Turk’s Background and Controversial Reappointment

Volker Turk, an Austrian lawyer, joined the United Nations in 1999 and worked in the organisation’s refugee agency, with posts in Malaysia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Later, he held senior roles at UN headquarters in New York, including as assistant secretary-general for strategic coordination under UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres; the two are believed to have a close relationship.

In his role as UN rights chief, Turk has been highly critical of both Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; he has also spoken out on conflicts and rights abuses in Afghanistan, Sudan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Nicaragua.

How Turk Was Reappointed

The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a proposal by Guterres to give Turk another four-year term with 144 votes in favor, 10 against, and 13 abstentions. Earlier, the assembly rejected a US proposal to delay the vote and a Russian bid to extend Turk’s term until the end of the year only.

Volker Turk has repeatedly criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza, including a “shameful” lack of accountability for its rights abuses in the occupied Palestinian territory, and he has also described Russia’s war in Ukraine as “senseless” and a “blatant affront to the UN Charter and the whole body of international law.”

On the US, he has raised concerns about the war on Iran and the “dehumanisation” of immigrants under President Donald Trump, citing routine “abuse and denigration of migrants and refugees.”

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs criticized Turk’s record, saying that under his leadership the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has “erased the atrocities of October 7, misused funds, and betrayed UN neutrality in favor of corrupt political radicalism.”

Russia’s Deputy Ambassador to the UN Dmitry Chumakov accused Turk of bias and making unfounded allegations against Russia.

Criticism of the Reappointment Process

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has faced criticism for how he managed the reappointment of Turk, but Critics say the vote was rushed and the selection of a rights chief should have been left to his successor. Guterres, whose own term ends at the end of this year, sent letters to regional groups at the UN earlier this month informing them of his intention to reappoint Turk and held the vote just weeks later.

The US Department of State criticized the vote for being rushed and said it was “another example of the UN’s inherent corruption and incompetence.” The US also accused Turk of turning “a blind eye to real atrocities and instead pursued a radical ideological agenda.”

US Deputy Ambassador Jeff Bartos claimed before Friday’s vote that reappointing Turk would prove that the General Assembly “is dysfunctional.” Israel’s Foreign Ministry called Guterres’s push for a second term for Turk a “moral failure,” saying that the choice should be left to his successor.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Guterres had followed UN rules and engaged “in a very transparent manner” in appointing Turk, including by holding prior consultations with member states and regional groups.

Turk’s critics say he could have done more to publicly follow up on a report issued by his predecessor, former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, that said China’s detention of Uighurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang may amount to crimes against humanity.

Turk has stopped short of joining independent UN rights experts who have accused Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza — his office said he had used both private engagement with Beijing and his public advocacy to support human rights in China.