PRESS CONFERENCE ON 2007 TREATY EVENT

 

The annual treaty event, organized as an awareness-raising measure to promote participation in the multilateral treaty framework, has generated an impressive 1,278 treaty actions in the past eight years, Annebeth Rosenboom, Chief of the Treaty Section at the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, told correspondents today at a Headquarters press briefing.

This year’s event, titled “Focus 2007,” is scheduled take place at Headquarters from 25 to 27 September and from 1 to 2 October (see Press Release L/T/4407).  The event was initiated by the Secretary-General in 2000.

Today’s briefing also featured presentations by Thomas Schindlmayr of the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, who spoke on that Convention, and by Christine Brautigam, Chief, Women’s Rights Section of the Division for the Advancement of Women, who spoke about preventing violence against women.

This year more than 40 States had indicated their interest to participate in the event at the level of Heads of State, Government or minister of foreign affairs, said Ms. Rosenboom.  Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had also invited Heads of State and Government who would be in New York for the high-level Meeting on Climate Change and the opening of the sixty-second session of the General Assembly to reaffirm their commitment to the rule of law in international affairs by undertaking treaty actions with regard to the more than 500 treaties deposited with him.

She noted that, while significant achievements had been made in the development of the multilateral treaty framework, domestic implementation still needed to be improved.  The Secretary-General had offered assistance where required and the Treaty Section organized seminars twice a year at Headquarters for new delegates, in addition to regional workshops held abroad in cooperation with the host States for that purpose.

The Treaty Section had published a booklet on this year’s treaty event with a preface by the Secretary-General.  It contains the objectives and key provisions of each of the highlighted treaties as well as the relevant dates of adoption and entry into force.  It also lists the signatories as of 11 May 2007.

Sixteen of the 43 featured treaties for this year were still open for signature and eight had not yet entered into force, continued Ms. Rosenboom.  None of the treaties enjoyed participation by all States.  A number of human rights instruments had been highlighted in this year’s event, including the most recent ones adopted in December 2006 -– The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocols; and the International Convention for Protections from Enforced Disappearance.

In light of the adoption of the Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy by the General Assembly in 2006, many treaties in the area of terrorism, organized crime and corruption had also been featured, most notably the Convention on the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism, which just entered into force on 7 July 2007, within two years of its adoption by Member States.  Also, taking into account the high-level Meeting on Climate Change, a number of agreements on the environment had also been featured, including the Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, as well as the Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourse, which had not entered into force.

Ms. Rosenboom added that other featured treaties included those in the areas of disarmament and international trade, where two featured treaties had not yet entered into force –- the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts.

In the area of security, the featured Optional Protocol on the safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel had not yet obtained the required number of parties to enter into force, she noted.

Mr. Schindlmayr said that in every society, persons with disability were among the most marginalized, with their basic human rights circumscribed.  The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was the response of the international community to this situation and was a landmark treaty, in many ways.  It was the first human rights treaty of the twenty-first century and the first to make extensive use of the internet throughout its negotiations.  It was also the first time that civil society had been involved throughout the treaty negotiation process, a crucial element since the Convention was complex and comprehensive and covered many areas that were very important for persons with disabilities.  These included work and employment, health, access to justice, education, political participation and accessibility.

As of 30 March, the Convention had recorded more signatories than any other United Nations Treaty within the history of the Organization, stated Mr. Schindlmayr.  There were 102 signatories to the Convention and five ratifications by Jamaica, Hungary, Croatia, Panama and Cuba.  In addition, there were 59 signatories to the Optional Protocol and three ratifications ( Hungary, Panama and Croatia).  The Convention would enter into force 30 days after the twentieth instrument of ratification was deposited with the Secretary-General.  He was confident that would be realized within a short time.

Ms. Brautigam noted that that the Secretary-General’s in-depth study on violence against women presented to the General Assembly last October had clearly stated that violence against women was a human rights violation and States had concrete obligations to address that violence, whether committed by State agents or non-State actors.  They had a duty to take action to prevent such violence, to investigate such acts when they occurred, to prosecute and punish perpetrators and to provide redress and relief to victims.  When States failed to hold perpetrators accountable, impunity persisted and inequality and discrimination against women and girls was reinforced.

Several of the treaties highlighted in this year’s treaty event provided a strong and comprehensive basis for States to act decisively against violence against women, she stated.  Some 185 States, or 95 per cent of the United Nations membership, were now party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.  At the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, Governments had set a goal of universal ratification of the Convention by the year 2000.  That goal had yet to be achieved.  Once ratified, the Convention required action to achieve its effective implementation at the national level. Adherence to the Convention was a critical step in demonstrating a State’s commitment to eliminating discrimination against women in all fields.

The Convention also required States to take all appropriate measures for the practical realization of the principle of equality of women and men, continued Ms. Brautigam.  While it does not explicitly address violence against women, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, which is the monitoring body, had made it clear that violence against women was a form of discrimination, which fell squarely within the terms of the Convention and might breach specific provisions of the Convention.  The Optional Protocol to the Convention, which was included in the event, significantly strengthens the Committee’s monitoring capacity.  Under the Optional Protocol, individuals or groups of individuals could submit claims on violations of Convention rights and the Committee had the responsibility of pronouncing itself on such claims.  The Committee could also undertake inquiries into allegations of grave or systematic violations of women’s rights.  The Optional Protocol entered into force in 2000 and 88 States were now party to it.

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