‘An assault on humanity itself’: Guterres pays tribute to 9/11 victims, survivors and first responders

UN marks 25 years since 9/11 with tribute and call for rights-based counter-terrorism

Provpnmatrix.com – Twenty-five years after the 11 September 2001 attacks, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has honoured those killed, the survivors, and the emergency personnel who rushed to help in New York City.

The attacks took nearly 3,000 lives and affected people from the United States and more than 90 other countries. Speaking on the anniversary, Mr. Guterres described the violence as an attack that reached beyond one country and struck at humanity as a whole.

“As we mark this somber occasion on 11 September, we remember the nearly 3,000 victims.”

The Secretary-General said the United Nations remains alongside New Yorkers, the people of the United States, and everyone whose life was changed by the attacks. The World Trade Center site was only a short distance south of UN Headquarters, making the events an immediate and deeply personal shock for many staff members.

A lasting international responsibility

The anniversary also coincides with another milestone: two decades since UN Member States adopted the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy. Mr. Guterres said the effort to prevent terrorism remains unfinished and must continue as a shared responsibility among countries.

“As we pay tribute to the victims, let us renew our shared commitment to build a future free from terrorism.”

In the years after 9/11, governments around the world expanded security policies and counter-terrorism measures. The attacks reshaped international relations and influenced decisions on security, conflict, travel, policing and intelligence cooperation for decades.

Yet a group of more than 30 independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council warned that many responses adopted in the name of fighting terrorism have caused serious harm to human rights, democratic institutions and the rule of law. The experts are independent of UN staff and are unpaid for their work.

They paid tribute to people affected by terrorism while urging governments to examine whether their counter-terrorism laws and practices comply with international human rights, humanitarian and refugee law.

Concerns over the consequences of the “war on terror”

The experts said campaigns commonly described as wars on terror had pushed basic rules of international law to an alarming limit. Their statement pointed to grave allegations and violations documented during the past quarter-century, including aggressive wars, unlawful occupations, war crimes, crimes against humanity and allegations of genocide.

They also cited practices such as assassinations presented as targeted killings, torture described as interrogation, secret detention, enforced disappearance, and military proceedings that did not meet fair-trial standards. The experts specifically referenced the detention facilities operated by the United States at Guantanamo Bay.

“‘Wars on terror’ have stretched foundational rules of international law beyond their breaking point.”

The warning underlines a central challenge in counter-terrorism policy: protecting communities from violence while ensuring that security measures do not erode the rights and legal protections they are meant to defend. The experts called for a renewed review of national approaches so that responses to terrorism remain lawful, proportionate and accountable.

Remembering a day that stopped the United Nations

On the morning of the attacks, UN Headquarters had been preparing for the Secretary-General’s annual Peace Bell ceremony, held for the International Day of Peace. As the scale of the disaster became clear, that ceremony did not take place.

For employees approaching the UN complex, ordinary plans vanished almost immediately. Victor Evans-Harvey, now editor in chief of UN News, recalled seeing smoke but initially continuing toward the train station because he expected to report for work.

“I saw the smoke, but I still went to the train station because I had to go to work.”

A UN security guard stopped him before he could enter. Mr. Evans-Harvey remembered replying that he was going to work, only to be told that he could not do so that day.

Michelle Griffin, who was then Director of Electoral Assistance, saw the first World Trade Center tower on fire before arriving at her office on the 37th floor of the UN Secretariat building. She recalled leaving home after hearing a neighbour cry out that the burning building was their office.

“I went outside and saw that huge gap in the first building.”

As the emergency unfolded, personnel began leaving the Secretariat through its stairwells. Ms. Griffin remembered information moving rapidly among people descending the building, including discussion of whether the day’s planned activities, such as the Peace Bell ceremony, could continue.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric also recalled an atmosphere of fear inside the building. There were credible reports that another aircraft could be headed toward the United Nations, he said. Officials decided that then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan should remain at his nearby residence.

Unity after the shock

In the days that followed, the attacks brought an unusual sense of unity to the United Nations, including within the Security Council. The shared shock was felt not only in the city surrounding the UN but throughout an organization whose work is rooted in peace, security and international cooperation.

A quarter-century later, the anniversary remains both a moment of mourning and a reminder of the difficult balance governments face. The memory of the victims and those who responded first calls for continued action against terrorism, while the UN human rights experts’ warning stresses that such action must not abandon international law or the fundamental rights it is intended to protect.