Third Committee

All human rights and freedoms were inter-dependent and indivisible, Member States told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as it completed its debate on the promotion and protection of human rights.

As new conflicts multiplied in 2011 - especially in Africa and the Middle East – the collective capacity to respond to people uprooted by violence and persecution was “being put to the test in unforeseen ways” amid increased demand for humanitarian relief and an uncertain operating environment, the United Nations top refugee official told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today.

Universal recognition of the inalienable right to self-determination was the most effective way the global community could guarantee protection of fundamental freedoms, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today, as it concluded discussion on several human rights issues.

A comprehensive approach, based on a solid legal framework, was essential for addressing the “new and complex” challenge of racial, ethnic and xenophobic hatred promoted through the Internet, the United Nations top official on contemporary forms of racism told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today.

Progress had been made in implementing the worldwide pledge to human dignity embodied in the United Nations Charter, but work was needed to achieve a more democratic and equitable international order, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today, as it resumed its debate on the promotion and protection of human rights.

A United Nations expert today called for boycotting businesses that were profiting from Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian lands until they brought their operations in line with international human rights and humanitarian law, as he presented his annual report to the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural).

The recent protracted violence in a number of sensitive areas around the world was a reminder that the prevention of conflict and protection of human rights in times of conflict remained among the world’s most daunting challenges, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights told the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today.

The Special Rapporteur on Torture called on States in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today to seriously reconsider whether the death penalty amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, or even torture.

Five years after adoption by the General Assembly of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples much progress had been made, but “we still have a long way to go in fully realizing” those rights — including through rights to land and participation in decisions that affected their lives, the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) was told today.

In the developing world, some 25 million children below 5 years of age suffered from acute malnutrition, and as Governments intensified their efforts to keep them from dying of often-preventable causes, they needed a strengthened international partnership, delegates in the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) stressed today, as they wrapped up their discussion on the promotion and protection of children’s rights.