the exclusive jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is the chief attendant in Diplomatic Affairs. At this point, Zimbabwe is deemed to have ratified or acceded to a treaty, whichever is the case. What is clear from the practice is that reasons behind ratifying treaties are not known. They range from economic incentives that come with ratifying certain treaties to the need to avoid penalties at the international level if certain treaties are not ratified. Once a treaty has been ratified, Zimbabwe immediately assumes international legal obligations arising from the treaty. As regards human rights treaties, Zimbabwe would be expected to give effect to the provisions of the treaty and to send periodic state reports to the treaty-body that oversees the implementation of that treaty. Although the direct application of the provisions of a ratified treaty does not immediately follow ratification, state obligations are assumed upon ratification. 3.2 International law on freedom of artistic expression The right to freedom of expression is guaranteed by a number of international and regional human rights treaties, as well as under customary international law. However, this diversity of sources does not reflect a diversity of ideas about what the right means: freedom of expression is a universal right, so its meaning is largely the same in every treaty. Any differences relate mostly to how it is enforced. The main international covenants that relate to freedom of expression including artistic freedom which Zimbabwe is a party to, are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights66 (UDHR), the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights67 (ACHPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights68 (ICESCR), International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights69 (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child 70 (CRC) and article 30 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities calls for measures providing persons with disabilities the 66 67 68 69 70 Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Zimbabwe is bound by the UDHR by virtue of being a member of the United Nations signed the ACHPR on 20 February 1986 and ratified it on 30 May 1986 signed and acceded to the ICESCR on 13 May 1991 signed and ratified the ICCPR on 13 May 1991 signed the CRC on 8 May 1990 and ratified it on 11 September 1990 54 | P a g e