A new proposal for international appointment high commissioners to handle petitions on viclations of human rights, prepared by ##e Consultative Council of Jewish Organizations, was presented today to the United nations Human Rights Commission.
The plan is described as a compromise in the face of an apparent majority in the Commission for a system of appealing violations by governments only. The Commission is in the process of writing an international covenant on human rights and the sestion of implementation of this instrumant is regarded by most interested groups the decisive issue.
Under the Council’s proposal, the states ratifying the covenant would name “at##rneys-general” or high commissioners on a regional basis to bring cases of violations before regional commissioners. The commissioner would be comparable to the at##rney-general of a national state. Such a system, it is felt, would eliminate the ##aknesses in restricting petitions to governments, and would also avoid misuses or uses that the big powers fear would result from a system under which individuals groups could petition a world body directly. The attorney-general would act as clearing house of petitions in addition to presenting them.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
