Two separate resolutions, one calling for elimination of “all forms of religious intolerance” and the other urging elimination of “all forms of racial discrimination” were adopted unanimously, by the United Nations Economic and Social Council, now in session here.
A third resolution, entitled “study of discrimination in respect of the right of everyone to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country,” was adopted by a vote of 14-2, with one abstention. This resolution was aimed, at least in part, against the Soviet Union, which had fought against it.
The Russians were also opposed in the debates to the resolution dealing with religious freedom, while favoring the draft guaranteeing elimination of racism. However, they voted for both the religious and racial drafts, when it came to the voting.
In an address to the Council, Adlai E. Stevenson, chairman of the United States delegation, expressed his satisfaction with the “central role of human rights in all our affairs.” However, he declared he felt “we have put much too narrow a construction on the term ‘human rights.'” He urged that all “civil rights” be considered, including “the right to free speech, and free press and free assembly and freedom of religious practice.”
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