Against the backdrop of this year’s 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a UN gathering last week promoted universal participation in treaties and international pacts. On the final day of the event, six Member States undertook nine treaty actions by signing or ratifying separate conventions, agreements, treaties and optional protocols.
- Following Uganda’s lead from yesterday, Austria also ratified both the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol.
- Chilean President Michelle Bachelet personally ratified a second optional protocol to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aimed at eliminating the death penalty.
- Timor-Leste’s President, José Ramos-Horta, similarly took part in the event, signing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
- The Bahamas actively endorsed four treaties, ratifying the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, and three additional protocols concerning human trafficking and the illicit manufacturing and trafficking of firearms.
- Small island nation Kiribati followed Burundi’s example and ratified the Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism.
In total 30 States took 57 actions during this year’s treaty event, the tenth in the series held on the sidelines of the General Assembly’s General Debate at UN Headquarters.
As 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, this year’s event – which began on September 23 – centred on the theme “Universal Participation and Implementation – Dignity and Justice for All of Us.”
(Image courtesy of Sun Star)