Peace is more than the absence of war

Distinguished participants,

It is a pleasure to be here, at this event bringing together the disarmament and human rights worlds together. 

Peace is not merely an absence of war.

It is the presence of justice, of law, and of good governance. It is the mother of all human rights. 

These words hold a lot of wisdom for all of us today. 

Growing conflict, gaping inequalities, the climate emergency, and divisions and polarization within and between States are making our societies more turbulent and unpredictable.

It is precisely at this time that we need multilateral institutions the most, but we see that their work is being distorted and misunderstood.  

The rapid changes in technology are a common thread across all of these issues, affecting them in a fundamental way – from the weapons we develop, to the information we consume, to how we interact with each other, to how societies are being governed.

These deep challenges are the backdrop to today’s search for dialogue and peace.

As we look forward and try to anticipate the developments that will unfold over the next 20 years, I see three areas in which human rights can offer a compass for our collective action.

First, in the conduct of war. 

The application of artificial intelligence in the military domain – which we see being used across numerous conflicts - creates significant risks to human rights, to international humanitarian law, and to international peace and security. 

Lethal autonomous weapons systems that function without human control or oversight pose a direct threat to the right to life. We encourage progress on a legally binding instrument to prohibit such weapons systems.

And the use of AI for intelligence analysis and mass surveillance in wartime can violate the right to privacy and freedom of expression.

Therefore, developing AI – from the collection and selection of data, to the design, development, deployment and use of the resulting AI models, tools and services – needs to be consistent with international humanitarian law and human rights law. We are working also with the private sector on this issue to bring human rights into the existing risk framework.

All efforts to regulate must occur through a multilateral process, with meaningful participation of stakeholders, including industry, academia, civil society and other sectors.

Second, we need urgently a free and public square with space for open debate – that is crucial for peace, including peace negotiations.

People, in particular women, must have the opportunity to participate meaningfully in policy decisions that affect them, to express themselves online and offline without fear of violence or harm, and to question public decisions and call for change. 

This also means ensuring a free and independent media.

But the current landscape – increasingly shaped by poorly regulated technologies – tells a different, troubling, story. 

Guardrails around online content are being rolled back. 

Poorly regulated social media platforms curtail freedom of expression by silencing some people and communities. They also allow the proliferation of lies and disinformation, blurring the line between fact and fiction, and as a result, fracturing societies.

We need to address incitement to hatred and violence head-on when it breaches the law, and protect everyone’s right to access information, so that people can seek and receive ideas from a full range of diverse sources.  

Across the globe, new technologies are also being used to track and threaten journalists, human rights defenders and political dissidents across borders.  We are seeing troubling trends of this transnational repression across the world.

Technology needs to promote, not hinder, our access to information, and should advance our rights to freedom of expression and association.

Distinguished participants, 

The third area in which human rights offer pathways for collective action is governance. 

 Digital technologies are reshaping much of how societies operate and are governed. Divisions and fragmentation are growing, presenting new challenges for governance. 

Private individuals and companies, including technology companies, have never had so much control and influence over our lives. 

And so have States, which are spreading surveillance and other technologies at a frightening pace to dominate, repress and control.

States must fulfil their duty to protect people for unchecked power and work together to achieve this because we know that unchecked power crosses borders.

They must also fulfil their duty to promote and protect the human rights of all – civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, and the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment – and to pursue accountability when violations occur.

Otherwise, grievances – if left unaddressed - will fester, fray at social cohesion and sow the seeds of conflict and tension. 

Distinguished participants, 

Fundamentally, human rights have the potential to unite us. They are part of the common language of humanity.

Looking ahead, we need a clear and collective commitment to the rule of law, to transparency, and to independent institutions, all anchored in human rights and the fundamental principles on which they are based.

We must work together to uphold the law, to protect spaces for multilateral dialogue, and to promote respect for each other and for the generations that will succeed us.