UN Convention on the Rights of the Child:
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child(UNCRC) is a human rights treaty setting out the civil,political, economic, social, and cultural rights of children.The Convention generally defines a child as any human beng under the age of eighteen.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on 20 November 1989. It came into force on 2 September 1990.
The Convention acknowledges that every child has certain basic rights, including the right to life, his or her own name and identify, to be raised by his or her parents within a family or cultural grouping and have a relationship with both parents, even if they are separated.
The Convention also acknowledges that children have the right to express their opinions and to have those opinions heard and acted upon when appropriate, to be protected from abuse or exploitation, to have their privacy protected and requires that their lives not be subject to excessive interference.
The New START Treaty :
It is a treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on measures for the further reduction and limitation of strategic offensive arms.
It entered into force on 5th February, 2011.
It is a successor to the START framework of 1991 (at the end of the Cold War) that limited both sides to 1,600 strategic delivery vehicles and 6,000 warheads.
It continues the bipartisan process of verifiably reducing U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals by limiting both sides to 700 strategic launchers and 1,550 operational warheads.
It will lapse in February 2021 unless extended for a five-year period.
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty:
INF Treaty is another treaty that was signed during the Cold War.
It was a nuclear arms-control accord reached by the United States and the Soviet Union in 1987 in which the two nations agreed to eliminate their stocks of intermediate-range and shorter-range (or “medium-range”) land-based missiles (which could carry nuclear warheads).
The United States withdrew from the Treaty on 2nd August 2019.
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT):
It was signed in 1968, and came into force in 1970. Its major features are as follows:
(a) The nuclear powers have agreed not to transfer nuclear weapons or control over them to any recipient, or to provide assistance in producing weapons to a non-nuclear country.
(b) The non-nuclear countries have agreed neither to receive the weapons nor manufacture them.
(c) However, the nuclear powers agreed to make available their nuclear know-how to the non-nuclear states for using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
(d) It was signed for a period of 25 years.
A global conference on the extension of the NPT held on May 11, 1995 in New York decided to extend the NPT.
indefinitely,The conference approved a US-backed plan to make the 25-year old pact permanent, perpetuating an international system in which only five nations can legitimately possess nuclear weapons.Some countries like India, Pakistan and Israel, have not signed the treaty. India has not joined the NPT protesting against its discriminatory nature. Pakistan insists that it would do so only if New Delhi signs the document.
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty(CTBT):
The UN General Assembly on September 10, 1996, approved the CTBT, by adopting an Australian resolution. India, Iraq, Iran and Libya voted against it.
By not signing the treaty India has kept its nuclear options open. Indian wanted the following:
(a) Anon-discriminatory treaty;
(b) Adoption of a time bound programme for elimination of the nuclear weapons; and
(c) Elimination of the clause on Entry into Force (EIF) which stipulates that India, as one of the 44 countries possessing nuclear reactors, must sign and ratify the treaty.
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty:
It was signed in 1963 by USA, Britain and former USSR. Al tests on the ground, in the atmosphere and under the sea, have been banned, but no ban has been imposed on underground tests. France and China refused to sign the treaty, though more than 105 nations approved of it.
Outer Space Treaty:
It was signed in 1967, at the instance of UN General Assembly.It bans military activities in outer space and prohibits states from placing weapons of mass destruction in orbit around the earth and installing such weapons on the moon and other celestial bodies.
Antarctic Treaty:
This was signed on December 1, 1959 among 12 nations with an interest in the Antarctic. These countries are Argentina,Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand,Norway, South Africa, the formers USSR, UK and the US.In all, 39 countries became party to it by 1990 when Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Cuba,Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Eeuador, Finland, Germany, Greece,Hungary, India, Italy, South Korea, North Korea. Netherlands,Papua New Guinea, Peru, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden,Switzerland and Uruguay also acceded to the treaty.
The treaty provides the following:
a) Reserves the Antarctic area south of 60° south latitude for peaceful purposes;
b) Provides for international cooperation in scientific investigation and research; and
c) Preserves, for the duration of the treaty, the status quo with regard to territorial sovereignty, rights and claims.
Sea-bed Treaty:
It was signed as a result of a resolution passed in December,1970, by the UN General Assembly. It provides that the signatories to the treaty undertake not to implant or emplace on the sea-bed and the ocean floor and in the subsoil thereof beyond the outer limit of a sea-bed zone, any nuclear weapon
or any other type of weapons of mass destruction as well as structures, launching installations or any other facilities specifically designed for storing, testing or using such weapons.
Montreal Protocol:
This was signed at Montreal in September, 1987 under the aegis of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to prevent further depletion of the ozone layer, which shields the earth’s surface from the harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun. The protocol provides that the use of chlorofluorocarbon the which are the main cause of depletion of ozone layer, should be stopped by 2000 by developed countries and by 2005 by developing countries.
Sea Law Treaty:
It was signed by 119 countries including India at Monetago on December 10, 1982. It provides for
a) 19 km (12 nautical miles) territorial sea, 320 km of exclusive economic zone and 560 km continental shelf for coastal countries;
b) Regulation of virtually all conceivable uses of ocean including navigation, fisheries, mineral resources development and scientific research;
c) Efficient management of hidden treasures of sea, so that benefits may be available to all human beings.
Landmines Treaty:
On September 17, 1998 an international treaty eliminating the production, use and stockpiling of anti-personnel landmines has become international law after it was ratified by 40 countries.
The treaty will force countries to destroy all stockpiles within four years, remove mines from the ground within 10 years and bind governments to compensate their victims.
Chemical Weapons Convention:
On April 29, 1997, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) came into force. It provides that after the year 2007, every state party to the convention will never
(1) develop, produce, stockpile or retain chemical weapons;
(2) transfer, directly or indirectly, chemical weapons to anyone;
(3) use chemical weapons; and
4)assist, encourage or induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a state party by CWC.
The signatory states have undertaken to destroy existing stock of chemical weapons by 2007.