[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein [official profile] on Thursday called for [official website] for a change in education practices and governmental activities in order to curtail the state of current worldwide atrocities. In a speech made to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the High Commissioner drew many parallels to current world-wide events and the Nazi regime, particularly the actions of the Islamic State (IS) [JURIST backgrounder] and and followers of the Takfiri ideology who commit reprehensible crimes because of self-justification. Zeid also noted that many of the human rights laws that resulted from the aftermath of World War II have been mostly ignored by world governments and called for leaders who “will observe fully those laws and treaties drafted to end all discrimination, the privation of millions, and atrocity and excess in war, with no excuses entertained.” The High Commissioner proposed that in order to overcome the cycle of exploitation, there needs to be fundamental changes to the education system:

All children, from a young age, should be taught human rights. Children everywhere need to learn what bigotry and chauvinism are, and the terrible wrongs they can produce. They need to learn that blind obedience can be exploited by authority figures for wicked ends. They should also learn that they are not exceptional because of where they were born, how they look, what passport they carry or the social class, caste or creed of their parents; they should learn that no-one is intrinsically superior to her or his fellow human beings.

According to Zeid, an education system that promotes compassion and equality can eliminate violent impulses and instill in the new generation an affinity for peaceful problem solving.

IS has caused increasing international alarm over its human rights abuses [JURIST report] since its insurgence into Syria and Iraq in 2013. Earlier this week the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child reported that IS members are abducting Iraqi children [JURIST report] and engaging in serious human rights abuses. In November the UN commission of inquiry for the Syrian Arab Republic [official website] reported [JURIST report] that IS is responsible for war crimes on a “massive scale” in Syria. Also In November Human Rights Watch reported that IS militants tortured and abused [JURIST report] Kurdish children in Syria. The UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic [official website] expressed grave concerns [JURIST report] in October about escalating violence against civilians. In September Zeid criticized [JURIST report] IS for its recent killings and human rights violations of women in IS-controlled areas in Iraq.