Jewish Groups Warn U. N. Commission Not to Relax on Human Rights Work

“The United Nations has not made such progress on human rights that it can relax its vigilance now,” Moses Moskowitz of the Consultative Council of Jewish Organizations, warned the UN Human Rights Commission today.

Mr. Moskowitz spoke during the debate on a proposal to reduce the frequency of the meetings of the Commission on Human Rights yearly to a bi-annual basis. The Consultative Council represents the American Jewish Committee, Anglo-Jewish Association of England and the Alliance Universelle Israelite of France. Gerhardt Jacoby, representative of the World Jewish Congress, made similar representations.

Most of the-non-governmental organizations accredited to the 14th session of the Human Rights Commission are opposed to the plan. Like the Jewish groups, they are afraid that the proposal to reduce the frequency of meetings, which comes from higher UN echelons and the larger member states, is part of an overall plan to de-emphasize the entire human rights subject. The Jewish organizations, which to a great extent have carried the fight for human rights, assert that the matter is so deeply rooted in the UN Charter that it should not be given stepchild status.

The opposition to human rights activities stems from two diametrically opposed sources: governments known for their lack of human rights which do not want interference from anyone; and states which, while having excellent records in most or all areas of human rights, fear that the commission’s work carries with it a danger to national sovereignty.

Mr. Moskowitz said: “The founding session at San Francisco had intended to make human rights the major political force or international relations, and until human rights have been made into a force of independent vigor, the commission has not fulfilled its task.”