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The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rightsrecently criticized the international community for failing to stop widespreadabuses. Navi Pillay said governments too often place more importance onpolitics than human rights. She spoke last week to the 47-member U.N.Human Rights Council. It was her final speech to the Council as highcommissioner for human rights.

In September, Ms. Pillay will have served six years in the position. During thattime, she has repeatedly spoken up in defense of human rights causes. Sheoften angered countries by putting pressure on governments she believedwere guilty of abuses.

In her final speech to the Council, she deplored the condition of human rightsaround the world.

“Regrettably, the international community remains unable to consistently reactstrongly and quickly to crises, including situations of grave human rightsviolations with high potential for regional overspill.”

Navi Pillay went to South Sudan in April, a week after widespread violence andkillings there. She said she was shocked by the targeted ethnic attacks andrisk of widespread food shortages there. She said she was also angered bywhat she believed was the lack of interest by the leaders of both sides of theconflict. She has also been critical of the widespread violence in the CentralAfrican Republic.

In her speech, Ms. Pillay described the violence in Syria as a tragedy for theSyrian people and a tragic failure for the cause of human rights. She said thebombings, widespread loss of life and heavy damage to public services insome areas of the country should anger everyone. And she deplored what shedescribed as the refusal by Syria’s government and some opposition groupsto seek a peaceful end to the war.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay after her address to the 26th session of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva June 10, 2014. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

“External powers continue to fuel this violence through the supply of arms,military and other material assistance, as well as inflows of foreign fighters. It is shocking that war crimes and crimes against humanity have becomecommonplace and occur with complete impunity. I am disappointed that theSecurity Council -- with 13 votes in favor and 2 opposed -- has been unable toreach agreement on action to ensure accountability for such crimes.”

Russia and China have vetoed U.N. Security Council resolutions on the Syrianconflict. The resolutions would have sent the cases of Syrian officialssuspected of war crimes to the International Criminal Court.

In her speech, Navi Pillay said violations of human rights involve more thanjust large-scale abuses. She said human rights begins and ends with theindividual. She spoke about the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls by BokoHaram militants in Nigeria. And she talked about the killing in Pakistan of a 23-year-old pregnant woman by her family.

The next U.N. high commissioner for human rights will have to deal with thesituation in Ukraine, among other issues. Ms. Pillay leaves as the U.N.prepares to open an office in South Korea to record widespread abuses inNorth Korea. Her office is also investigating human rights abuses said to havetaken place in the final days of Sri Lanka’s civil war with the Tamil Tigers. TheSri Lankan government has said it will not cooperate with the investigation.