|
U.N. Approves Global Nuclear Treaty
World Peace Imminent. Film at Eleven...UNITED NATIONS - The U.N. General Assembly approved a global treaty Wednesday aimed at preventing nuclear terrorism by making it a crime for would-be terrorists to possess or threaten to use nuclear weapons or radioactive material. We will hunt you down and slap you silly! A resolution adopted by the 191-member world body by consensus calls on all countries to sign and ratify the "International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism." The treaty will be opened for signatures on Sept. 14 and must be ratified by 22 countries to come into force. See ya in about twenty-two years. "By its action today, the General Assembly has shown that it can, when it has the political will, play an important role in the global fight again terrorism," U.S. deputy ambassador Stuart Holliday told delegates after the vote. "The nuclear terrorism convention, when it enters into force, will strengthen the international legal framework to combat terrorism." Straight to quadruple secret probation! No ifs, ands, or buts... Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Alexander Konuzin, whose country sponsored the resolution, hailed it's approval. "It's the first time that an anti-terrorist convention has been developed on the basis of preventing — that is not after the fact but before the terrorist acts which are criminalized by this convention," he said. The treaty makes it a crime for any person to possess radioactive material or a radioactive device with the intent to cause death or injury, or damage property or the environment. It would also be a crime to damage a nuclear facility. Threatening to use radioactive material or devices — or unlawfully demanding nuclear material or other radioactive substances would also be a crime. Accomplices and organizers would also be covered by the convention. Fear our UN wrath! Please? Pretty please?? Countries that are parties to the treaty would be required to make these acts criminal offenses under their national laws, "punishable by appropriate penalties which take into account the grave nature of these offenses." Appropriate penalties? Fly coach? Room service? Cabs instead of limos? Russia launched the campaign for a treaty to combat nuclear terrorism more than seven years ago, when Boris Yeltsin was president. But it was stymied for years because countries believed the draft convention was trying to define terrorism — an issue that has deeply divided the United Nations. Stymied, I tell ya! Stymied! Many a night I cried into my filet mignon because of this... stymification. Isn't that right, Kojo? Diplomats said the roadblock was broken after the drafting committee's last formal meeting in November, when the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference decided the new treaty could focus on criminalizing specific actions related to nuclear terrorism as other anti-terrorism treaties have done. Nice of them to give the go ahead. Did Allah come to them in a dream with the official OK? The drafting committee then quickly agreed on a text on April 1, leaving the difficult issue of defining terrorism to a new overall convention on terrorism still under debate. The General Assembly has tried for years to define terrorism, so far unsuccessfully because of the argument that one nation's terrorist can be another's freedom fighter. ...and a certain organization's guarantee of damn good free lunches, dinners, and first class accomidations for the foreseeable future. The convention requires all states that sign the treaty to adopt measures to make clear that acts designed to provoke terror in the general public or in specific groups cannot be justified under any circumstances "by considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other similar nature." Yes, I'm sure that standard will be scrupulously adhered to. Well, maybe. In recent speeches and in the U.N. reform plan he announced last month, Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for swift adoption of a global treaty against nuclear terrorism. Yes, that was the clincher for me. The new convention will be the 13th U.N. treaty to fight terrorism, and U.N. Undersecretary-General for Legal Affairs Nicolas Michel said this means "that now most of the possible terrorism acts are covered by the existing legal instruments." Yes, we've all seen how effective they've all been, haven't we? The convention calls for stronger cooperation between states on sharing intelligence and on mutual legal assistance. I'll sleep good tonight knowing that the UN has this thing all but locked up... Posted by: tu3031 2005-04-13 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=61379 |