Meetings Coverage

The Human Rights Committee this afternoon examined the progress report of its Special Rapporteur for Follow-up on Concluding Observations, which provides a country-by-country update on correspondence with States parties between the Committee’s 103rd and 104th sessions on implementing the expert body’s recommendations on their compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The situation between the Palestinians and Israel remained “uncertain and difficult” amid dim prospects for the resumption of direct negotiations despite international urging that exploratory talks continue under Jordanian auspices, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today.

The Human Rights Committee today adopted its report on follow-up on individual communications, containing an update on individual communications filed with the expert body under the First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Without serious, concrete intervention by year’s end to stop Israel’s policies and strategies to systematically and deliberately destroy the two-State solution, prospects for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians would be ruined, a top Palestinian peace negotiator today told the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

Strongly condemning the forcible seizure of power from the democratically elected Government of Mali by some elements of the Malian armed forces — which late last week took control of the country and announced the dissolution of the Government — the Security Council today called for a return to constitutional order and the holding of previously scheduled elections.

A successful transition from peacekeeping to peacebuilding in post-conflict countries required a clear determination of national priorities, delineation of roles of all partners and frequent review, not new responsibilities for peacekeeping missions, the United Nations top peacekeeping official told the Security Council this morning.

Decrying the “hideous mechanics” of a trade that once spanned the Atlantic Ocean, senior United Nations and Government officials today marked the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade by urging vigilance against lingering racism and calling for action to combat modern-day forms of slavery and exploitation.

The Human Rights Committee continued discussion of its working methods today, adopting a paper on its relationship with non-governmental organizations. Prior to the adoption, the Committee carried out a paragraph-by-paragraph review of the document, which had been drafted by Cornelius Flinterman, expert from the Netherlands, and Iulia Antoanella Motoc, expert from Romania.

Wrapping up its week-long session today, the Preparatory Committee unanimously adopted its draft report, as orally revised, for submission to the Second Review Conference on the Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons.

To consolidate the “exceptional successes” that Sierra Leone had made in the ten years since its brutal civil war, it was critical that the international community continue its support, focusing in particular on this year’s all-important elections, the Executive Representative of the Secretary-General told the Security Council this morning.