Individuals, groups of individuals and nongovernmental organizations can now make direct complaints of human rights violations against six European nations, including West Germany, under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which has just been ratified by Bonn. The complaints may be made to an international body.
The convention went into effect with its ratification by Germany, the sixth nation to do so. The other states which adhere to the document are: Sweden, Eire, Denmark, Iceland and Belgium. The convention was adopted by the Council of Europe at Strasbourg and it was specified that it would go into effect after six member states of the Council had accepted it.
The right of individual petition has long been demanded by Jewish organizations. In this case, it is predicated on the “Human Rights Convention” signed at Rome in November of 1950 by the Foreign Ministers of fifteen European countries. It entered into effect two years ago and guarantees much the same freedoms as does the United Nations declaration on the same subject: freedom of conscience and religion, of assembly and association, the right to privacy, to a fair trial and to marry, freedom from torture, slavery and servitide, from arbitrary arrest, detention and exile.
To ensure observance of the convention, the Council of Ministers elected a fifteen-member European Commission of Human Rights, consisting of one national from each member state. It is authorized to accept petitions from any person, group of individuals or non-governmental organization claiming to be the victim of a violation of the rights set forth in the convention, provided that the country against which the complaint is lodged has expressly declared that it recognizes the competence of the commission to receive such petitions.
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.
