Beyza Binnur Donmez
12 March 2026•Update: 13 March 2026
GENEVA
A UN official said Thursday that the world entered a "new dark age of abuses" in which governments are increasingly invoking counterterrorism to justify unlawful uses of force and violations of international law.
Ben Saul, the special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, told reporters in Geneva that counterterrorism had recently been used to excuse "naked aggression and renewed imperialism against Iran and Venezuela, raining death and violating the right to life," in reference to US actions.
He criticized the UN Security Council for "failing" to respond adequately to recent conflicts.
"The Security Council passed a resolution which failed to condemn Israeli and US aggression contrary to international law, and instead condemned the excessive and unlawful response only of Iran," he said, calling it part of a broader "moral and legal failure" by the body to uphold international norms.
Turning to the Gaza Strip, Saul criticized a post-war arrangement endorsed by the Council.
"The peace plan for Gaza endorsed by the Security Council is an entirely unjust peace plan," he said, arguing it fails to recognize "representative Palestinian governance."
He added that the proposal places Gaza's future "entirely in the hands of the US president, in concert with Israel."
Saul warned that conditioning Israel’s withdrawal or any future settlement on Israel's consent is "like putting the fox in charge of the hen house."
He also raised concerns about Israel's military operations in Lebanon, saying they had been justified "partly on the basis of arguments about countering terrorism and Hezbollah," while displacing large numbers of civilians.
Beyond the Middle East, Saul warned of a "phony war on narco-terrorism" in Latin America.
"The United States has extra-judicially killed 151 civilians on the high seas in 45 illegal military strikes alleging they were carrying drugs," he said, adding that the actions were "utterly illegal under international law."
He urged governments to challenge unlawful uses of force, warning that silence from the international community risked emboldening additional violations of international law.
