The Global Treaty Organization

[Ebowed]

The following treaty, pioneered and written by Fmr. Vice President Supersoulty on behalf of the Ebowed/Q administration, in consultation with Prime Minster Tony Blair (UK), Chancellor Angela Merkel (Germany), Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (Japan), Prime Minister John Howard (Australia), President Álvaro Uribe Vélez (Colombia), President Thabo Mbeki (South Africa), President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazil), and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (India), will be the beginning of a new international force dedicated to human rights and fighting terrorism.  This will not be an abolition of the United Nations or a moving away from it of any sort on behalf of Atlasia, but rather the formation of a tighter-knit organization that will have this treaty as its guideline.

Preamble
* The Parties to this Treaty recognize that, though it takes many forms, democratic government, ideals, systems and traditions are essential to the future progress, security and prosperity of humankind.
* They recognize that, while all nations wish to maintain their sovereignty, this age is a global age and a global effort must be undertaken to secure the rights of humanity against new, global threats.
* They affirm that an affront against liberty in any part of the world is an affront to liberty everywhere. ?* They are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilizations of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. They seek to promote stability and well-being across the globe.?* They are resolved to unite their efforts for collective defense and for the preservation of peace and security. They therefore agree to this Global Treaty:

Article 1
As free and democratic nations, we understand, through our traditions, that peaceful settlements and resolutions to conflicts are always preferable.  The Parties undertake to settle any international dispute in which they may be involved by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security and justice are not endangered, and to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force in any manner inconsistent with these purposes.

Article 2
The Parties will contribute toward the further development of peaceful and friendly international relations by strengthening their free institutions, by bringing about a better understanding of the principles upon which these institutions are founded, and by promoting conditions of stability and well-being. They will seek to eliminate conflict in their international economic policies and will encourage economic collaboration between any or all of them.

Article 3
In order more effectively to achieve the objectives of this Treaty, the Parties, separately and jointly, by means of continuous and effective self-help and mutual aid, will maintain and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack.  This will include join cooperation in the advancement of anti-ballistic missile technology.

Article 4
The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the Parties is threatened.

Article 5
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defense, will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the Globe.

Article 6
* The Parties agree that, if need be, aggressive action, taken in the defense of democratic governments, or the defense of individual nations, might be necessary to secure liberty around the globe.
* The Parties of this treaty reserve the right to act in ways that might be deemed aggressive.  That such action will only be taken when a clear threat to any member, or any democratic government or institution is established.
* The Parties will assist any sovereign nation which petitions for assistance, either military, or otherwise, from threats either civil or international.
* That such assistance will be rendered immediately upon the approval of such petition by 7/10 of the voting Parties of this treaty.
* That Parties choosing not to render military assistance need not do so, however, monetary assistance maybe required.
* That any nation might choose to act, without expressed consent of the organization, so long as those actions are in accordance with the spirit of the charter.
* That any nation constitutionally bound to not take part in aggressive military action is not required to do so.  Forces may, however, be requested to act in supporting roles.
* That coalition military forces will not leave any war zone until their assistance is no longer requested, or the mission is deemed to be completed in the terms and spirit of the charter.
* That, for practical causes, some nations might be asked to deploy forces, in uneven ratios to certain problem areas, due to geographic proximity, or ease of transport.  Different Parties might also be selected, by agreement, to maintain sole or exclusive jurisdiction over problem areas of the globe, while forces of other nations are assigned elsewhere.
* This is provided that the forces of those Parties are commensurate to completing, effectively, the task at hand.

Article 7
* The Parties recognize that terrorism, across the globe, has become a real, daily threat to the life and liberty of the citizens of free nations.  In this new age of globalism, the menace provided by terrorists has been elevated to new and frightening levels.
* The Parties hold it as necessary to the very core of this organization to combat threats of terrorism, both globally and locally.
* The Parties reserve the right to respond, through force, if necessary, to any terrorist action on their soil.
* Any terrorist action taken against one Party will be seen as a strike against all and all Parties signing this treaty will be compelled to act within their limits.
* The Parties will not condone, assist or sponsor any state or organization which sponsors wanton acts of terrorism.
* The Parties reserve the right, both as an organization and as individuals, to take military action within or against any state seen to be sponsoring terrorist acts against one of its members.
* The Parties are permitted to act, both individually and as an organization, to deploy forces in any state or states requesting assistance against terrorist activities.
* Such a request will be handled in the same way as afore mentioned requests addressed in Article 6.

[Ebowed]

Article 8
* The Parties recognize that the current struggle against international drug trafficking runs hand-in-hand with the struggle to expand freedom, democratic government and human rights.
* That the actions of drug cartels often result in a direct assault against democratic institutions and duly appointed judicial systems.
* That these activities and the profits created, often either stem from, or directly result in the affliction of terrorism around the globe.
* That the human trafficking that often works in conjunction with stated activities is a direct assault upon the most basic of human rights.
* That, as such, the containment and destruction of such trafficking is paramount to the mission of this organization and steps will be taken by the Parties to cooperate in law enforcement actions aimed at the elimination of hard drugs from global markets.
^Note: Cannabis is not to be included in the list of drugs that will be under containment by this Organization, though acts against it are not prohibited upon the individual Parties.

Article 9
Each Party declares that none of the international engagements now in force between it and any other of the Parties or any third State is in conflict with the provisions of this Treaty, and undertakes not to enter into any international engagement in conflict with this Treaty.

Article 10
The Parties hereby establish a Council, on which each of them shall be represented, to consider matters concerning the implementation of this Treaty. The Council shall be so organized as to be able to meet promptly at any time. The Council shall set up such subsidiary bodies as may be necessary; in particular it shall establish immediately a defense committee which shall recommend measures for the implementation of Articles 3 through 9.

Article 11
Any nation that upholds the principles of this organization may, at any time, petition for admittance into the Global Treaty.
1. All petitions will first be reviewed by a committee which will consist of representatives of no fewer the 5 sitting members of the council.  If approved by simple majority, they will then be moved on for a vote by all member states.
2. The approval of 4/5 of members voting and present shall be required for any nation to be allowed admittance into the Global Treaty.
3. Upon admittance, all nations will be granted the full right, privileges and responsibilities of the Treaty.

Article 12
This Treaty shall be ratified and its provisions carried out by the Parties in accordance with their respective constitutional processes. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited as soon as possible with the Government of the Republic of Atlasia, which will notify all the other signatories of each deposit. The Treaty shall enter into force between the States which have ratified it as soon as the ratifications of the majority of the signatories, including the ratifications of Atlasia, Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Germany, India, Japan, South Africa and the United Kingdom, have been deposited and shall come into effect with respect to other States on the date of the deposit of their ratifications.

Article 13
After the Treaty has been in force for twenty years, any Party may cease to be a Party one year after its notice of denunciation has been given to the Global Treaty Organization.

Article 14
This Treaty shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the Republic of Atlasia. Duly certified copies will be transmitted by that Government to the Governments of other signatories.

Special thanks to htmldon for the logo

[Ebowed]

Well, I oppose this for the simple reason that the choice of countries seems completely rediculous and arbritrary.

It is neither.  More countries will be able to apply as soon as we have all joined in.  And the reasons for the selection of countries have already been explained:

Anyway, off the record, the reason these countries were choosen is because:

1) I wanted to have countries from each of the continents as founding members.

2) I wanted to pick only countries that I thought lived up to the ideals of the treaty.

3) I did not want to give off the initial appearance that this woudl be an Anglo-Amero-Euro dominated Organization.

4) I didn't have the time to negotiate the thing with 25 different countries and accomidate all their little demands, so I went to just these 8 countries first.

[Ebowed]

Since this is a treaty, and given the fact that several countries are waiting to see what we will do with it before taking action, I believe it qualifies as emergency legislation and the relevant bill should be put in the fifth slot once Hawk's electoral reform bill is off the floor.