General Assembly

More than seven years after it created a mechanism to analyse evidence of human rights abuses in Syria, the General Assembly today considered the work of this body — the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism for Syria — and heard a senior United Nations official’s appeal for additional funding. While many delegates threw their support behind an entity that helps national authorities investigate wide-scale atrocities and human rights violations against Syrians, other delegates said that the Mechanism violates the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

The following statement was issued today by the Bureau of the General Assembly’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People:

Amidst ongoing paralysis in the Security Council due to the proliferating use — and misuse — of the veto despite escalating global crises, speakers in the General Assembly today called for action to ensure that casting one is not the end of United Nations action when the eyes of the world are looking to the Organization to deliver an effective response.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the General Assembly debate on debt sustainability and socioeconomic equality for all, in New York today:

In a meeting triggered by a veto cast by the Russian Federation on 28 March to reject the adoption of a Council resolution that would have extended the mandate of the sanctions panel monitoring the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s nuclear weapon and missile programmes, speakers warned the General Assembly that the veto sets a dangerous precedent and could have a cascading effect on other Council sanctions.

Concluding its second resumed session on the International Law Commission’s draft articles on “Crimes against humanity” today, the Sixth Committee (Legal) adopted a written summary of its deliberations during both the 2023 and 2024 resumed sessions on this topic, also taking note of the Chair’s summary of the same, as orally amended, after multiple delegations raised concerns over its wording and content.

The Security Council failed to speak on a matter of grave importance as it remained paralyzed for months as the crisis in Gaza continued and vetoes proliferated, speakers told the General Assembly today, in a meeting triggered by vetoes cast by the Russian Federation and China on 22 March to reject the adoption of a Council resolution submitted by the United States on the conflict in Gaza.

The Sixth Committee (Legal) met this afternoon to hear oral reports from co-facilitators on the thematic clusters that oriented the Committee’s discussion this week, as it considered the International Law Commission’s draft articles on “Crimes against humanity”.

Israel’s “live-streamed” genocide — supported by many Western States — must not go unpunished, participants heard in Geneva today during the second day of the two-day Conference of Civil Society Organizations working on the Question of Palestine — convened by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People — with speakers discussing best practices to ensure accountability and Israel’s compliance with the rulings of the International Court of Justice.

The Sixth Committee (Legal) continued its consideration of the International Law Commission’s draft articles on “Crimes against humanity” today, with delegates further illustrating the nuance required to approach international codification on such crimes as they debated provisions seeking to establish safeguards before turning to the larger issue — the Commission’s recommendation to elaborate a convention on this topic.