FIVE NATIONS SIGN UN-BACKED CONVENTIONS RELATED TO HUMAN RIGHTS

27 September - Five countries today signed a number of international conventions related to human rights on the sidelines of the General Assembly's annual high-level debate, while Chile ratified the convention designed to suppress acts of nuclear terrorism.

Zambia signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, while the Central African Republic (CAR) signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

The CAR also signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Greece, for its part, signed the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and Zambia and Indonesia appended their signatures on the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Chile's Foreign Minister Alfredo Moreno ratified the International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear, which entered in to force in July 2007, on behalf of his country.

Fiji, meanwhile, acceded to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.