The General Assembly decided today that Headquarters will host a special session at the level of Heads of State and Government on 3 and 4 December in response to the COVID‑19 pandemic. It also debated the annual report of the Human Rights Council and earmarked 1 December for a special solemn meeting in memory of the victims of the Second World War.
In lieu of International Law Week - rendered impossible due to COVID‑19 - the Sixth Committee (Legal) heard oral reports from the Chair‑Designate and the Secretary of the International Law Commission today, as delegates, praising the Commission’s adaptation of work methods around the pandemic’s limitations, spotlighted the importance of its recent issuance of the first issues paper on sea‑level rise in relation to international law.
Continuing its joint general debate today, the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) approved seven draft resolutions concerning Israeli practices in occupied Arab lands and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as well as five additional texts on various subjects.
As the Sixth Committee (Legal) took up the Secretary‑General’s annual report on the Status of the Protocols Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts (document A/75/263), some speakers highlighted the importance of ratifying the Protocols universally, while others voiced reservations based on their national experience.
Approving five draft resolutions aimed at curbing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) rejected one that would have had the Security Council consider complaints of incidents involving biological and chemical weapon use, as delegates expressed divergent views on ways to hold perpetrators accountable, with some cautioning against politically driven proposals.
The General Assembly concluded its debate on the report of the International Court of Justice today, with speakers describing the growing docket of the principal United Nations judicial organ as a sign of rising confidence among Member States in the authority and legitimacy of its judgements and advisory opinions.
Reflecting a growing divergence on how best to rid the world of atomic arsenals, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) held more than 50 separate recorded votes on multiple provisions of the 22 nuclear‑weapon‑related draft resolutions and decisions Member States approved today.
Frustration with a lack of meaningful progress and divisions over the appropriate scope and application of universal jurisdiction permeated the discussion in the Sixth Committee (Legal) today, as delegates took up the report of the Secretary‑General, “The scope and application of the principle of universal jurisdiction” (document A/75/151).
Delegates called today for inclusive discussions and the swift appointment of a new Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General to move the Western Sahara peace process forward, as the Fourth Committee (Special Political and Decolonization) continued its joint general debate on a range of topics.
International collaboration and a sustained, adequately funded response are needed to ensure the world’s 80 million displaced persons are protected from the COVID‑19 pandemic and its lingering socioeconomic aftermath, Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as delegates discussed tackling ever-proliferating humanitarian crises amid an unprecedented emergency.
