The American Jewish Committee issued a statement today charging the Hungarian Government with “violating all civilized standards of human rights” by its recent sentencing to prison of six Zionist leaders in Hungary and one non-Jewish alleged agent for aiding Hungarian Jews to proceed to Israel.
The statement, signed by Jacob Blaustein, president of the organization, cites Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, proclaimed by the United Nations last December, which declares that “everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country.”
“The American Jewish Committee is in no position to determine whether the men so sentenced were in fact responsible for the activities with which they were charged,” the statement pointed out. “Indeed, the question of their responsibility is at least morally irrelevant, because according to all civilized standards emigration is a right and not a crime. The attitude of the Hungarian Government toward basic human rights is clearly revealed by its treating as a crime what the United Nations deems a right. The motive of this act obviously is to complete the total suppression of Zionism in Hungary, in accordance with the totalitarian character of the regime.”
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