The UN rushes through "Palestine's" treaty accessions

On April 2, 2014 the Palestinian Authority officially asked that the "state of Palestine" become a signatory to the following 21 international conventions:

• The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
• The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
• The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
• The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
• The United Nations Convention Against Corruption
• The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
• The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid
• The Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in armed conflict
• The Four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and the First Additional Protocol
• The Hague Convention (IV) respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and its annex: Regulations Concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land
• The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties
• The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
• The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations

On April 10, 2014 Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General was asked for information about the status of the Palestinian request. Here is his response:

"Spokesman: ...On 2 April 2014, the Secretary-General in his capacity as depository received from the Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine through the United Nations copies of instruments of accession to 14 multilateral treaties. In conformity with the relevant international rules and in his practice as depository, the Secretary-General has ascertained through his Office of Legal Affairs and more specifically through the Treaty Section in the Office of Legal Affairs that the instruments received were in due and proper form before accepting them for deposit and has informed all States concerned accordingly, through the circulation of depository notification.
Now, if I can explain that in slightly less legal terms, as depository, when these instruments are deposited, it's up to the Treaty Section in the Office of Legal Affairs to kind of go through an administrative check list that verifies the conditions for participation with the relevant provision of each treaty; also, verifies that the instruments are in proper and due form, which mainly means the instrument of accession include clear and fair expression of commitment to undertake the rights and obligations to the treaty, that it's signed by the right people. So it's really, I would say an administrative function performed by the Secretariat as part of the Secretary-General responsibility as depository of the treaty. But I think it's also important to emphasize that it is for States, each individual Member States, to make their own determination with respect to any legal issues raised by instruments circulated by the Secretary-General."

UPDATE On April 11, 2014 a spokesman for the Swiss foreign ministry (the Swiss Federal Council is the depository of the Geneva Conventions) confirmed that the Palestinian application to join the Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocol has been accepted as of April 2, 2014 and that Switzerland recognized that "the state of Palestine" also acceded, as of April 2, 2014. On April 17, 2014, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, which is the depository of the Hague Convention, announced that "the Convention will...enter into force for State of Palestine on June 1, 2014."

In other words, the UN legal department spent no time at all considering the extraordinary Palestinian move - or the crucial legal issue of whether "Palestine" actually satisfied the requirement of every one of these treaties that signature and accession is open only to "states." Instead, the UN, the Swiss and the Dutch government, rushed through acceptance of the Palestinian political agenda, ignoring that "Palestine" fails to meet the legal qualifications for statehood.