Genocide Treaty Appears Doomed

Senate ratification of the international treaty against genocide was apparently doomed today for the remainder of this session. For the second successive day an attempt by the treaty’s backers to cut off the filibuster by the opposition failed to win the required two-thirds vote and they indicated no further effort to revive ratification will be made until a new Congress meets next year.

Both today and yesterday, 55 Senators voted to end the debate that began on Jan. 28, but today 38 others mostly conservatives from the south and west, opposed the motion made by Sen. Frank Church (D. Idaho), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on the treaty, who strongly favored ratification. Thirty-six Senators opposed cloture yesterday and when two more joined them today the leadership for the treaty decided to put off further consideration to a later and more propitious time. Two-thirds of the Senators present and voting are necessary for cloture. The same number is required for passage of the treaty.

Opponents of the treaty, who had successfully bottled it up in Senate committees over the years, expressed fear that it would cause the United States to close jurisdiction over trials of its citizens to an international tribunal.

In a statement after the voting, Sen. Jacob K. Javits (R.NY), who with Church and Sen. William Proxmire (D.Wis) fought for the treaty, expressed disappointment that cloture was not voted. “In spite of the well organized lobbying campaign against the treaty,” Javits said, “we are gratified that a substantial majority of the Senate voted with us today.” During the debate, he continued, “it became apparent that a great deal of misinformation about this treaty had been circulated and totally unwarranted fears about the treaty were generated. We intend to use the next few months to engage in public education on the real meaning and importance of the genocide treaty and we look forward to the Senate advising and consenting to this humanitarian treaty at a later date.”

Herman Bookbinder, Washington chairman of the National Ad Hoc Committee on Human Rights and the Genocide Treaty, declared: “Refusal to vote on the treaty reflects either hostility to the treaty itself or yielding to the most hateful extremist group pressure–the Liberty Lobby and the Birch Society.”

Bookbinder said he was especially outraged by the negative votes of Senators J. William Fulbright (D.Ark.) and Samuel Ervin (D.NC.). “Here are two men who are constantly preaching about morality in international affairs and morality in government and yet they vote to prevent a Senate vote on the issue of genocide,” he said.