International treaties, conventions and declarations concerning war and peace

Wider information on Wikipedia's list of Treaties

-          1863 Emancipation Proclamation

-          1864 GCI First Geneva Convention: Establishes rules for the treatment of battlefield casualties.

-          1884–85 Berlin Conference: Regulates European colonization and trade in Africa during the New Imperialism period

-          1899 Hague Conventions: Attempts to formalize laws of war.

-          1906 GCII Second Geneva Convention: Specifies the treatment of wounded, sick and shipwrecked members of armed forces at sea.

-          1912 International Opium Convention: The first international drug control treaty.

-          1919 Paris Peace Conference: to end WWI and create the League of Nations

-          1923 Declaration of the Rights of the Child

-          1928 Pact of Paris or Kellogg-Briand Pact: Calls "for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy".

-          1929 GCIII Third Geneva Convention: Establishes rules for the treatment of prisoners of war.

-          1930 London Naval Treaty: Regulates submarine warfare and shipbuilding.

-          1944 Chicago Convention or Convention on International Civil Aviation: Establishes the International Civil Aviation Organization; ratified in 1947.

-          1945 UN Charter: Establishes the United Nations.

-          1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling: Replaces the 1937 International Agreement for the Regulation of Whaling; governs the commercial, scientific, and aboriginal subsistence whaling practices of fifty-nine member nations.

-          1947 GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade: Establishes international trade rules.

-          1949 NATO Treaty of Washington or North Atlantic Treaty: Establishes NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

-          1948 UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights

-          1949 GCIV Fourth Geneva Convention [118] Establishes rules for the protection of civilians during wartime.

-          1951 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide: Defines and outlaws genocide.

-          1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons

-          1954 SEATO Manila Pact or Southeast Asia Collective Defense Treaty: Establishes SEATO, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization

-          1955 Warsaw Pact: Alliance of Central and Eastern European communist states.

-          1957 International Atomic Energy Treaty: Establishes the IAEA, International Atomic Energy Agency.

-          1958 Convention on the Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone: Provides new universal legal controls for the management of marine natural resources and the control of pollution.

-          1959 ATS Antarctic Treaty System: Sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, establishes freedom of scientific investigation and bans military activity on the continent; comes into force in 1961.

-          1960 ALA-LC Treaty of Montevideo: Establishes the ALA-LC organization or the Latin American Free Trade Association.

-          1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations: International treaty on diplomatic intercourse and the privileges and immunities of diplomatic missions; came into force in 1964.

-          1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs International treaty against the illicit manufacture and trafficking of narcotic drugs.

-          1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations: Multilateral treaty that codifies consular practices.

-          1963 Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage: Sets rules of liability for any and all forms of nuclear damage.

-          1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty or Partial Test Ban Treaty: Prohibiting all test detonations of nuclear weapons except underground.

-          1963 OAU Organisation of African Unity: Promotes the unity and solidarity of the African States.

-          1965 ICERD International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

-          1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

-          1967 Treaty of Tlatelolco: Keeps Latin American and the Caribbean regions free of nuclear weapons.

-          1967 Outer Space Treaty: Forbids the placing of nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction on celestial bodies and into outer space in general.

-          1968 NNPT Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: Limits the spread of nuclear weapons through non-proliferation, disarmament, and the right to utilize nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

-          1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances: Attempts to control psychoactive drugs such as amphetamines, barbiturates, and LSD.

-          1971 Ramsar Convention: Focuses on the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands; comes into effect in 1975.

-          1971 Seabed Arms Control Treaty: Bans the placement of nuclear weapons on the ocean floor beyond a 12-mile (22.2 km) coastal zone; comes into force in 1972.

-          1972 ABMT Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty: Limits the use of anti-ballistic missile (ABM) systems in defending areas against missile-delivered nuclear weapons (US PL 92-448).

-          1972 BWC Biological Weapons Convention: First multilateral disarmament treaty banning the production of an entire category of biological weapons (with exceptions for medical and defensive purposes in small quantities).

-          1972 Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals: Provides protection for Antarctic seals; comes into effect in 1978.

-          1972 London Convention: Attempts to control pollution of the sea via deliberate dumping by vessels, aircraft, and platforms.

-          1974 Treaty on the Limitation of Underground Nuclear Weapon Tests or Threshold Test Ban Treaty: Establishes a nuclear "threshold" by prohibiting nuclear tests of devices having a yield exceeding 150 kilotons.

-          1976 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

The International Bill of Rights is an informal name given to three international treaties and conventions established by the United Nations. It consists of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted in 1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1976). 

-          1976 ENMOD Convention: Prohibits the military or other hostile use of environmental modification techniques; comes into force in 1978.

-          1979 Moon Agreement or Moon Treaty: Turns jurisdiction of all heavenly bodies to the international community; comes into force in 1984.

-          19800 CCW Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons

-          1981 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

-          1985 Sulphur Emissions Reduction Protocol: Provides for a 30% reduction in sulphur emissions and their transboundary fluxes by 1993; comes into effect in 1987.

-          1985 South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty or Treaty of Rarotonga: Formalizes a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the South Pacific.

-          1987 United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

-          1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty: Eliminates nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (300 to 3,400 miles); ratified and comes into force in 1988.

-          1988 Nitrogen Oxide Protocol: Provides for the control or reduction of nitrogen oxides and their transboundary fluxes; comes into effect in 1991.

-          1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances: Enforcing the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

-          1989 Montreal Protocol: Attempts to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of a number of substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion.

-          1989 CFE or Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe: Establishes limits on key categories of conventional military equipment in Europe and mandates the destruction of excess weaponry.

-          1989 CRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

-          1991 Abuja Treaty International: Agreement that creates the African Economic Community.

-          1991 Asunción Treaty: International treaty signed between Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, served as the basis for the establishment of the Mercosur trading block.

-          1992 Maastricht Treaty: Establishes the European Union.

-          1992 NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement: Establishes a trade bloc among Canada, Mexico and the United States.

-          1992 UNFCCC or United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: Attempts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gas in order to combat global warming.

-          1992 Treaty on Open Skies: Establishes an international program of unarmed aerial surveillance flights over all participants' territories.

-          1993 CWC Chemical Weapons Convention: Outlaws the production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons, entered into force on April 29, 1997.

-          1994 North American Free Trade Agreement: Free trade agreement between Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico.

-          1994 UNCLOS or United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: Provides universal legal controls for the management of marine natural resources and the control of pollution.

-          1994 United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification: Agreement to combat desertification and to mitigate the effects of drought; comes into force in 1996.

-          1995 GATS or General Agreement on Trade in Services: Extends the multilateral trading system to provide services (i.e. tertiary sector of industry).

-          1996 CTBT Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: Forbids all nuclear explosions in all environments for military or civilian purposes.

-          1997 Mine Ban Treaty or Ottawa Convention on Landmines: Bans all anti-personnel landmines (AP-mines).

-          1998 POP Air Pollution Protocol: Agreement to provide for the control and reduction of emissions of persistent organic pollutants; has not yet come into effect.

-          1999 Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change: Mandates the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; negotiated in 1997, ratified in 2004, and came into force in 2005.

-          2000 MDG Millennium Development Goals: Form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.

-          2000 Cotonou Agreement: Attempts to reduce poverty and integrate the ACP countries into the world economy; comes into force in 2002.

-          2002 SORT Moscow Treaty: Limits the nuclear arsenals of Russia and the United States.

-          2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: Establishes the International Criminal Court (ICC) to have jurisdiction over three main classes of offences: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

-         2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

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