Meetings Coverage

The head of the committee charged with monitoring sanctions imposed on Iran over its nuclear programme reported today on alleged violations of those measures, as Security Council members warned that Iran’s stonewalling of the United Nations nuclear-watchdog agency regarding the true nature of its nuclear activities had created an “unsustainable and dangerous status quo”.

Expressing its gravest concern at the deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in Syria and “profound regret” over the thousands of deaths, the Security Council this morning gave its full support to the efforts of the Joint Special Envoy for the United Nations and the Arab League to bring an immediate end to all violence and human rights violations, secure humanitarian access, facilitate a Syrian-led political transition and other measures.

“Cape Verde was one of the rare African countries to have achieved all the Millennium Development Goals,” Antonio Pedro Monteiro Lima, Permanent Representative of Cape Verde, emphasized today, as he updated the Human Rights Committee on the situation in the country, in the absence of a State report.

Ending human suffering was the primary purpose of the United Nations Programme of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons, a Nigerian doctor reminded delegates today as they prepared for an upcoming review conference. “I am here as a medical doctor,” said Hakeem Ayinde of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War — International Action Network on Small Arms. “Why are you here?

Recent tragic incidents in Afghanistan must not derail progress or put off deadlines for the transition to Afghan leadership of the security, governance and development of the country, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative told the Security Council this morning.

As it concluded discussion on Guatemala’s third periodic report today, the Human Rights Committee commended the country for putting in place legislative measures to improve its compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but added it had not done enough to protect human rights defenders, address the consequences from its 36-year internal armed conflict and protect indigenous rights.

Although national and regional efforts were being made to combat the illicit arms trade, more international assistance and cooperation was essential for the effective implementation of the relevant Programme of Action, delegations said today as they continued their thematic debate on all aspects of trafficking in small arms and light weapons.

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.