US expects UN human rights reform this year News
US expects UN human rights reform this year

[JURIST] The US expects a major overhaul of the discredited Commission on Human Rights [official website] to occur this year, but will insist upon an actual improvement of the current model rather than adherence to artificial deadlines, the State Department's lead negotiator Mark Lagon [official profile] said at a Washington roundtable on UN reform [JURIST news archive; State Department backgrounder] Thursday. The commission has come under fire since President Bush and other world leaders questioned the role of countries with poor records on the commission during the UN's 2005 World Summit [official website], and US Ambassador to the UN John Bolton [official profile] has recently pledged [JURIST report] to renew negotiations as to the final terms of the new body. Lagon also praised the creation of the United Nations Democracy Fund [official website], which will lend financial support to emerging democracies. He has emphasized the United States' desire for the UN to more actively promote democracy around the world [statement] in the past. The Washington Times has more. The State Department's Washfile has additional coverage.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied in Six Days' War

On November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council called for Israeli withdrawal from territories occupied during the Six Days' War, and for respect of the right of all States in the area to "live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries." Read Resolution 242, which remains a cornerstone of efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.

President Kennedy assassinated, VP Lyndon Johnson sworn inin

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. Later that day, Vice-President Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as the 36th President of the United States. Earl Warren, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, was later tasked with leading a commission to investigate the assassination. President Johnson received the final report of the Warren Commission on September 24, 1964. Read the Warren Commission Report.