29 September 2008

East Timor signs Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

26 September 2008 Final day of UN event sparks endorsement of 11 treaties – On the final day of the United Nations treaty event to promote universal participation and implementation of multilateral pacts, 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 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 23 September – centred on the theme “Universal Participation and Implementation – Dignity and Justice for All of Us.”

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