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ANTI-PERSONNEL MINES CONVENTION ACT 1998 - SCHEDULE 1
- Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their
Destruction
Note: This is the copy of the Convention referred to in the definition of
Convention in section 4 of this Act.
Preamble
The States Parties,
Determined to put an end to the suffering and casualties caused by
anti-personnel mines, that kill or maim hundreds of people every week, mostly
innocent and defenceless civilians and especially children, obstruct economic
development and reconstruction, inhibit the repatriation of refugees and
internally displaced persons, and have other severe consequences for years
after emplacement,
Believing it necessary to do their utmost to contribute in an efficient and
coordinated manner to face the challenge of removing anti-personnel mines
placed throughout the world, and to assure their destruction,
Wishing to do their utmost in providing assistance for the care and
rehabilitation, including the social and economic reintegration of mine
victims,
Recognizing that a total ban of anti-personnel mines would also be an
important confidence-building measure,
Welcoming the adoption of the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the
Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other Devices, as amended on 3 May 1996, annexed
to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain
Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to
Have Indiscriminate Effects, and calling for the early ratification of this
Protocol by all States which have not yet done so,
Welcoming also United Nations General Assembly Resolution 51/45 S of 10
December 1996 urging all States to pursue vigorously an effective,
legally-binding international agreement to ban the use, stockpiling,
production and transfer of anti-personnel landmines,
Welcoming furthermore the measures taken over the past years, both
unilaterally and multilaterally, aiming at prohibiting, restricting or
suspending the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel
mines,
Stressing the role of public conscience in furthering the principles of
humanity as evidenced by the call for a total ban of anti-personnel mines and
recognizing the efforts to that end undertaken by the International Red Cross
and Red Crescent Movement, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and
numerous other non-governmental organizations around the world,
Recalling the Ottawa Declaration of 5 October 1996 and the Brussels
Declaration of 27 June 1997 urging the international community to negotiate an
international and legally binding agreement prohibiting the use, stockpiling,
production and transfer of anti-personnel mines,
Emphasizing the desirability of attracting the adherence of all States to this
Convention, and determined to work strenuously towards the promotion of its
universalization in all relevant fora including, inter alia, the United
Nations, the Conference on Disarmament, regional organizations, and groupings,
and review conferences of the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on
the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively
Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects,
Basing themselves on the principle of international humanitarian law that the
right of the parties to an armed conflict to choose methods or means of
warfare is not unlimited, on the principle that prohibits the employment in
armed conflicts of weapons, projectiles and materials and methods of warfare
of a nature to cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering and on the
principle that a distinction must be made between civilians and combatants,
Have agreed as follows:
Article 1
General obligations
1. Each State Party
undertakes never under any circumstances:
a) To use anti-personnel mines;
b)
To develop, produce, otherwise acquire, stockpile, retain or transfer to
anyone, directly or indirectly, anti-personnel mines;
c) To assist, encourage
or induce, in any way, anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State
Party under this Convention.
2. Each State Party undertakes to destroy or
ensure the destruction of all anti-personnel mines in accordance with the
provisions of this Convention.
Article 2
Definitions
1. "Anti-personnel
mine" means a mine designed to be exploded by the presence, proximity or
contact of a person and that will incapacitate, injure or kill one or more
persons. Mines designed to be detonated by the presence, proximity or contact
of a vehicle as opposed to a person, that are equipped with
anti-handling devices, are not considered anti-personnel mines as a result of
being so equipped.
2. "Mine" means a munition designed to be placed under, on
or near the ground or other surface area and to be exploded by the presence,
proximity or contact of a person or a vehicle
3. "Anti-handling device" means
a device intended to protect a mine and which is part of, linked to, attached
to or placed under the mine and which activates when an attempt is made to
tamper with or otherwise intentionally disturb the mine.
4. "Transfer"
involves, in addition to the physical movement of anti-personnel mines into or
from national territory, the transfer of title to and control over the mines,
but does not involve the transfer of territory containing emplaced
anti-personnel mines
5. "Mined area" means an area which is dangerous due to
the presence or suspected presence of mines.
Article 3
Exceptions
1.
Notwithstanding the general obligations under Article 1, the retention or
transfer of a number of anti-personnel mines for the development of and
training in mine detection, mine clearance, or mine destruction techniques is
permitted. The amount of such mines shall not exceed the minimum number
absolutely necessary for the above-mentioned purposes.
2. The transfer of
anti-personnel mines for the purpose of destruction is permitted.
Article 4
Destruction of stockpiled anti-personnel mines
Except as provided for in
Article 3, each State Party undertakes to destroy or ensure the destruction of
all stockpiled anti-personnel mines it owns or possesses, or that are under
its jurisdiction or control, as soon as possible but not later than four years
after the entry into force of this Convention for that State Party.
Article 5
Destruction of anti-personnel mines in mined areas
1. Each State Party
undertakes to destroy or ensure the destruction of all anti-personnel mines in
mined areas under its jurisdiction or control, as soon as possible but not
later than ten years after the entry into force of this Convention for that
State Party.
2. Each State Party shall make every effort to identify all
areas under its jurisdiction or control in which anti-personnel mines are
known or suspected to be emplaced and shall ensure as soon as possible that
all anti-personnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control are
perimeter-marked, monitored and protected by fencing or other means, to ensure
the effective exclusion of civilians, until all anti-personnel mines contained
therein have been destroyed. The marking shall at least be to the standards
set out in the Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines,
Booby-Traps and Other Devices, as amended on 3 May 1996, annexed to the
Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional
Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have
Indiscriminate Effects.
3. If a State Party believes that it will be unable
to destroy or ensure the destruction of all anti-personnel mines referred to
in paragraph 1 within that time period, it may submit a request to a Meeting
of the States Parties or a Review Conference for an extension of the deadline
for completing the destruction of such anti-personnel mines, for a period of
up to ten years.
4. Each request shall contain:
a) The duration of the
proposed extension;
b) A detailed explanation of the reasons for the proposed
extension, including:
(i) The preparation and status of work conducted under
national demining programs;
(ii) The financial and technical means available
to the State Party for the destruction of all the anti-personnel mines; and
(iii) Circumstances which impede the ability of the State Party to destroy all
the anti-personnel mines in mined areas;
c) The humanitarian, social,
economic, and environmental implications of the extension; and
d) Any other
information relevant to the request for the proposed extension.
5. The
Meeting of the States Parties or the Review Conference shall, taking into
consideration the factors contained in paragraph 4, assess the request and
decide by a majority of votes of States Parties present and voting whether to
grant the request for an extension period.
6. Such an extension may be
renewed upon the submission of a new request in accordance with paragraphs 3,
4 and 5 of this Article. In requesting a further extension period a State
Party shall submit relevant additional information on what has been undertaken
in the previous extension period pursuant to this Article.
Article 6
International cooperation and assistance
1. In fulfilling its obligations
under this Convention each State Party has the right to seek and receive
assistance, where feasible, from other States Parties to the extent possible.
2. Each State Party undertakes to facilitate and shall have the right to
participate in the fullest possible exchange of equipment, material and
scientific and technological information concerning the implementation of this
Convention. The States Parties shall not impose undue restrictions on the
provision of mine clearance equipment and related technological information
for humanitarian purposes.
3. Each State Party in a position to do so shall
provide assistance for the care and rehabilitation, and social and economic
reintegration, of mine victims and for mine awareness programs. Such
assistance may be provided, inter alia, through the United Nations system,
international, regional or national organizations or institutions, the
International Committee of the Red Cross, national Red Cross and Red Crescent
societies and their International Federation, non-governmental organizations,
or on a bilateral basis.
4. Each State Party in a position to do so shall
provide assistance for mine clearance and related activities. Such assistance
may be provided, inter alia, through the United Nations system, international
or regional organizations or institutions, non-governmental organizations or
institutions, or on a bilateral basis, or by contributing to the United
Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance, or other
regional funds that deal with demining.
5. Each State Party in a position to
do so shall provide assistance for the destruction of stockpiled
anti-personnel mines.
6. Each State Party undertakes to provide information
to the database on mine clearance established within the United Nations
system, especially information concerning various means and technologies of
mine clearance, and lists of
experts, expert agencies or national points of contact on mine clearance.
7.
States Parties may request the United Nations, regional organizations, other
States Parties or other competent intergovernmental or non-governmental fora
to assist its authorities in the elaboration of a national demining program to
determine, inter alia:
a) The extent and scope of the anti-personnel mine
problem;
b) The financial, technological and human resources that are
required for the implementation of the program;
c) The estimated number of
years necessary to destroy all anti-personnel mines in mined areas under the
jurisdiction or control of the concerned State Party;
d) Mine awareness
activities to reduce the incidence of mine-related injuries or deaths;
e)
Assistance to mine victims;
f) The relationship between the Government of the
concerned State Party and the relevant governmental, inter-governmental or
non-governmental entities that will work in the implementation of the program.
8. Each State Party giving and receiving assistance under the provisions of
this Article shall cooperate with a view to ensuring the full and prompt
implementation of agreed assistance programs.
Article 7
Transparency
measures
1. Each State Party shall report to the Secretary-General of the
United Nations as soon as practicable, and in any event not later than 180
days after the entry into force of this Convention for that State Party on:
a) The national implementation measures referred to in Article 9;
b) The
total of all stockpiled anti-personnel mines owned or possessed by it, or
under its jurisdiction or control, to include a breakdown of the type,
quantity and, if possible, lot numbers of each type of anti-personnel mine
stockpiled;
c) To the extent possible, the location of all mined areas that
contain, or are suspected to contain, anti-personnel mines under its
jurisdiction or control, to include as much detail as possible regarding the
type and quantity of each type of anti-personnel mine in each mined area and
when they were emplaced;
d) The types, quantities and, if possible, lot
numbers of all anti-personnel mines retained or transferred for the
development of and training in mine detection, mine clearance or mine
destruction techniques, or transferred for the purpose of destruction, as well
as the institutions authorized by a State Party to retain or transfer
anti-personnel mines, in accordance with Article 3;
e) The status of programs
for the conversion or de-commissioning of anti-personnel mine production
facilities;
f) The status of programs for the destruction of
anti-personnel mines in accordance with Articles 4 and 5, including details of
the methods which will be used in destruction, the location of all destruction
sites and the applicable safety and environmental standards to be observed;
g) The types and quantities of all anti-personnel mines destroyed after the
entry into force of this Convention for that State Party, to include a
breakdown of the quantity of each type of anti-personnel mine destroyed, in
accordance with Articles 4 and 5, respectively, along with, if possible, the
lot numbers of each type of anti-personnel mine in the case of destruction in
accordance with Article 4;
h) The technical characteristics of each type of
anti-personnel mine produced, to the extent known, and those currently owned
or possessed by a State Party, giving, where reasonably possible, such
categories of information as may facilitate identification and clearance of
anti-personnel mines; at a minimum, this information shall include the
dimensions, fusing, explosive content, metallic content, colour photographs
and other information which may facilitate mine clearance; and
i) The
measures taken to provide an immediate and effective warning to the population
in relation to all areas identified under paragraph 2 of Article 5.
2. The
information provided in accordance with this Article shall be updated by the
States Parties annually, covering the last calendar year, and reported to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations not later than 30 April of each year.
3. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall transmit all such reports
received to the States Parties.
Article 8
Facilitation and clarification of
compliance
1. The States Parties agree to consult and cooperate with each
other regarding the implementation of the provisions of this Convention, and
to work together in a spirit of cooperation to facilitate compliance by States
Parties with their obligations under this Convention.
2. If one or more
States Parties wish to clarify and seek to resolve questions relating to
compliance with the provisions of this Convention by another State Party, it
may submit, through the Secretary-General of the United Nations, a Request for
Clarification of that matter to that State Party. Such a request shall be
accompanied by all appropriate information. Each State Party shall
refrain from unfounded Requests for Clarification, care being taken to avoid
abuse. A State Party that receives a Request for Clarification shall provide,
through the Secretary-General of the United Nations, within 28 days to the
requesting State Party all information which would assist in clarifying this
matter.
3. If the requesting State Party does not receive a response through
the Secretary-General of the United Nations within that time period, or deems
the response to the Request for Clarification to be unsatisfactory, it may
submit the matter through the Secretary-General of the United Nations to the
next Meeting of the States Parties. The Secretary-General of the United
Nations shall transmit the submission, accompanied by all appropriate
information pertaining to the Request for Clarification, to all States
Parties. All such information shall be presented to the requested State Party
which shall have the right to respond.
4. Pending the convening of any
meeting of the States Parties, any of the States Parties concerned may request
the Secretary-General of the United Nations to exercise his or her good
offices to facilitate the clarification requested.
5. The requesting State
Party may propose through the Secretary-General of the United Nations the
convening of a Special Meeting of the States Parties to consider the matter.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall thereupon communicate this
proposal and all information submitted by the States Parties concerned, to all
States Parties with a request that they indicate whether they favour a Special
Meeting of the States Parties, for the purpose of considering the matter. In
the event that within 14 days from the date of such communication, at least
one-third of the States Parties favours such a Special Meeting, the
Secretary-General of the United Nations shall convene this Special Meeting of
the States Parties within a further 14 days. A quorum for this Meeting shall
consist of a majority of States Parties.
6. The Meeting of the States Parties
or the Special Meeting of the States Parties, as the case may be, shall first
determine whether to consider the matter further, taking into account all
information submitted by the States Parties concerned. The Meeting of the
States Parties or the Special Meeting of the States Parties shall make every
effort to reach a decision by consensus. If despite all efforts to that end no
agreement has been reached, it shall take this decision by a majority of
States Parties present and voting.
7. All States Parties shall cooperate
fully with the Meeting of the States Parties or the Special Meeting of the
States Parties in the fulfilment of its review of the matter, including any
fact-finding missions that are authorized in accordance with paragraph 8.
8.
If further clarification is required, the Meeting of the States Parties or the
Special Meeting of the States Parties shall authorize a fact-finding mission
and decide on its mandate by a majority of States Parties present and voting.
At any time the requested State Party may invite a fact-finding mission to its
territory. Such a mission shall take place without a decision by a Meeting of
the States Parties or a Special Meeting of the States Parties to authorize
such a mission. The mission, consisting of up to 9 experts, designated and
approved in accordance with paragraphs 9 and 10, may collect additional
information on the spot or in other places directly related to the alleged
compliance issue under the jurisdiction or control of the requested State
Party.
9. The Secretary-General of the United Nations shall prepare and
update a list of the names, nationalities and other relevant data of qualified
experts provided by States Parties and communicate it to all States Parties.
Any expert included on this list shall be regarded as designated for all
fact-finding missions unless a State Party declares its non-acceptance in
writing. In the event of non-acceptance, the expert shall not participate in
fact-finding missions on the territory or any other place under the
jurisdiction or control of the objecting State Party, if the non-acceptance
was declared prior to the appointment of the expert to such missions.
10.
Upon receiving a request from the Meeting of the States Parties or a Special
Meeting of the States Parties, the Secretary-General of the United Nations
shall, after consultations with the requested State Party, appoint the members
of the mission, including its leader. Nationals of States Parties requesting
the fact-finding mission or directly affected by it shall not be appointed to
the mission. The members of the fact-finding mission shall enjoy privileges
and immunities under Article VI of the Convention on the Privileges and
Immunities of the United Nations, adopted on 13 February 1946.
11. Upon at
least 72 hours notice, the members of the fact-finding mission shall arrive in
the territory of the requested State Party at the earliest opportunity. The
requested State Party shall take the necessary administrative measures to
receive, transport and accommodate the mission, and shall be responsible for
ensuring the security of the mission to the maximum extent possible while they
are on territory under its control.
12. Without prejudice to the sovereignty
of the requested State Party, the fact-finding mission may bring into the
territory of the requested State Party the necessary equipment which shall be
used exclusively for gathering information on the alleged compliance issue.
Prior to its arrival, the mission will advise the requested State Party of the
equipment that it intends to utilize in the course of its fact-finding
mission.
13. The requested State Party shall make all efforts to ensure that the
fact-finding mission is given the opportunity to speak with all relevant
persons who may be able to provide information related to the alleged
compliance issue.
14. The requested State Party shall grant access for the
fact-finding mission to all areas and installations under its control where
facts relevant to the compliance issue could be expected to be collected. This
shall be subject to any arrangements that the requested State Party considers
necessary for:
a) The protection of sensitive equipment, information and
areas;
b) The protection of any constitutional obligations the requested
State Party may have with regard to proprietary rights, searches and seizures,
or other constitutional rights; or
c) The physical protection and safety of
the members of the fact-finding mission.
In the event that the requested
State Party makes such arrangements, it shall make every reasonable effort to
demonstrate through alternative means its compliance with this Convention.
15. The fact-finding mission may remain in the territory of the State Party
concerned for no more than 14 days, and at any particular site no more than 7
days, unless otherwise agreed.
16. All information provided in confidence and
not related to the subject matter of the fact-finding mission shall be treated
on a confidential basis.
17. The fact-finding mission shall report, through
the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to the Meeting of the States
Parties or the Special Meeting of the States Parties the results of its
findings.
18. The Meeting of the States Parties or the Special Meeting of the
States Parties shall consider all relevant information, including the report
submitted by the fact-finding mission, and may request the requested State
Party to take measures to address the compliance issue within a specified
period of time. The requested State Party shall report on all measures taken
in response to this request.
19. The Meeting of the States Parties or the
Special Meeting of the States Parties may suggest to the States Parties
concerned ways and means to further clarify or resolve the matter under
consideration, including the initiation of appropriate procedures in
conformity with international law. In circumstances where the issue at hand is
determined to be due to circumstances beyond the control of the requested
State Party, the Meeting of the States Parties or the Special Meeting of the
States Parties may recommend appropriate measures, including the use of
cooperative measures referred to in Article 6.
20. The Meeting of the States
Parties or the Special Meeting of the States Parties shall make every effort
to reach its decisions referred to in paragraphs 18 and 19 by consensus,
otherwise by a two-thirds majority of States Parties present and voting.
Article 9
National implementation measures
Each State Party shall take all
appropriate legal, administrative and other measures, including the imposition
of penal sanctions, to prevent and suppress any activity prohibited to a State
Party under this Convention undertaken by persons or on territory under its
jurisdiction or control.
Article 10
Settlement of disputes
1. The States
Parties shall consult and cooperate with each other to settle any dispute that
may arise with regard to the application or the interpretation of this
Convention. Each State Party may bring any such dispute before the Meeting of
the States Parties.
2. The Meeting of the States Parties may contribute to
the settlement of the dispute by whatever means it deems appropriate,
including offering its good offices, calling upon the States parties to a
dispute to start the settlement procedure of their choice and recommending a
time-limit for any agreed procedure.
3. This Article is without prejudice to
the provisions of this Convention on facilitation and clarification of
compliance.
Article 11
Meetings of the States Parties
1. The States Parties
shall meet regularly in order to consider any matter with regard to the
application or implementation of this Convention, including:
a) The operation
and status of this Convention;
b) Matters arising from the reports submitted
under the provisions of this Convention;
c) International cooperation and
assistance in accordance with Article 6;
d) The development of technologies
to clear anti-personnel mines;
e) Submissions of States Parties under Article
8; and
f) Decisions relating to submissions of States Parties as provided for
in Article 5.
2. The First Meeting of the States Parties shall be convened by
the Secretary-General of the United Nations within one year after the entry
into force of this Convention. The subsequent meetings shall be convened by
the Secretary-General of the United Nations annually until the first Review
Conference.
3. Under the conditions set out in Article 8, the
Secretary-General of the
United Nations shall convene a Special Meeting of the States Parties.
4.
States not parties to this Convention, as well as the United Nations, other
relevant international organizations or institutions, regional organizations,
the International Committee of the Red Cross and relevant non-governmental
organizations may be invited to attend these meetings as observers in
accordance with the agreed Rules of Procedure.
Article 12
Review Conferences
1. A Review Conference shall be convened by the Secretary-General of the
United Nations five years after the entry into force of this Convention.
Further Review Conferences shall be convened by the Secretary-General of the
United Nations if so requested by one or more States Parties, provided that
the interval between Review Conferences shall in no case be less than five
years. All States Parties to this Convention shall be invited to each Review
Conference.
2. The purpose of the Review Conference shall be:
a) To review
the operation and status of this Convention;
b) To consider the need for and
the interval between further Meetings of the States Parties referred to in
paragraph 2 of Article 11;
c) To take decisions on submissions of States
Parties as provided for in Article 5; and
d) To adopt, if necessary, in its
final report conclusions related to the implementation of this Convention.
3.
States not parties to this Convention, as well as the United Nations, other
relevant international organizations or institutions, regional organizations,
the International Committee of the Red Cross and relevant non-governmental
organizations may be invited to attend each Review Conference as observers in
accordance with the agreed Rules of Procedure.
Article 13
Amendments
1. At
any time after the entry into force of this Convention any State Party may
propose amendments to this Convention. Any proposal for an amendment shall be
communicated to the Depositary, who shall circulate it to all States Parties
and shall seek their views on whether an Amendment Conference should be
convened to consider the proposal. If a majority of the States Parties notify
the Depositary no later than 30 days after its circulation that they support
further consideration of the proposal, the Depositary shall convene an
Amendment Conference to which all States Parties shall be invited.
2. States
not parties to this Convention, as well as the United Nations, other relevant
international organizations or institutions, regional organizations, the
International Committee of the Red Cross and relevant non-governmental
organizations may be invited to attend each Amendment Conference as observers
in accordance with the agreed Rules of Procedure.
3. The Amendment Conference
shall be held immediately following a Meeting of the States Parties or a
Review Conference unless a majority of the States Parties request that it be
held earlier.
4. Any amendment to this Convention shall be adopted by a
majority of two-thirds of the States Parties present and voting at the
Amendment Conference. The Depositary shall communicate any amendment so
adopted to the States Parties.
5. An amendment to this Convention shall enter
into force for all States Parties to this Convention which have accepted it,
upon the deposit with the Depositary of instruments of acceptance by a
majority of States Parties. Thereafter it shall enter into force for any
remaining State Party on the date of deposit of its instrument of acceptance.
Article 14
Costs
1. The costs of the Meetings of the States Parties, the
Special Meetings of the States Parties, the Review Conferences and the
Amendment Conferences shall be borne by the States Parties and States not
parties to this Convention participating therein, in accordance with the
United Nations scale of assessment adjusted appropriately.
2. The costs
incurred by the Secretary-General of the United Nations under Articles 7 and 8
and the costs of any fact-finding mission shall be borne by the States Parties
in accordance with the United Nations scale of assessment adjusted
appropriately.
Article 15
Signature
This Convention, done at Oslo, Norway,
on 18 September 1997, shall be open for signature at Ottawa, Canada, by all
States from 3 December 1997 until 4 December 1997, and at the United Nations
Headquarters in New York from 5 December 1997 until its entry into force.
Article 16
Ratification, acceptance, approval or accession
1. This
Convention is subject to ratification, acceptance or approval of the
Signatories.
2. It shall be open for accession by any State which has not
signed the Convention.
3. The instruments of ratification, acceptance,
approval or accession shall be deposited with the Depositary.
Article 17
Entry into force
1. This Convention shall enter into force on the
first day of the sixth month after the month in which the 40th instrument of
ratification. acceptance, approval or accession has been deposited.
2. For
any State which deposits its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval
or accession after the date of the deposit of the 40th instrument of
ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, this Convention shall enter
into force on the first day of the sixth month after the date on which that
State has deposited its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or
accession.
Article 18
Provisional application
Any State may at the time of
its ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, declare that it will
apply provisionally paragraph 1 of Article 1 of this Convention pending its
entry into force.
Article 19
Reservations
The Articles of this Convention
shall not be subject to reservations.
Article 20
Duration and withdrawal
1.
This Convention shall be of unlimited duration.
2. Each State Party shall, in
exercising its national sovereignty, have the right to withdraw from this
Convention. It shall give notice of such withdrawal to all other States
Parties, to the Depositary and to the United Nations Security Council. Such
instrument of withdrawal shall include a full explanation of the reasons
motivating this withdrawal.
3. Such withdrawal shall only take effect six
months after the receipt of the instrument of withdrawal by the Depositary.
If, however, on the expiry of that six-month period, the withdrawing State
Party is engaged in an armed conflict, the withdrawal shall not take effect
before the end of the armed conflict.
4. The withdrawal of a State Party from
this Convention shall not in any way affect the duty of States to continue
fulfilling the obligations assumed under any relevant rules of international
law.
Article 21
Depositary
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is
hereby designated as the Depositary of this Convention.
Article 22
Authentic
texts
The original of this Convention, of which the Arabic, Chinese, English,
French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall be deposited
with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
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