Israel and the United States joined here today in putting through the Human Rights Commission a resolution looking toward the possibility that the United Nations would make public a heretofore confidential report about violations of human rights in countries throughout the world.
The resolution was adopted after a plea by Dr. Maurice Perlzweig. UN representative of the World Jewish Congress, who asked for such steps on the ground that the world should know whenever governments are accused of violations of human rights.
Declaring that often, private organizations–for which governments are not responsible–foment a racial prejudice on an international scale. Dr. Perlzweig said that Ku Khix Klan type propaganda is being disseminated not only in the United States but also in Sweden and other European countries.
Non-governmental organizations. Dr. Perlzweig said, should be encouraged to file reports about human rights violations, and governments should be given an opportunity to reply to such reports. However, the WJC representative indicated, such reports should be made public even when governments fail to reply to the charges. He declared that in the last nine years about 65,000 complaints have been received at the UN. To date these complaints have not been published.
Roger N. Baldwin, representing the League for Human Rights, also spoke for the resolution. The resolution, co-sponsored by Israel, Argentina, Belgium and The Philippines, received the favorable vote of the United States, Italy, Mexico and Lebanon. Negative votes were cast by Britain, France, Russia, the Ukraine, Poland, India and Iran. The resolution, finally adopted by a vote of nine to seven, with Ceylon abstaining, authorizes establishment of a committee to recommend steps for publishing the reports to the Human Rights Commission.
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.
