FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Lucas Swanepoel, Esq212-370-7885 Ext. 26lswanepoel@holyseemission.orgNew York, NY, Jan. 26 – The Holy See, acting also in the name and on behalf of the Vatican City State, ratified the “United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances” of 20 December 1988 which was signed by the Holy See on the same date. Moreover, the Holy See acceded to the “International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism” of 9 December 1999 and to the “United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime” of 15 November 2000.Wednesday 25 January 2012 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, His Excellency Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, Apostolic Nuncio, Permanent Observer of the Holy See, deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations the instrument of ratification for the first Convention and those of accession to the other two Conventions.Through its ratification and the two accessions, the Holy See intends to contribute its moral support to the aforementioned Conventions. At the same time, the Holy See wishes to reiterate its commitment in promoting the values of solidarity, justice and peace between persons and peoples, whose protection and strengthening require the primacy of the rule of law and respect for human rights. To this end, the Holy See reaffirms that instruments of criminal and judicial cooperation, as those provided by the Conventions, play an important role in creating effective safeguards in the face of criminal activities that jeopardize human dignity and peace.The “United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances” was first adopted in Vienna on 20 December 1988 and was signed by the Holy See on the same date. The Convention entered into force on 11 November 1990 after the twentieth ratification of the Convention.The “United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime” was adopted in New York on 15 November 2000 and came into force on 23 September 2003.The “International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism” was adopted in New York on 9 December 1999 and came into force on 10 April 2002.For more information about the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, please visit the www.holyseemission.org, which contains also links to the Holy See Press Office.###