During four days of diplomatic action at UN Headquarters in New York that saw 86 treaties proposed by 40 different countries, only one Arab country, Bahrain, ratified a treaty, according to the UN treaty department. Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa, Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, deposited an instrument of accession, or ratification, to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. More than 30 treaties were offered to member states for signing or ratification, and included instruments on human rights, the convention against torture, discrimination against women, human security and trafficking, and UN personnel safety. The most successful signing during the treaty event was the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Safety of UN and Associated Personnel, which is to enhance the protection of persons deprived of liberty from torture and other cruel and degrading treatment or punishment. Among the 20 states who signed this optional protocol included Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the President of Liberia, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, and Sierra Leonean Vice President Solomon Berewa. Seven foreign ministers also signed it during the high-level portion of the 61st General Assembly, including Australia, Indonesia, Korea, New Zealand, Romania, Spain and Ukraine.
