Secretary-General U Thant, of the United Nations, was asked today to investigate reports that three Iraqi Jews have been sentenced to death in Baghdad for allegedly spying for Israel “and in the event they are correct, to take every possible step to halt a perversion of justice.” The request to Mr. Thant was made in a telegram from Rabbi Herschel Schacter, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Rabbi Schacter said the reports also revealed that four other Jews are on trial for their lives and 12 more have been arrested on the same charges. “It goes without saying that if these reports are correct, they constitute a very serious challenge to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at a time when the United Nations has just completed a year of rededicating itself to the protection of human rights,” Rabbi Schacter said.
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