(02.05.) A month ago, on 2 April 2014, the State of Palestine deposited with the Secretary-General its instruments of accession to a number of international treaties. These include seven of the nine core human rights treaties plus one of the substantive protocols, as follows:

· The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)
· The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)
· The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)
· The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
· The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
· The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT)
· The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
· The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in armed conflict (CRC-OPAC)

Five of these treaties are set to enter into force today (namely CAT, CERD, CEDAW, CRPD and CRC); the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC-OPAC) will enter into force on 7 May; and the two Covenants (ICESCR and ICCPR) will come into force on 2 July. As of these dates, the State of Palestine will be formally bound by these treaties under international law.