General Assembly: Meetings Coverage

Fifteen years had passed since peace accords had been signed in Guatemala to bring to an end a 36-year-long internal armed conflict that left behind serious socio-economic consequences and human rights violations, Gert Rosenthal, Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the United Nations, told the Human Rights Committee today, as he presented the country’s third periodic report.

The United Nations Peacebuilding Commission must tap into its potential as a unique platform for sharing knowledge and experiences among post-conflict States, delegates said today as the General Assembly convened to review the latest annual reports of the Commission and its principal financing mechanism, the Peacebuilding Fund.

The tragic deaths of thousands of men, women and children worldwide, killed every day by illegal firearms, was the high price of failing to halt the spread of those weapons, delegations at United Nations Headquarters said today as they began preparations for an upcoming conference to review the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons.

Wrapping up its second day of discussion on the initial report of Turkmenistan, the Human Rights Committee acknowledged that, while the Central Asian country had shown a new willingness to improve its “troubling” human rightsrecord, there was still a broad gap between the legislative framework and its practical implementation, including in the prohibition of torture, degrading treatment, freedom of assembly, and freedom of association.

Acting by consensus today, the General Assembly adopted two draft resolutions aimed at strengthening the United Nations system.

“We need everyone to work together to create the future we want,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today, urging the world body to rally behind the recommendations of his blue ribbon panel for launching a new, people-powered agenda for development which would eradicate poverty and promote inclusive growth, while protecting the environment and making consumption and production patterns more sustainable.

Following national elections in February, Turkmenistan was poised to move forward with a package of newly implemented laws and legal codes to protect human rights in a broad range of areas, the Human Rights Committee was told as it began its review of that country’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which it acceded in 1997.

Convening this morning to scrutinize proposals to better utilize resources for official United Nations air travel, delegates in the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) agreed that the Organization must do more to avoid “egregious examples of waste” in such areas as the daily subsistence allowance to United Nations staff travelling on official business and the use of frequent flyer miles.

Yemen was ready to start a transparent, positive dialogue about improving its human rights record, after mass uprisings against unemployment, corruption and deteriorating economic prospects had pushed President Ali Abdullah Saleh to resign after 33 years of power, the Human Rights Committee was told today, as it considered the country’s fifth periodic report.

Taking note of the new Constitution of the Dominican Republic and impressed by “the level of humility the delegation had shown in acknowledging the problems” as it worked towards stronger human rights protections, the Human Rights Committee today expressed concern about abuses in law enforcement and racial discrimination towards migrants in that country.