The Erosion of Global Human Rights Institutions and the Rule of Law

Distr.: General | February 26, 2026

Sixty-first session | Agenda item 12

I. Introduction

1. This report addresses a systemic threat: the deliberate dismantling of the international legal architecture designed to protect human rights. Throughout 2025 and into early 2026, we have observed a trend where states are not just violating rights, but are actively withdrawning from the treaties and institutions that monitor them.

2. The Task Force warns that the "multilateral consensus" on human rights is at its weakest point since the end of the Cold War. This is characterized by the chronic underfunding of UN mechanisms and a growing rhetoric that frames universal rights as "Western impositions" or secondary to national security.

II. Findings on the Decline of Multilateralism

3. Financial Strangulation: Several major powers have significantly reduced their voluntary contributions to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). This has led to the cancellation of critical field missions and a backlog in the investigation of war crimes across multiple continents.

4. Withdrawal from Treaties: There is a rising trend of "sovereignty-based" withdrawals from regional human rights courts. By early 2026, three additional nations have announced intentions to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC), citing political bias, which further narrows the path to justice for victims of state-sponsored violence.

5. The Rise of "Transnational Repression": States are increasingly reaching across borders to silence dissidents. The use of INTERPOL "Red Notices" for political purposes and the physical targeting of activists in third countries have created a global climate of fear, undermining the right to seek asylum.

III. Legal Analysis: The Crisis of Enforcement

6. The legal principle of Pacta Sunt Servanda (agreements must be kept) is being ignored. When states ignore the binding rulings of human rights bodies without consequence, the entire international legal order is weakened.

7. This "normative decay" allows for the normalization of emergency laws. Governments are increasingly using permanent "States of Emergency" to bypass judicial oversight, leading to the arbitrary detention of journalists and opposition figures.

IV. Legal Recommendations

• Secure Funding Frameworks: Propose a new legal treaty that establishes a "Mandatory Assessment" for human rights funding, similar to UN peacekeeping budgets, to prevent wealthy nations from using funding as a tool of political leverage.

• Reform of the UN Security Council Veto: Support a legal "Code of Conduct" that prevents the use of the veto in cases where there is credible evidence of mass atrocities, as documented by UN human rights rapporteurs.

• Protection Against Transnational Repression: Member states should adopt domestic laws that provide specific legal protections and "safe-haven" status for human rights defenders who are being hunted by their home governments across international borders.

• Universal Jurisdiction as a Default: In the absence of a functional ICC or regional court, the Task Force recommends that "Universal Jurisdiction" be codified into more national penal codes, ensuring that there is no safe harbor for those who commit grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions.

V. Conclusion

The institutions built in the wake of the Second World War were intended to ensure "Never Again." However, these institutions are only as strong as the collective will to support them. If the erosion of the global human rights framework continues, we face a future where might makes right and the individual has no legal recourse against the state. Protecting the institution is now as urgent as protecting the victim.