Incitement to racial or religious hatred and intolerance directed against groups is even more dangerous than attacks on rights, freedoms or the reputation of the individual which are now protected by the Draft First Covenant on Human Rights, the World Jewish Congress said today in a memorandum on the Covenant’s first 18 articles submitted to U.N. Secretary General Trygve Lie for transmission to the Commission on Human Rights, now in session.
Pointing out that “atrocities unparalleled in human history occurred when such attacks against groups were allowed and organized by the Nazi Government,” the Congress strongly urged that a provision “preventing the dissemination of racial or religious hatred and intolerance” be inserted in the Draft Covenant. Propaganda of this nature is contrary to the U.N. Charter’s preamble which asks its member states “to practice tolerance,” the memorandum said.
The World Jewish Congress also asked for the inclusion of a provision containing the right of victims of persecution “to seek and to enjoy asylum.” No Covenant on Human Rights can be complete without a provision for the right of asylum, “one of the most ancient rights of human beings,” the memorandum declared.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
