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Geneva – June 20, 2025 — Civilian deaths in armed conflicts rose by 40% in 2024, reaching alarming levels not seen in years, according to a new report released by the UN Human Rights Office. The data underscores a worsening global human rights landscape, with widespread violence, deepening inequality, and increased attacks on human rights defenders and journalists.
At least 48,384 people—mostly civilians—were killed in conflict zones last year. The report also documents the deaths or disappearances of 625 human rights defenders, including 502 killed in the line of duty.
Women and children bore a devastating toll. Between 2023 and 2024, 21,480 women and 16,690 children were killed—four times more than during the previous two-year period. Gaza accounted for the majority of these casualties, with 70% of female and 80% of child deaths occurring there.
Human Rights Watch warned that Israel’s military operations, including the strategy codenamed Gideon’s Chariots, involve sweeping infrastructure destruction and the confinement of over two million Palestinians, drawing concern over escalating human rights violations. The organization said these actions are “inching closer to extermination.”
The crisis extends to other conflict zones:
- In South Sudan, UN investigators cited mass civilian casualties, forced displacement, and human rights abuses—including arbitrary arrests and attacks—perpetrated by the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF). The UN Human Rights Council condemned global inaction and called for urgent international coordination.
- In Syria, nearly 16 million people require humanitarian assistance amid widespread infrastructure collapse. Only 59% of hospitals are operational, and medicine remains critically scarce.
- Across Latin America and the Caribbean, the highest number of killings of human rights defenders was recorded. Meanwhile, Western Asia, North Africa, and Central/Southern Asia reported the highest levels of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances.
On average, a human rights defender, journalist, or trade unionist was killed or disappeared every 14 hours in 2024.
These escalating rights violations have contributed to what the UN High Commissioner for Refugees describes as an unprecedented global displacement crisis. Forced displacement has more than doubled over the past decade, reaching 123.2 million people in 2024. Internally displaced persons now represent the majority, with Sudan alone accounting for 11.6 million, marking the largest internal displacement on record.
“Behind every statistic is a story,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. “These numbers reflect alarming failures to protect the most vulnerable during both peace and conflict.”
The UN is urging global leaders to take decisive action, implement stronger protections for civilians, and address the root causes of violence and instability that continue to fuel human suffering worldwide.
Based on article by Kareem Assaf, Nottingham Law School, UK, via JURIST.
