In what United Nations human rights chief Louise Arbour called an unprecedented show of support to empower the physically and mentally impaired, 80 countries have signed a UN convention enshrining the rights of the world's 650 million disabled.

Ambassador Baki İlkin, Turkey's permanent representative to the United Nations, signed the convention on Turkey's behalf at a ceremony held on Friday.

Furthermore, Jamaica had just ratified the instrument and 43 others had signed its Optional Protocol, thereby allowing individuals and groups to present petitions regarding alleged rights violations to an expert committee once all national recourse procedures had been exhausted.

The event also marked first time that the European Community had signed a core United Nations human rights treaty.

Ms. Arbour, high-level officials from Ecuador, Mexico and New Zealand, ambassadors and a spokesperson for the International Disability Caucus were among those who used the terms "record-setting," and "unprecedented" in describing the Convention, which aims to ensure that people with disabilities enjoy fundamental freedoms on an equal basis with everyone else.

Asked about next steps, Arbour said that governments would have to enact relevant legislation and put in place protection and monitoring systems. They would then have to report to a committee of experts, who would monitor actual implementation.

"In concrete terms, I think we're going to see speedy ratification, a speedy entry into force of this Convention and implementation measures that will have to be put in place".(EÜ)