United Nations, October 13, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
India has called for acts of terrorism that meet the requisite legal threshold to be appropriately covered under a proposed international convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity, while stressing that the framework must respect national sovereignty and existing legal principles.
R. Mythili, Counsellor at India’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, made the remarks on Monday during a meeting of the UN General Assembly’s Sixth Committee, which deals with legal matters. The discussions are part of preparations for a 2028 conference scheduled to adopt an international convention on crimes against humanity.
“Crimes and atrocities perpetrated by terrorists, where they meet the requisite threshold, should be appropriately reflected within the framework of crimes against humanity,” Mythili said.
She stressed that, given the grave nature of terrorist acts and their impact on people, the issue should be addressed consistently with the overall approach of the draft convention, rather than by simply transferring provisions from existing legal frameworks into the new instrument.
Mythili said countries bear the responsibility to ensure justice and accountability for grave human rights violations and mass atrocities in accordance with their domestic laws.
She also underlined that the convention should reaffirm states’ primary responsibility to protect people from crimes against humanity and ensure accountability for the gravest violations committed by their citizens.
India emphasised that states should retain primacy of jurisdiction, taking into account the interests of justice, the rights of the accused and the interests of victims.
Mythili further said that measures to prevent and punish crimes against humanity must fully respect national sovereignty and the principle of non-interference in countries’ internal affairs.
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in 2004 calling for a conference in 2028 on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity, preceded by two preparatory conferences. The first preparatory conference was held in January to negotiate and draft the proposed convention.
According to the United Nations, the initiative aims to establish a legally binding international instrument to strengthen the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity.
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