UNGA Round-Up: Transnational Law in the News
World leaders gather for the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly where they discuss issues including but not limited to hate speech, online content, “fake news”, cybersecurity, sustainability development, elimination of nuclear weapons, and universal health coverage.
By: Alex Babcock, staff member
World leaders descended upon New York this past month to attend the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. The events that took place between September 17–30 generated talks, tensions, and international headlines.
Below are some important news items from the General Assembly related to various topics in transnational law, in no particular order. Please note, articles regarding the UN Climate Summit have been omitted from this piece—please see here for a Bulletin post dedicated entirely to that issue.
Hate Speech, Online Content, and “Fake News”
On September 24, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel told the United Nations that everyone had a duty to challenge hate speech. The presidents of Turkey and Nigeria each condemned Islamophobia in their addresses, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan going on to say that hate speech was a disease turning into a “raging insanity”.
UN Rights Chief Michele Bachelet noted that hate speech can represent “a critical obstacle for LGBTI people” using online platforms, adding that digital technologies have “provided additional avenues for hate speech.” Ms. Bachelet defined hate speech as “any kind of communication, in speech, writing or behavior, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language, with reference to a person or a group on the basis of who they are,” quoting from the UN’s framework and plan of action for stamping out hate speech, introduced in June of this year, when responding to concerns about the right to free speech.
These statements followed news reports from September 23 that the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism—established in 2017 by Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Microsoft to remove extremist content online—will become an independent watchdog working “to respond quicker and work more collaboratively” to prevent attacks like in Christchurch, New Zealand
Later that week, on September 26, twenty countries signed an agreement aimed at stopping the spread of “fake news.” The signatories committed to promoting “independently reported, diverse and reliable” information on the internet. The move was initiated by Reporters Without Borders.
Cybersecurity
Two separate working groups were established in 2018 related to responsible behavior in cyberspace. Prior to the opening of the 74th Session, one group (the open-ended working group (OEWG) on international law and norms in relation to cyberspace) convened in New York from September 9–13 to hold its first substantive session. While the OEWG is not expected to report on its results until next year’s General Assembly, there were other developments in law and cyberspace.
On September 23, twenty-seven nations signed a Joint Statement on Advancing Responsible State Behavior in Cyberspace. The statement, allegedly directed at China and Russia, calls on all states to support the “evolving framework” for responsible state behavior and to join them in ensuring “greater accountability and stability in cyberspace.” The Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson responded on September 27 by claiming that the joint statement misinterpreted prior reports, sidestepped international consensus, and artificially divided cyberspace into “peaceful time and “non-peaceful-time”.
UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
The first-ever Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Summit was held on September 24 and 25. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed listed three concrete messages from the summit: a renewed commitment from world leaders to implement the Agenda; an acknowledgement that the [SDGs] are off track (and a determination to step up efforts to achieve them); and clarity on the task ahead to “nurture more ambitious global action; local action and people action.”
Additionally, there was a High-Level Dialogue on Financing for Development held on September 26. Secretary-General António Guterres broke down his Roadmap for Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into four areas: aligning the international financing system behind the SDGs; supporting individual countries in mobilizing domestic resources for sustainable strategies; addressing exclusion from financial services; and enhanced international cooperation.
Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
Secretary-General António Guterres warned that a nuclear arms race was underway and insisted that the elimination of nuclear weapons was the UN’s highest disarmament priority. His remarks on September 26 coincided with the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. According to the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs, around 14,500 atomic weapons remain in the world today, with over 2,000 nuclear tests conducted to date.
Kazakhstan’s President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, appealed to the General Assembly for a nuclear-free world. Kazakhstan has renounced nuclear weapons and has established a nuclear weapon-free zone in Central Asia. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the UN General Assembly that nuclear power “should either be forbidden for all or permissible for everyone.”
Universal Health Coverage
On September 23, 2019, the UN General Assembly held a high-level meeting on universal health coverage. The meeting aimed to secure political commitment from UN members, and accelerate progress towards universal health coverage globally, including access to health care services, medicine, and vaccines. Universal health coverage is a goal of all countries committed to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The declaration adopted at the UN General Assembly affirmed the right of every human to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
However, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar opposed the inclusion of the term “reproductive health and rights” in any official policies, speaking on behalf of the United States, Bahrain, Belarus, Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Nigeria, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
The final version of the Political Declaration can be found here.
Myanmar & the Rohingya
The government of Myanmar told the General Assembly that it is willing to work on solutions to the ongoing crisis in its Rakhine state and on the repatriation of thousands of Rohingya refugees who fled to Bangladesh. Expediting repatriation would involve the issuance of identity cards for those who could provide the proper paperwork and national verification cards for those who could not.
However, Myanmar’s Minister of International Cooperation Kyaw Tint said the government would not accept any ruling by the International Criminal Court on the Rohingya crisis, saying the Court “does not have jurisdiction over crimes in Myanmar.” Human rights experts instead insisted that those responsible for abuses would face justice.
Diplomacy Round-Up: Ongoing and Frozen Conflicts
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani refused to meet with the United States over any nuclear deal without first receiving sanctions relief. At the same time, the U.S. reportedly sought UN action in response to drone attacks on Saudi Arabia while Saudi Arabia sought financial pressure on Iran.
Both the Maduro-led and opposition-led governments of Venezuela sent delegations to the General Assembly.
The UN Security Council considered rival calls for truce in Syria’s Idlib. No consensus was reached during the General Assembly, and the region remains in the news.
Additional diplomatic solutions were proposed for Israel and Palestine; the Korean Peninsula; Kashmir; and the Middle East, generally.
Alex Babcock is a second-year student at Columbia Law School and a Staff member of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law. Alex graduated from Boston University in 2015 with a B.A. in International Relations and History.