20th August 2000

25 treaties to the fore in millennium package

Secretary-General Kofi Annan, seemingly frustrated by this indifference and lethargy, has written to heads of government attending the Millennium Summit next month asking them to either sign or ensure ratification of at least 25 of the more than 500 treaties deposited with the United Nations.

These 25 core treaties and conventions, hand-picked by Annan and his team, cover a wide range of subjects, including human rights, nuclear disarmament, refugees, terrorism, and the environment.

Of the 25 treaties, Sri Lanka has ratified or accessed only 13 leaving out 12, which includes a convention relating to the status of refugees, a convention on the safety of UN personnel in war zones, a convention creating an international criminal court and a convention banning the use of anti-personnel landmines.

These treaties have been blacklisted primarily for political or military reasons. Or, in the case of others, just for reasons of sheer neglect.

In his letter to world leaders, Annan says that the expansion of the rule of law in international relations has been the foundation for much of the political, social and economic progress achieved in recent years.

"Undoubtedly, it will facilitate further progress in the new millennium," he adds. The letter, which Annan sent to 188 heads of government, including President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, has generated over 50 positive responses.

They have come from a wide range of member states including France, Britain, Sri Lanka, India, Costa Rica, Egypt, Finland, Norway, China and South Korea whose heads of government or foreign ministers are due to attend the Millennium Summit September 6-8.

Sri Lanka will deposit instruments of ratification for two conventions one against hostage-taking and the other against funding for terrorism.

As of last week, the UN had listed President Kumaratunga as one of over 125 heads of government scheduled to address the Millennium Summit. She is also expected to take part in one of four interactive roundtable forums during the summit.

If she is unable to attend the summit billed as the largest gathering of world leaders her stand-in may either be the prime minister or the foreign minister.

Since its founding in 1945, the United Nations is home to some 517 international treaties and conventions. Of this, only 453 are in force, having obtained the necessary signatures and ratifications, leaving 64 treaties in limbo.

However, the overwhelming majority of treaties, including those in force, fall far short of universal participation by the UN's 188 member states.

The bulk of the conventions usually come into legal force with less than 25 accessions or ratifications. For example, only 130 countries have acceded to the landmark convention against genocide adopted by the General Assembly in 1948, while only 12 have acceded to the international convention for the protection of migrant workers adopted in 1990.

The former is in force but not the latter. More recently, the 1994 convention to protect UN and associated personnel in war zones has had only 33 accessions but is already in force although far behind in universal participation.

"Many conventions, adopted with care and enthusiasm to attain noble ends, remain unratified by various members of the international community," says Palitha Kohona, Chief of the UN Treaty Section.

The reasons for non-ratification are mostly political, varying from country to country. But Hans Corell, Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, believes that non-ratifications may be due, more for lack of resources than for lack of political will.

Annan, he said, had advised member states that the UN Secretariat was willing to provide technical assistance, where needed, to facilitate ratification of treaties.

Kohona points out that next month's Millennium Summit provides an extraordinary opportunity to encourage and enhance the efforts of the international community to recognise and promote the international rule of law.

The 517 international treaties, he argues, represent the expressed will of the international community to establish clearly defined rights and obligations among themselves, and in effect, to be governed by an international rule of law in selected areas.

The United States, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, is one of the major non-participants of the international treaty regime. Some of the key treaties the US has not acceded to include the Law of the Sea Treaty, the Comprehensive (Nuclear) Test Ban Treaty, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Landmine Treaty.

Currently, about 140 international treaties are stalled in the US, primarily because it is held up, largely for political reasons, by a right-wing, conservative Senate dominated by Republicans.