UN ambassadors hold last-minute round of talks on reform plans News
UN ambassadors hold last-minute round of talks on reform plans

[JURIST] The 32 UN ambassadors who make up the intergovernmental negotiating group [JURIST report] named by the UN General Assembly president last week continued negotiations Tuesday on the text to be submitted to September's summit on UN reform [UN materials]. The group is conducting a week-long meeting to respond to last-minute revisions to the draft [JURIST report] submitted by US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton [official profile], and will tackle seven priority issues [UN News report]: development, UN Secretariat reform, establishment of a Human Rights Council, creation of a Peace Building Commission, disarmament and non-proliferation, terrorism and the responsibility to protect civilians under threat of genocide, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. One of the main points of contention during the first day of meetings was the definition of terrorism. The US says the draft agreement should not refer to "military activities that are appropriately governed by international humanitarian law," but other countries want to ensure that the definition covers the actions of armed forces against civilians. Reuters has more.