Access to water is necessary to meet fundamental human rights as promoted by a number of international declarations, conventions, and treaties.

UNESCO: SERVICE DE PRESSE

Parliaments are legally entitled to ratify treaties and international conventions - there is no particular need for national referendums on European issues.

BBC: Viewpoints: Lisbon Treaty impact

Holbrooke also urged Yugoslav authorities to abide by international laws set forth in the Geneva Conventions, a series of international treaties signed in Switzerland between 1864 and 1949.

CNN: Captured U.S. soldiers face military court in Yugoslavia

Abolition is called for in three international treaties optional protocols to the European and American conventions on human rights, and to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

ECONOMIST: The cruel and ever more unusual punishment