Meetings Coverage

The General Assembly today adopted a resolution on the role of diamonds in fuelling conflict, amid concerns over certain States’ efforts to block updates to the text.

As the Sixth Committee (Legal) continued its consideration of the International Law Commission’s draft articles on “Crimes against humanity”, today’s debate demonstrated the complexity of harmonizing varying domestic legal frameworks, with speakers calling for clarifications of provisions that would govern jurisdiction, extradition and mutual legal assistance in a future convention aiming to prevent and punish such crimes.

As the Sixth Committee (Legal) continued its resumed session on the International Law Commission’s draft articles on “Crimes against humanity” today, delegates sparred over issues including the Commission’s use of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as a starting point for the definition of such crimes and the contours of States’ obligation to prevent and punish the commission of these serious offenses.

In a meeting urgently convened today following reports of Israeli attacks on Iran’s diplomatic premises in Syria, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council that the inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises and personnel must be respected and further escalation must be avoided.

As the Sixth Committee (Legal) met today to continue its consideration of the International Law Commission’s draft articles on “Crimes against humanity”, many delegates pointed to a gap in the existing international legal framework even as others differed on whether the articles are ready to be elaborated into a global agreement to bridge it.

The belief that the pursuit of nuclear weapons can guarantee the security of any State is a dangerous delusion, the United Nations disarmament chief told the Disarmament Commission at the opening of its 2024 annual session, as the body expanded its deliberation into emerging security threats, including the use of artificial intelligence in the military domain.

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) today concluded the first part of its resumed seventy-eighth session by sending the General Assembly seven decisions and resolutions, including its approval of funding a new institution tasked with finding the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons in Syria.

The Security Council today failed to adopt a resolution that would have extended until 30 April 2025 the mandate of the Panel of Experts assisting the Sanctions Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006) on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea due to a veto cast by the Russian Federation — a permanent member of the Council — while numerous speakers underscored that Moscow’s veto fuels suspicion and weakens the global non-proliferation architecture.

While the elections recently held in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were largely peaceful, the security and humanitarian situation in its east has further deteriorated, the Security Council heard today from the Head of the peacekeeping mission in that country, as it begins its phased withdrawal after 25 years.

The Commission on the Status of Women met this morning to conclude its sixty-eighth session. After the closure of the sixty-eighth session, the Commission then briefly opened the sixty-ninth session.