General Assembly

Calling for urgent and concerted action to end months of violence in Syria, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said the international community had failed the Syrian people, particularly the many innocent civilians trapped in the war-wracked cities Homs and Hama, where the Government was stepping up its systematic “atrocious assault”.

The Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People issued the following statement today, 24 February:

In a message to the first meeting of the 2012 substantive session of the Special Committee on Decolonization, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called today for “constructive involvement” between the Committee, the administering Powers and the Non-Self-Governing Territories.

The General Assembly today adopted a resolution on reform of the human rights treaty body system and elected three judges from a pool of six candidates to the United Nations Appeals Tribunal for terms of seven years, beginning 1 July.

Praise and criticism over perceived triumphs and failures peppered demands for clearly defined mandates, sustained funding, entry and exit strategies and strict compliance with core principles as the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations concluded its general debate today.

The overall structure and systems on which United Nations peacekeeping relied were “not always optimal” and it was a common duty among all stakeholders — Headquarters, regional organizations, United Nations agencies and Member States alike — to determine which components could be improved in the coming years, Under-Secretary-General Hervé Ladsous told the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations today.

Strongly condemning continued widespread and systematic human rights violations by the Syrian authorities, the General Assembly today voted overwhelmingly to call on both the Government and allied forces and armed groups “to stop all violence or reprisals immediately”. Adopting an Arab-backed resolution by a recorded vote of 137 in favour to 12 against, with 17 abstentions, the Assembly expressed grave concern at the deteriorating situation in Syria.

On the heels of his visit to the Middle East, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today that he would “spare no effort” in helping Israelis and Palestinians arrive at a new and better future, as he opened the 2012 session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

Expressing outrage at the Syrian Government’s violent 11-month crackdown on opposition protesters, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights told the General Assembly today that credible reports of “serious violations” — including indiscriminate attacks on civilians, arbitrary detention and torture — pointed to possible crimes against humanity and required an immediate international response.

CAIRO, 7 February — The “stuttering” implementation of the peace accords between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the consequent violent backlashes and political considerations on the side of donors had repeatedly shifted financial resources away from statehood efforts and towards humanitarian support, an official of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said in Cairo today.