U. N. Assembly Postpones Action on Religious Intolerance

The General Assembly today adopted unanimously a resolution postponing until next year action on a long-pending effort to pass a U. N. draft declaration and convention for “the elimination of all forms of religious intolerance.”

The resolution as adopted called for the sending of the issue to the Commission on Human Rights with a request that the Commission complete the drafts and with the further proviso that the drafts be given “priority” at the 1966 session of the Assembly. Through various parliamentary procedures and other stalling tactics, the Soviet bloc, backed by the Arab members here, has been delaying adoption of the religious freedoms proposals since they were first drawn up by a subcommission in January, 1960.

The same plenary meeting of the Assembly today adopted unanimously a companion measure, calling for the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. Criginally, the racial and religious items had been bracketed in one draft by the subcommission’s action in 1960. However, the USSR had succeeded in separating the two complementary aims, concentrating on anti-racism but stymying the religious freedom proposals.

It was the draft convention on elimination of racism which the United States and Brazil tried to amend so as to condemn anti-Somitism, while the USSR presented a sub-amendment bracketing in the condemnation not only anti-Semitism but also Zionism and Nazism. Both the U. S.-Brazil and USSR moves fell by the wayside when the Assembly’s committee considering anti-racism voted to omit mention of all “isms” except apartheid. The Soviet Union was behind that move.