The possibility that the United Nation’s draft convention on the elimination of racial discrimination might leave a loophole to racist offenders, has been raised by the World Jewish Congress here.
In a document, submitted to the Secretary General of the United Nations in connection with the recent meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights and circulated by the United Nations, the World Jewish Congress declared that the Draft Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination is destined to become a valuable instrument against discrimination. But the WJC expressed concern about “the provisions relating to the implementation and effectiveness of its rules.”
Declaring that “these provisions are inadequate,” the WJC suggested that the international community be given adequate powers to effect the principles enunciated by the Convention. The WJC stated that the internal judicial remedy, proposed in the draft, “will be ineffective in States in which the independence of the tribunals is questionable, to say the least, and which are often precisely those which are guilty of condemnable practices.”
Under the Draft Convention’s system of reporting and the additional measures of implementation, only States may set the established machinery in motion. The World Jewish Congress stated that this offers no guarantee for the victims of discrimination, because “States do not customarily exercise the right of complaint against other States with which they maintain friendly relations.”
Doubting whether any State will intervene on behalf of a minority group subjected to discrimination within the jurisdiction of a major power, the world Jewish Congress noted that were such a protest to be made, there would be a risk of a human rights problem being transformed into a diplomatic conflict.
To offset these difficulties, the WJC suggested the establishment of a broad system of implementation in which individuals and organizations would take part. If this was impossible under present conditions, the World Jewish Congress proposed as a minimum measure the right of petition, complaint and protest by organizations which are independent of governments and have competence and recognition in the field of human rights. The WJC’s memorandum welcomed the inclusion of an article condemning anti-Semitism.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
