Palestinians and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

However the present hostage crisis plays out over the coming days, one of the most ironic and tragic aspects of the situation is that barely two months ago, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed a letter to the UN Secretary-General, on behalf of the Palestinian leadership, requesting that “the State of Palestine” participate in 15 international conventions, including the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.

 

A similar letter was sent to the Swiss government requesting accession to the four 1949 Geneva conventions and the first Additional Protocol (1977).

 

Needless to say, within days of receiving Abbas’s request, the UN secretary general announced that the application was “in due and proper form,” and the Swiss foreign affairs department rushed to announce that the accession had taken effect one day following receipt of the Palestinian letter.

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