Rights `crumbling` under authoritarians UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned the council that one by one, human rights were being `suffocated`, adding: `by autocrats, crushing opposition because they fear what a truly empowered peoplewould do. By a patriarchy that keeps girls out of school and women at arm`s length from basic rights.` Governments behind wars `thumb their nose at international law, international humanitarian law and the UN Charter`, he said, while conflicts were stripping people `of their right to food, water and education`.

Turk also cautioned that `the global consensus on human rights is crumbling under the weight of authoritarians, strongmen and oligarchs`.

`By some estimates, autocrats now control around one-third of the world`s economy more than double the proportion 30 years ago.` He stressed a need for `an all-out effort by everyone to make sure that human rights and the rule of law remain foundational to communities, societies and international relations`.

`Otherwise, the picture is very dangerous.

Turk pointed to `the unrestrained use of force by the powerful` in previous centuries.

Dictator era could return `Dictators could order atrocity crimes consigning vast numbers of people to their deaths,` he said, adding: `Be aware: this can happen again`. He pointed to how some modern day leaders `cite national security and the fight against terrorism to justify gross violations`.Without naming countries, he warned that `regional powers that are neutral or hostile to human rights are growing in influence`. `Everywhere, we see attempts to ignore, undermine, and redefine human rights; and to create a false binary that pits one right against another in a zero-sum game,` Turk lamented.

`There are concerted efforts to chip away at gender equality, and the rights of migrants, refugees, people with disabilities, and minorities of all kinds.` Turk voiced alarm at the role played by digital technologies, which he warned were being `widely misused to suppress, limit and violate our rights`.-AFP