(UNTITLED)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79-01194A000100620001-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 14
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 6, 1998
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: June 17, 1974
• Content Type: REPORT

25X1C10b
Approved For Release 1999/09/02 : CIA-RDP79-01194A000100620001-7
Approved For Release 1999/09/02 : CIA-RDP79-01194A000100620001-7
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To publish a: survey of. human rights in. the
? world in 1974 is to undertake .a task more. neces-
sary than pleasant. To whomever does not
know it, it will be apparent from the pages that
follow that the struggle for human rights today
is almost everywhere a defensive one, .
The high hopes that. followed the defeat of
nazism and fascism in 1945, and which inspired
the adoption of the United Nations declaration
and the European Convention on human rights,
have not been fulfilled. There must be fewer
individuals. in the world today who can live in
confidence that their basic human rights - will
be respected than there were in the late 1940s--
certainly as a proportion of the world's popu-
lation, and probably in absolute terms as well.
Why should this be ? One reason can. be
ruled out straight away. It is not for lack of
concern or awareness of the problem. Probably
there have been more speeches, petitions.,:
reports and protests about human rights. in the
past 30 years than in the whole history of the
world. What. is true; however,, is that people's.
interest in the problem is too often selective,
and this is especially true when human rights
are discussed in intergovernmental forums, such
as the United Nations or the Council of Europe.
A Soviet delegate may wax,eloquent about
the sufferings of Palestinian refugees or of poli-
tical prisoners in Chile, but if someone, else
raises the question of Pakistani prisoners of
war in India he will show no interest, and if
the subject of Soviet dissidents comes up he- will
get positively angry.
To mention the Soviet Union may be to take
an unfair, because an extreme, example. In the
Soviet case the explanation is probably simple
bad faith. It is unlikely that the Soviet-leaders
are seriously interested in human rights at all
-not even those of the Palestinians or Chileans.
Their affectation of such a concern for propa-
ganda purposes may be hypocritical-but if so,
like all hypocrisy, it is 'the tribute vice pays to
virtue. It means that even the cynics in the
Kremlin assume the- existence -W- _= inter-
national public opinion which does care about
human rights. And the campaign in the west
on behalf of Soviet dissidents must confirm
them in that assumption.
Approved For Release 1999/09/02
But even the bona fide advocate of human
rights is too often selective in his advocacy.
The Americans who put pressure on the'Soviet
authorities to allow Jews to emigrate 'to. Israel.
undoubtedly do so out of genuine philanthropic
concern. But few of them attempt to put the
same pressure on the Israel authorities to allow
Palestinians to return to their homes.
Conversely, many Arabs feel a strong and
sincere moral indignation about Israel's treat=
ment of Palestinians, but scarcely a qualti
about the killing of Israeli women and children
by Arab terrorists. Yet the essence of human
rights is that they.belong equally to all human
beings, and not only ',to to those who happen to be
on one's own side.
In truth almost everyone has a tendency to
assent to the idea of human rights as a general
proposition, but to feel that exceptions may be
justified in the interests of their Town country
or community because of the extreme pressure
to which it is subjected and the ruthlessness of
its enemies. That is how we feel about the IRA.
But it is also how the Chilean Government feels
about the supporters of President Allende or
how white South Africans feel about African
nationalism and soon.
It is only in a strong, united and self-confi-
dent society, that human rights can be easily
guaranteed. The greater the pressure on 'a
society, the greater the chance that it will sacri-
fice human rights to its own defence.
Today there is hardly a society in the world
which is not under pressure. of some sort, in
the sense that its system of authority is seriously
contested by at least a minority of its members:
The pressure results, to a large extent, from the
aspiration. of the poor-both poor countries
and poor people in rich-countries-to a higher
standard of living.
In much of the industrial world it has been
possible. so far, if not to satisfy that aspiration.,
at least to appease it, so that the existence of
a liberal -democracy guaranteeing basic human
rights still seems worthwhile to the great major
.city of the population. - But in the under-
developed rid. standards ofliving are so low
that for most people~human rights are virtually
meaningless : so that it is not surprising if gov-
ernments feel that economic development is the
CIA-RDP79-01 194A000100620001-7
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only priority, and that formal human rights can
in practice be ignored.
Industrialization in the big western countries
was carried out -at a time when great inequality
was taken for granted, and.in most cases before
the introduction of universal suffrage. Today
in the Third World the most successful govern-
ments .economically are authoritarian ones,
whether of left or right (though most of the
unsuccessful apes are authoritarian too).
It may be that human rights are bound to be
roughly treated until a certain level is reached
at which they have.sone meaning.for the mass
of the population. If so, our responsi'bi ity in
the west is all the greater, since it may be our
task .to keep human rights alive until the rest
of humanity is able to share them. - -
Declaration stronger than all the armies
Napofron
of Human
CO , 'or
4-1
O
"e
'11 L
"
if it li~~ re~Smognh~ed this right give
rL1
O
rj
to
goverp.
the armtes 'of apoleon, but. lands, Norway, Sweden and bath in the protection of
able and. imprescriptible recognized the right, but 'tion and administrative prac-
rights' set out in that dec- Cyprus, France, Malta and tires, inconvention coun-
laration, nonsense on Turkey have not yet:done so. tries.
stilts".- Legal aid, financed by the Also in 1949 the -United
Thee 1958 report of the Council of Europe,- is avail- Nations -began the task,
Nigerian. Minorities Commis- able to applicant j> on the which took 17 years to com-
&ion was perhaps nearer the customary condit ons. Any plete, of translating the
truth than either in saying convention-country may also "common standards of
that t a' statement. of, asic refer to the commission achievement" of the univer-
rights, whether in or outside . alleged breaches of the sal declaration into enforce-
the constitution, was a first European Convention in `able rights. Two covenants
line of defence. In the Cone- another convention country ;
monwealth, Canada, New , bete drafted--on civil and
Zealand, Cyprus, India,_ Nige- Sweden, fedenexDmple, Norway, political rights, and on eco-
ria "and Sierra Leon- are , Denmark and The nomic, social and cultural
among the 'countries that Netherlands referred the sit- ,rights, ca'-led respectively in
have adoppted.bills of rights, - uation in Greece-to the com- United Nations shorthand,
as part'of'the constitution or mission in September, 1967, legal rights and programme
as directive'prin ciples. of leg- and its report played a part rights.
islation and government ; in the removal of Greece
,and-0 comprehensive Human from the Council of Europe ; In was recognized from the
Rights Bill has recently been and Iceland has referred beginning that the first of
introduced in the Australian alleged breaches of the.con- these groups, traditionally
vention by the United King- called civil liberties in
Parliament. Britain, may be directly en-
The Universal Declaration dom in internment and inter- forced through courts or par
o? Human Rights, adopted rogations in Northern Ire liamentc - Whflo f4. s--- -4
d i 1
i
fight
at
vns
`?, n w
" lne task or the commis- ??'"?.-? ?"?,-
era- Assembly in 1948 as a tion, are essentially claims, rights and fundam
sion is to investigate com-
hi
f
eve
common standard o
ac
cent for all peoples and all plaints; and endeavour to and may thus only be met dons" This sub-cc
for c:an CG ;hrinQ ahn,rt a settlement over time through dedicated has undertaken a n
spring, the European Conven- with the government con- social policy ana persistent investigations.
e cerned. If no settlement is reform. T
he Internation
h
Ri
ht
i
H
av
s,
g
t
on on
uman-
in Hart been models for 'reached the commission It was seen that it was Organization, an
The European w,ivca,~avii Europe and gives its opinion because .- time -and change international co
was drafted in the Council were needed to secure them, covering labour in industry,
of Europe in 1949 50, with whether there has been any but because without them agriculture and shipping.
the active support from breach of the convention. At legal riors may
of Winston Chur- that stage,? the case may be g y give little Some of -these conventions
basic
comfort:. David Maxwell Fyfe referred by the - commission when a there
man n a who o time stand out pro effective
hungry was
(later Lord Kilmuir) and or by the government, con- stole e a rights, through the e eff ffecctiv
sheep got a fair trial ILO
i
d
report
ngant o
s and
other parliamentarians, and cerned to the European
but was still.hanged._ of--rep 'sals for
came into force in 1953. A ? Court of Human Rights for a The United Nations coven-
European Commission of binding judicial decision ; ants were adopted by the unfair competition for ex-
European ample, conventions on forced
Human Rights was set up, otherwise the Committee of General Assembly by virtual labour, the right to organize,
its members-one from each Ministers 'must decide unanimity but are not yet. in collective bargain g, equal
convention country acting whether there has been a force -arid, given the slow remuneration, minimum
or nonsense.on stilts?
of
vi ua s, groups o to tvt -
pendent inquiry and persua-
tries, will not be
or a long
uals, or non-governmental
Sion. It is in no sense a
time to come. Ho
ever
they
bodies, claiming to be vic-
l
court of law, though some of
are not only far
,
wider and
tims of breaches of the
its members have had judi-
more articulated
than the
European Convention by one
cial experience' in, their
11ni I declarati
on. but. if
a word view
i
i
h
ibl
human
h
r
g
ts
s poss
e,
t
eY are
Asia, and eight members,
including the S t Union
and Saudi Arabia a )stained.
The covenants must then,
even though not ir force, be
taken as having replaced the
universal declaration as
world Stateme is of
`` common stand rds c'f
achievement Lffi human
rights.
The UN Commission on
Human Rights is p imarily a
promotional body, ut it has
undertaken some s ecific in-
quiries, and its sub-commis-
sion on ' prevention of dis-
crimination and protection
of minorities has been em-
nications,
govern-
which
-onsistent
i reliably
Of human
vital free-
mmission
umber of
in their individual capacity. breach. CIA RDP79 0I 194A000I o6 OO a soQal' on in rein'
Applications pty F'fti' ~i~
to the commisst by Will- t s ' 2:
ployment and remuneration.
 CPYRGHT Approved For8"8$i+999/09/02 : CIA-RDP79-01194A000100620001-7
Nationally, - 'the ombuds-
man system, as a check on
maladministration in central
and local government, is
taking wider hold. Originat-
ing in Scandinavia, there are
now similar systems in a
number of countries, but dif-
fering in some ways-such
as whether the ombudsman
or commissioners (as the
case may be) are linked to
parliament, or are limited in
their tasks to central govern-
ment, or can take the initia-
tive in inquiring into malad-
ministration.
Examples are the Scandi-
navian ombudsman,': the
Parliamentary Commission-
ers in New Zealand, Bri-
tain and Northern Ireland
the Mediateur in France ;
the tribunal in. Tanzania
and. the civil rights com-
missions in more than- 20
states of the United States
that are-principally designed
to check discrimination.
More specialized are the
military ombudsman in West.
Germany, and the Procura-
tor General in the Soviet
Union, who is concerned
with maladministration in
the courts and has a number
of regional offices.- Zurich
has . established its own
ombudsman, who manages to
deal with many. of the com-
plaints by personal contact.
The tireless work of ' the
press and of other non-gov-
ernmental bodies, such as
the Minority Rights. Group
and the National Council of
Civil Liberties in Britain,
and Amnesty, uncovers and
fills many gaps in the protec-
tion of basic rights.
Clifford Longley
'jrggti~Efai-rs
Events and trends in the o group is more vulnerable
past 25 years of efforts to t oppression than a minority
codify human rights have ithin a majority, a group
altered the perspectives, and
perhaps the priorities, as s t apart from the rest by dif-
seen in 1950. To illustrate : f rences of race,. religion,
the pressures, particularly igin or some. other cultural
urban, of. rapid. increases in arameter. This was no doubt
population have put in ques- by Gandhi"set the treatment
tion rights to life and -W minorities as the supreme
found a family, set out. ip, t st of any society's claim to
for example, the European e. truly civilized. This is also
Convention, and also in the by there is no more urgent,
Inter-American Convention r intractable, problem in
on. Human Rights (1969), t e whole field of human
which would extend the ghts : minorities suffer
right to life "in general, to orst of all, and are-hardest
the moment of conception I ; t -help.
proposals that abortion he At first sight, their plight
unrestricted; or that steri- I oks hopeless. The United
lizationr be in certain cases ations charter, although
compulsory, or that family cognizing that human rights
growth be. limited by puns- nnot be denied to any
five taxation, could be irte= oup,- however it is to be
concilable with these stated istinguished, also enshrines
rights. annciple that the internal
The. widening recognition fairs of a state are- no con-
of the need to regulate mote rri of another,. or of the
closely in the common inter- rid organization.
r1 E
C
onvention
est the uses of land and a uropean
water, and other natural re- t n Human Rights breaches
sources, must raise- sharp is rule, allowing the ulti-
and continuing questions of ate remedy., of. expulsion
io granted, or more vigor-
ou ly defended, as a basic
ri it than that of property.
Bu . the declaration of prin-
ci les by the Stockholm
Co iference on the Human
E ironment (1972) calls at
a umber of points for plan-
ni g, management and con-
tra of resources, which must
re uce or restrict estab-
lis ed property rights.
11 urther, while the univer-
sal declaration said that
"e eryone has the right to
ow property alone as well
as n association with others.
No one shall be arbitrarily
de rived of his property'",
we search the pages of the
Un ted Nations convenants
in in for such a principle
in act, with the assent of
mo a than 100 countries
the do not mention a right
of roperty at all. Verbum
sap 'enti.
ut demands for economic
eel etermination and secur-
ity have been intensified in
fac of the multinational
cor orations and the pres-
en of many foreign work-
0 - tr. So the F.m.
nomic, Social and Cultural
Rights Covenant states that
" developing countries, with
due regard to human rights
and their national economy,
may determine to what
extent they would guarantee
the economic rights recog-
nized in the present coven-
ant to non-nationals ".
The multinational corpora-
tions are skilled at present'
ing.a face of innocence and
political helplessness, but
there is no doubt that their
economic power or influ-
ence, whether abused or not,
is greater than that of many
governments. Against them
the clause in the covenant
may be justified ; but es it is
also to be read as a means of
erosion of -the long-accepted
minimum standard of treat-
ment of foreign workers or
traders, it can only be of
comfort to General Amin.
Liberal democracy : - sees
human rights, largely in
terms of the protection of
the individual against the
state,. but in the industrial-
ized countries at least tbe
state is"in decline in face of
the technologies of comniu-
-nications, resource manage-
ment and industrial organi-
. zation ; . its institutions,
,whether liberal or ddrigiste,
are, to borrow Walter Bage-
hot's distinction, becoming
increasingly theatrical
rather than efficient.
Hence simple, enunciations
of the freedom to receive
and impart information, and
of respect for private life,
and of the limited public
restrictions - permitted on
them, - lose most of their
traditional force in such con-
texts as subliminal advertis-
ang, direct satellite broad-
casting, secrecy on sources
of environmental pollution,
personal data - compilation
and retrieval, and industrial
espionage.
Some of these forces are
virtually beyond public re-1
striction or control, as the
Soviet Union is acutely
aware in the case of direct
satellite broadcasting ; and it
is in any case meaningless to
claim either the freedom of
information,. or the power to
restrict this freedom, in such
areas without a clearer view
of common interests than we
inorities the most vulnerable
and the most difficult to: help
CPYRGHT
for any state flagrantly in
defiance of the convention.
But. the worst cases of the
oppression of minorities are
... tgeiU ? LLL 0Y~,
Each distinct minority has
its own distinct problems but
it is wrong to think they have
nothing -in common. Not only
are the mechanisms of oppres-
sion universal-the denial of
cultural identity in -language
or religion ; the ruthless sup-
pression of self-assertion;
discrimination in jabs, hous-
ing, education-but so, by
and large, are the causes.
Mr Ben Whitaker, former
Labour MP and now director
of the Minority Rights Group
in London, says : " Ethno-
centricism, the belief in the
extraordinary values of one's
own group, coupled with a
suspicion of anything dif-
ferent, permeates homes,
schools, books, and news-
papers throughout the world.
" Prejudices, which are
often used as pretexts for de-
nigrating political, social, or
economic opponents, pro-
vide men with excuses to ex-
ploit other classes, races or
women. Leaders use them as
calculated weapons : the led,
from the need for security,
chaltPr hPhinA curl, hlinlrerc
and thereby are diverted
from focusing upon the real
causes of the injustices they
are suffering.
---'N! orit ief often reveal
wider social problems. Much
inter-ethnic conflict is due
not to pluralism but to socie-
ties' imbalance of power::
Prejudice, which is also cap-
able of being self-fulfilling,
can" be, reinforced by compe-
tition in jobs, sex or hous-
ing ; and less well-off people
are obviously those who are
most vulnerable to a threat
to their basic existence."
This is - an important
diagnosis, not least because
it comes from the man who
heads the one organization in
the world to have studied the
question - of minority rights
globally. The MRG has 19
different case histories to its
credit, ranging from religious
minorities in Russia to the
gypsies of Europe, from the
Nagas of India to the Montag-
nards of Vietnam.
This is the role of minority-
as-scapegoat for social in-
justice, minority-as-distrac-
tion from social injustice, the
traditional lot of Jews in
Europe and now blacks in
contemporary Britain. It
why the
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diionally bee "ken -more
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orst persecution of minoriies appears to happen- in the
ost socially disturbed, least
ust, or poorest societies.
If the relationship is in part
ausative and not accidental,
is Whitaker's analysis would
uggest, then the -theory
ould tie any genuine long-
erm improvement in- the
tatus of a minority to the
eneral improvement in the
evel of justice and prosperity
n society as it whole. It is
omething of a challenge to
aternalistic liberalism,
hich traditionally concen-
rates its efforts on alleviat-
ng the day-tb-day symptoms
f discrimination and oppres-
ion.
An unjustly treated min-
rity is itself a symptom of
eep-seated ill-health in
ociety, and any cure would
ave to be directed at society
tself. In that sense Gandhi's
ictum is a penetrating in-
ight into the nature of in-
ustice rather than a gentle
atement of the almost-
bvious.
If injustice to minority
roups is usually to be found
is a product of general in-
ustice, the minority is likely
o suffer more than the gen-
ral population from the
anifestations of that in-
ustice.
A regime that denies its
ajority its human rights is
'kely to be even more ruth-
ss in its dealings with its
inorities. And these regimes
re, of their nature, less
usceptible to outside pres
ures ; they are less likely to
ave any semblance of
emocracy, or a free press, or
nfettered courts.
Minorities also represent
special threat. Permanently
eminded by discrimination
f their separate identity,
ere is an ever present risk
tat they might begin to
ssert that identity.
Republicanism in Northern
reland, Black Power in the
nited States, Basque
ationalism, the Biafran re-
ellion, the Kurdish revolt,
d the militancy of the Jews
Russia all tell the same
tile, No country that screws
own the lid on a minority
group can escape`the conse-
uences, and all too easily
die situation can progress
down a- descending spiral of
arsh legislation, persecu-
t on, police brutality, and
t rture.
The ultimate logic, as the
orld knows, leads to the gas
c ambers. There is no other
final solution" to any
iSrity rpblemat that end
o the scale each step leads
t the next. Only a deliberate
c ange of direction towards
a fair, free, and just society
can even secure relief for
o pressed minority groups.
That. basicallyAt Oed F tR We ?9991109101
lem facing any organization
which takes up the cause of
a minority under pressure.
The radical remedies re-
quired are quite outside its
control. But some steps are
possible as recent history
has shot-n. It does appear
that certain forms of private
and public pressure from
outside can check the
descent of the spiral of -re-
pression, forcing states to" a
greater toleration of minority
self-expression than they
might otherwise like, if left.
to their own devices.
In the .case 'of minority
rights, outside organizations
.of this kind have a particular
responsibility. Only a few of
the world's major minority
u
l
k t
th
p
ps can
oo
ro-
gro
e,
o
tection of a neighbouring
country, as the Roman Catho-
lic religious and ethnic
minority in Northern Ireland
can look to the Republic, or
as the Jews of Russia can look
to Israel and to-the Diaspora
communities for help.
Even societies marked by a
high degree of political re-
pression recognize that their
standing in the world cannot C
.be allowed to deteriorate too
far. Public opinion outside
their own frontiers is impor-
tant to them, more important
in some*their' cases than opinion
among own citizens.
This presents organizations
like MRG with one useful
source of political leverage.
,For failing all else, recalci-
trant governments can be
brought to the bar of world
opinion, and obliged to
answer for their conduct.
Is it sufficient to leave the
defence of the world's most
defenceless 'communities to
one . small privately fin-
anced British organization ?
Although now becoming
recognized throughout the
world for its work in this
field, that in itself represents
a danger as well as a tribute.
Humanitarian organizations
can too readily assume that
minority rights are being
cared for by others, and need
no additional effort.
The International Com-
mittee of the Red Cross,
Amnesty international, the
churches and other religious
institutions, and those gov-
ernments which conduct
their international relations
with an element of altruism,
are no doubt happy to join
in a chorus of. condemnation
once a situation of minority
oppression is exposed, but
who is to do the exposing ?
Almost by definition, "there
is no outside vested interest
that can benefit by such
exposure in the majority of
cases. There are neither
votes nor profits to be made
out of, say, the Montagnards,
PYRGHT
A United Nations Com-
missioner for Minorities,
working along the lines of
the United Nations Commis-
sioner for Refugees, is
-and focus world attention;
backed by resources propor-
tionate to the need-which
MRG freely admits it does
not possess.
A United Nations Commis-
sioner in this-field would be
a far more formidable ally for
a minority to have. It would
be much more difficult for
any state to get way with a
policy of repri a1 if the
United Nations it elf-for all
its faults-was w tching and
seen to be.watchi g.
If the United Nations is to
befriend the friendless in this
way, it will only be when the
world community as reached
a level of maturiadvanced
enough to put , aside . self-
interest.. There ar few gov-
ernments in the world witJt-
gns of possible strength
in-fragile investig: t
ion
procethireT______
Niall MacDermot
final Commission
nunissi:on of the United
tions met early this year
New. York it was called
st time' under a new -pro-
fering countries.. If the
ny people, at least the
ro procedure was not
ngled at : birth as some
feared would happen.
cause to believe ,revealed a
of gross
tan rights
eedoms ".
A course of action was ,Pt
force which e d to e
adoption in 1970 by the coun-
cil of an important resolution
(No 1503) establishing a
detailed procedure for the
investigation of complaints
similar to that recommended
by,-the subcommission in
For many years the Secre-
tary General has received
between- 20,000 and 30,000
complaints a year of viola-
tions of human rights in all
parts of the world. Many
are repetitive an often in
vague and general terms.
Many-others, however, are
specific and meriinquiry.
Under the, new procedure
adunissible communications
may . originate from indivi-
duals or . groups who are
victims .of violations, from
persons having t know-
ledge of _ violations or from
non-governmental organiza-
tions acting in g od faith
and not political By moti-
vated and having 'rent and
reliable knowledge of such
violations.
The new procedure calls
for examination these
complaints in three stages.
First, the United Nations
secretariat refers the " com-
munications ", as complaints
are euphemistically termed,
to a working part of the
subcommission. This meets
ed of representatives of
ernments, and most gov-
ate, a number o govern-
ts became so motivated
other factors that they
rt containing informa-
" from all available'
ces" On violations of
an rights and to bring
Fa a --I
for 10 days to consider them
and ref ers whose -- wl ich -
"appear to reveal consis-
tent pattern of g oss and
reliably attested lations "
to the suboommissi n. This
in turn' considers ern for
a then
Mj Da s on to
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CPYRGHT
sion.
In the first year of the
new procedure the subcom-
mission decided not to ref e-
to the commission any of
the three cases (Greece,
Iran and Portugal) sent to
it by the working party.
Instead it sent them back to
the working party to con-
sider them further, in the
light of replies from govern-
ments. In this way a year
was lost.
In the second year the
working party referred eight
cases to the subcommission
(Brazil, Guyana, Indonesia,
Iran, Burundi,. Tanzania,
Portugal and the United
Kingdom). A , judicious
balance was maintained, two
countries being selected
from four of the five blocks
into which the nations are
unofficially grouped within
the United Nations, the
Soviet block alone escaping
scrutiny.
The third stage-was reached
for the first time this year.
The Human Rights Commis-
sion, after examining the
situations referred to it, is
asked to determine "whether
it requires a thorough study
.by -the commission and a
report and recommendations
thereon to the Economic and
Social Council ", or " whether
it may be a subject of an in-
vestigation by an ad hoc com-
mittee to be appointed by the
commission, which shall be
undertaken only with the
express consent of the state
concerned and shall be con-
ducted in constant coopera-
tion with that state and under
conditions determined by
agreement with it ".
The distinction between a
"thorough study" and an
" investigation " is not very
clear, save that an investiga-
tion, depending as it does on
the cooperation of th. govern-
ment concerned, is less likely
to occur, but if it does, will
presumably have the advan-
tage of including evidence
from both sides.
It is important to realize
that this procedure is in
essence a political. and not a
judicial one. It is more akin
to an inquiry on the national
plane by a parliamentary
committee than to a decision
by a court of justice. To be
realistic, it will be difficult
to obtain even the degree of
impartiality sometimes found
in parliamentary committees.
This does not mean that the
procedure is valueless. It is a
way of bringing pressure on
governments to mend their
ways with respect to human
rights. Also, the very exis-
tence of the procedure shows
that " consistent patterns of
gross violations of human
rights " are not, in the words
of article 2(7) of the charter,
jurisdiction of any state ill-treatment of suspects in raised by members of the
and, therefore, excluded Northern Ireland. -commission.
from United Nations inter. It is understood that there Governments have an
vention. was little discussion in the opportunity to reply to all
Of the eight cases referred commission of the merits of communications at the outset
this year to the Human 'these complaints. Attention before they are referred to
against Brazil referred to the Most if not all of. the Soviet
torture and ill-treatment of block, who have been hostile
prisoners ; those against to the new procedure from
Guyana to racial discrimina- the beginning, sought to
Lion, particularly in employ- have all these complaints
. ment in the public .service ; referred back to the subcom-
against Indonesia to the pro- mission, which would effec-
longed detention without trial tively have killed it.
and ill-treatment of tens of The majority eventually
thousands of political sus decided to set up a working
pects; against Iran to the party of the commission it-
torture of political prisoners self, to meet in a year's time
by the secret police ; against to consider the complaints
Burundi to the tribal mass- acres of the Hutus by the again in the light of any
ruling Tutsi minority ; against further replies from govern-
Tanzania to the forced marri- ments and any other relevant
ages of girls of Persian des- information available, and to
cent in Zanzibar ; against report back to the commis-
Portugal to the ill-treatment sion. This decision illustrates
of prisoners both in Portugal the extreme sensitivity of
itself and in the overseas ter- the commission in dealing
ritories ; and against the with complaints against gov-
United Kingdom to the pre- ernments in cases other than
ventive detention and.alleged those: which are repeatedly
ffi'tsto enforce the western tradition
" matters which
For
hi
tinily wk
dition of belief both in the
reality of than law--a law
blither than the -edicts of
princes-and of the universal
rights which this law confers
affirmations of rights in the the example -af the English
second sense: and there is Bill of Rights had a great
.a very ancient western (ra- influence throughout the
...... r.. .11 c.nxrewei,i a The Bill of Rights enacted
person has, because the by the English Parliament
authority and force of posi- after the "Glorious Revolu-
tive law decrees and upholds ti,,,, in 1689 named also the
it i or a right may be some- right to trial by. jury and
thing a person ought to have, prescribed that there should
because of a morally compel- be neither excessive bail nor
ling claim to it. excessive fines, and outlawed
Affirmations of human cruel and unusual punish-
rights are characteristically ments. Locke's reasoning and
"Human rights" is a fairly modern rationalists have sus- The United States Consti-
new name for what were tained much the. same con- tution of 1789, with concur.
once called "the rights of cept of basic moral rights rent amendments, defined
man ". Mrs Roosevelt en- which every human being these rights in somewhat
couraged the United Nations possesses simply by virtue of greater detail, and under-
to speak of human rights being human. They are not standably so since its pur-
when -she :found that the- the kind of rights that are pose was to translate moral
rights- of man were not conferred exclusively by a rights into positive rights, by
understood in some parts of particular society. They are making them enforceable in
the world to include the not rights that are earned. American positive law.
rights of woman. They are universal, and they
In -the seventeenth cen- are inherited;- so: to speak,
tury John Locke, the pphi)"o- with humanity itself. :Their Stirring but abstract
sopher, and others, spoke of very generality, however,
"natural rights ", because makes it hard to discern
the rights in question were these rights clearly.. . _ . document,
derived from "natural law ", Hence, various attempts
or the universal principles of have been made to set down
justice, rather than from the lists of human rights. John The famous French Ddc-
imperatives of positive law. Locke, most often quoted as iararion des Droirs de
This last distinction is, of an authority on the subject, I'Ho nze t du ch t .he
course, the crucial one. A wrote of . the rights to life, which c at mu
_
cummission, ant again at all
subsequent stages. To give
governments yet another year
to reply to complaints, of
which at least two were first
considered by the subcommis-
sion two years ago is to
reduce severely the effective-
ness of an already weak pro-
cedure.
None the less, many people
with long experience of the
struggle for more effective
procedures within the United
Nations felt satisfied with
the progress made this year.
The advantage of the Reso-
lution 1503 procedure is that
it is the only procedure, uni-
versal in its application, for
considering complaints by
individual victims and by
interested' non-governmental
organizations concerning
violations of human rights. It
is a tender plant, which needs
careful nourishment.
named more or less the
same civil and political
rights, in language inspired
more by English and Ameri-
can theory than by anything
that belonged to French ex-
perience, It was a stirring
document. But it had one
great defect. It was abstract
and idealistic, and had no
force in positive law, as had
both the Ern lish Bill of
Rights and the American
world. When the American Constitution. It was no more
states gained their indepen- than a declaration.
denee, -several-issued decla. In 1948 there appeared
rations of rights adding to another'. declaration on the
those that the En
lish had sa
e li
g
m
nes, the universal
on all rational, sentient named, the right to happi- Declaration of Human
beings. Hess, or, in more cautiously Rights, passed and pro.
Greeks, Stoics, . Romans, worded documents, the right claimed by the United
medieval Christians and CIAeRDP79 -O1194A000 006 p0ui -P ' less
 (`DVD(`_LJT Approved Ifr AAe 1999/09/02 : CIA-RDP79-01194A000100620001-7
and ar-ore than had been
promised when the United
Nations was founded during
the Second World War, and
charged with what Churchill
called the mission of enthron-
ing human . rights., The
United Nations . declaration
fell short of that objective
because it provided no
machinery for passing from
the abstract exercise of
naming human rights to the
concrete exercise of uphold-
ing them.
At the same time it went
beyond the original purpose
by narriing besides the tradi-
tional -natural rights to life,
liberty, fair treatment and so
forth, various other more
idealistic rights, such as the
right to a decent standard of
living, medicine and holidays
with pay.
This introduction of " eco-
nomic " rights was partly in
response to the presence of
the communist Powers in the
United Nations. The civil
and political rights of the
great western tradition hold
an equivocal place in Marx-
ist philosophy, while the
material and economic needs
of men are better under-
stood.
The Council of Europe has
achieved more. The Euro-
pean Convention for the Pro-
tection of Human Rights,
drawn up in Rome in 1950,
was followed by the institu-
tion at Strasbourg of a Com-
mission and a -Court of
Human Rights, bodies to
which the individual has
access as a petitioner if he
believes that his rights as set
out.in the European Conven-
tion . have been violated.
member states, but it claims
moral rights for everyone;
and indeed it would. make no
sense as a statement of
human rights if it did not do
so.-
It is tempting to agree with
Bentham's contention that no
assertion of right makes
sense unless it is an assertion
of positive right, rights
actually enjoyed. But we
should not agree with him too
hastily. The word "right"
does have its two meanings,
both equally legitimate.
Speaking of a moral right is
just as sensible as talking of
a positive right. Indeed, a
large part of the justification
of a claim to a positive right ;
must be that it is a morally
compelling claim.
Way to persuade
people
of the individual and the
security of the na on. But
security in genera is not
something which is at odds
with human rights, because
It is itself a human -right ; it
is a part of the right to life.
The security of the indi-
vidual is bound up with the
security of the community:
the private enjoyment of the
right depends on the
common enjoyment of the
right. The demand for lib-
erty and security i not a
demand for two till gs that
can only with diffi ul`y be
balanced or reconcil d : it is
it demand for two th ngs that
naturally belong - ogether.
Part of the weste under-
standing of human ights is
the belief that a free country
Is safer than an unf a coun.
gives s good
try. History
grounds for continuing to
think this is true.
Universal, not just
European
It is perhaps ironic that
access to the Strasbourg
institutions is limited to the
inhabitants of countries
where political ' and civil
human rights, that is, human
rights as they have been
understood in the western
tradition, are already gener-
ally well respected by the
governments concerned.
But if the western under-
standing of human rights is to
some extent culture-bound,
the rights set forth in the
European Convention are not
intended to be the rights of
Europeans only, but to be the
rights of all men. The Euro-
pean Convention is just as
much a universal document,
in this sense, as are the Uni-
versal Declaration and the
Covenants of the United
Nations. The European Con-
vention confers some positive
rights on inha013tbO6d
To establish that a thing
ought to be is the way to
,persuade people that it shall
be. To say, for example, that
,all men have a right to
freedom of movement is to
dispute the justice of those
governments which refuse to
allow people to move freely.
And this is not to make
anything so vague and uto-
pian as- a statement of aspi-
.-ration and ideals ; it is to
indict, from the perspective
of justice- and morality, gov-
ernments which restrain
men's freedom, dignity. and
so forth. It is inevitable that
the rights 'of one individual
i collide - from time to - time
with those of another. Also,,
there may occasionally be a'
conflict between the sights
Maurice Cranst
Tfttet" of attitu'des in Third Wo
Y
The origins of thinking on
"human rights " in the so-
called Third World of Asia,
Africa and Latin America can
be summarized in two propo-
sitions. First; many indi-
vidual politicians and intel-
lectuals revolutionary and
'gradualists alike, learnt the
political morality of the West,
often in highly idealized form,
either in the various metro-
politan centres of colonial
empires or in local institu-
tions permeated by European
political thought.
Secondly, these same irdi-
viduals not unreasonably
started to make claims, in
orthodox terms, that the prin-
ciples so smugly professed by
Europeans should be applied
to non-Europeans-in other
words, their, political and
economic masters should give
full faith and credit to their
own concepts.
The political and moral
foundations of many well-
known figures in Africa and
Asia are by no means radical:
not surprisingly they are
Christians, Muslims or Hin-
dus. Dr Kaunda espouses
humanism. Mr Nyerere's
socialism is akin to Tom
Paine's Rights of Man and not
to revolutionary socialism.
Even when such figures
resort to planning and state
control of various kinds, the
approach has tended to be
that of Lloyd George's war
cabinet-that major problems
(poverty, -malnutrition and
the like) call for special mea-
sures as_ a matter of expedi-
Paris Peace Conference in
1919 the Japanese delegation
(qualified members of the
" heavy squad " since victory
in the Russo-Japanese war)
had the temerity to ask that
the League of Nations Cov-
enant should include guaran-
tees of racial and religious
equality. This met with a
refusal from other delega?
tions : and thus it was that
(apart from mandates) 1919.
20 human rights standards
were insisted upon only in
minorities treaties affecting
de.`eated states and states
such as Poland which were
" probationers " and products
of the work of the - Allied
Supreme Council. -- -
It is typical that, when the
French turned their forces on
Ho Chi Minh's infant repub.
lic in 1945 he defended his
policy of setting up a provi-
sional government by saying :
"Not only is our act in line
with the. Atlantic and San
Francisco charters, solemnly
proclaimed by the allies, but
it entirely conforms with the
glorious principles upheld by
the French people, viz liberty;
equality and fraternity."
Since about 1955 a large
number of Afro-Asian states,
including the new China, have
been active in international
life, and it is now possible to
give -a reasonably clear -pic-
ture of the special elements
in the attitude of the develop-
ing - states towards human
rights. This picture of
" special elements " involves
a risk of creating distortions.
First, the background of ideas
is fairly orthodox-a mat-
Nevertheless, c r t a i n
themes have emerged with
clarity and, persistence. In
the -first pace, the develop-
ing states wish o give
emphasis to economic . and
social rights as ecessary
companions to the classical
A constant in the history
enants were put. in fi
in 1966 by the Un
tions Organization th
two instruments, an
tional covenant on c
political rights and a
national covenant
omit, social and
rights.
The importance a
and cultural rights ar
plified by. the right t
Such . rights corn
civil and political
thus for example
reasonable access to
and urban justice
higher courts in the a
.ciency of formal equal
wolves insisting on .p
state provision. -
rights.
hts cov-
re were
inter-
econ-
ted, in
ays in
social
exem=
work,
ecurity
the
ce of
egy of
foun-
The nodal points of Third
World thinking on human
rigghis are: the princi le of
self-determination ; th ..prin- _
ciple of ra " ; i-n- .
sistence upon the eco omit
foundations of human 'ghts.
Apart . from these, pout clans
d
y ranphasized. anyers of the third
is the Afro-Asian appealing to a rea
to the European's moral pre- Secondly, the developing a orld would argue that their
ro
p
h i
ac
p
states exhibit considerable
tensions on the simple tin-s not unort odox
ca
ft ton (9/02 "3ft -T
fAoftDP79a 111 4A00~16'6 ~O ecl'al inter-
 Approved For Release 1999/09/02 : CIA-RDP79-01194A000100620001-7
CPYRGHT
sts are not -antithetical to
he civil and political rights
ut rather complementary
and even necessarily ante-
edent. .
This may be so in a general
ay, but there are tensions
hat are too often ignored.
Pne category "of tensions
derives from the psycholo-
ical and political sources of
scepticism. These are genuine
enough, but are sometimes
used to excuse the more or.
less autonomous deficiences
of Third World governments
and elites, whose standard of
living is generally in inverse
proportion to the contribu-
tion they make to social and
economic progress.
The sources of Third World
scepticism are familiar. First,
resentment at past degrada-
t.on and exploitation. The
practices of western civiliza-
tion in China, the Belgian
"Congo, French Equatorial
Africa and other areas; are
well described by profes-
sional historians. It is per-
haps time that the West dis-
owned some of its bad prac-
tices, much in the same way
as it calls for the Soviet
authorities to disown Stalinist
practices.
Corrosive impression
of hypocrisy
Secondly, and connected
with the first, is the corrosive
impression of hypocrisy
resulting from an unctuous
concern for the rule of law
after independence con-
trasted with forced labour,
racialism and settler-inspired
expropriation of the best land
in some colonies, before
independence.
Thirdly, there is the feeling
that western societies readily
resort to emergency powers
and national government in
contexts described by them as
justifying crisis measures,
but fail to accept -under-
development, poverty-line
situations and actual famine
as crises ranking with those
normally created only by war
in affluent states,
Fourthly, there is a realiza-
tion that western official
opinion tends to become sen-
sitive to human rights only
when a regime is unsound
politically, and in relation to
protection of foreign invest-
ment. Sukarno's Indonesia
was the object of much criti-
cism; but although no more
attached to the rule of law
than the previous regime, it
has been free of adverse com-
ment. Indeed, while The
Times was reporting mas-
sacres of not fewer than
3(10,000 in 1965-66. a sterling
credit was extended by the
Labour Government.
The sources of tension
itemized so far are important
in their effects but they are
superficial : the problems of
substance will remain even if
the Third World chooses to
ignore the past and the
.hypocrisy of some of its
critics. The pervading and
more serious sources of diffi-
culty are what may be called
.structural problems.
. These matters of essence
can best be indicated by ex-
ample. The principle favour-
ing economic development as
a major objective may con-
flict with the idea that hours
and conditions of work should
conform to standards set by
ILO conventions.
There is "the threshold of
equal relations" or "bad
foundations" problem: that
is, if a group of aliens or a
particular racial group of
citizens have economic domin-
ance or actual monopoly, then
overtly " discriminatory "
action may sometimes be con-
sidered necessary to effect a
distributive justice.
There are dominant minor-
ities as well as persecuted
minorities. To apply a static
human rights model to it
society built an a dominant
minority may result in a per-
petuation of a rigid social
hierachy in which racial or
religious distinctions are
aligned unhappily with eco-
nomic.divisions within a com-
munity.
SOviet Union: curbs
contradict constitution in
c~ atdY~I aw
racti
ilchraWiavy
o i
for.--steady and severe lam-
15 thing oft the subject of
civil rights. This is not
-bause its record is neces-
sarily worse than that of
other countries. There are
plenty of places where the
1iv is more arbitrarily
applied and the rights of the
citizens more grossly dis-
regarded: -
':But the Soviet Union is. a
great power with extensive
political influence beyond its
bprders. It also claims to be
the chief centre of an
ideology propagated by poli-
trcal parties all over the
i brld. It makes high claims
fpr the values. on which its
system rests and the benefits
w4iich it accords its citizens.
For all these reasons the
S1lviet Union's. attitude to-
ti rds human rights is a, mat-
r rus c ev also pro-
tion to create still stronger
guarantees of the democratic
rights and freedoms of the
working people and guaran-
tees of the strict observance
of socialist legality ". But
little progress was made
before he was deposed. and
his successors gradually
abandoned the idea, perhaps
partly because dissidents
were beginning to appeal
more often to the guarantees
of free speech and assembly
in the existing constitution.
To have given them better
guarantees would have en-
couraged them. To have quali-
fied. the -guarantees even,
more would have been diffi-
cult to explain.
By the mid-sixties there
were more signs of regres-
sion. The new forms of the
law mostly survived but they
began to be bent or curtailed
for political purposes. The
trial of the' two writers, Sin-
yavsky and Daniel, in 1966
was a turning point which
provoked the first conspicu-
ous wave of protest among
intellectuals. At about the
same time there were trials
,of Ukrainian intellectuals,
and pressures increased on
minority religious groups
such as Jews, Baptists, and
Pentecostalists.
Two years later there were
harsh measures 'against those
who protested against the in-
vasion of Czechoslovakia.
Now the entire dissident
movement has been reduced
to a shadow of its former self
as its members have been
tried, exiled, committed to
mental hospitals, or expelled
'from the country-although
it has recently resumed pub-
lication of the underground
Chronicle of Current Events.
Several basic problems in-
hibit the extension of human
rights in the Soviet Union.
In the first place the commu-
nist system rests on the
assumption that the party
represents the interests of all
the people and is the reposi-
tory of all wisdom and autiia-
rity. If the party is right,
dissent must be wrong. The
concept_ of. legittitnate con-
sViecial scrutiny. This is often
dLeply resented by the
For economically depressed
groups, such as Canadian
Indians and Eskimoes,
" benevolent discrimination "
may be called for in matters
of federal funding of schools
and the like. " Levelling up "
operations, such as racial
quotas to increase intake in
universities, mgyy cause re-
sentment in groups whose
position is threatened by such
policies. -
The more ambitious and
sophisticated human rights
models now presented in
various modern constitutions
and internationalconventions
raise in an acute form an old
mblem. Standards have to
et before enforcement can
occur, and the standards tend
to be ahead of the situation
on the ground-otherwise no
regulation would be neces-
sary.
In human rights matters,
standards have tended to go
too far ahead of the social
and political facts in many
societies. International stan-
dards are mostly reliant on
national systems for enforce-
ment. The developing states
may suffer at least as much
as other states in having m?ni-
fest incom ati ' ' '
Tpnnciples espoused by
their statesmen in_ United
Nations bodies and the back-
ward social structure of th
states concerned.
Ian Brownlie
Approved For Release 1999/09/02
ssian Government, which
es to draw a sharp line
between internal and external
affairs. But at least it demon-
states the importance of the
Soviet Union. Moreover, to
a`large extent the standards
b which the Soviet Union is
judged are those which it
ii~,elf professes. The civil
rights movement. in. the Soviet
-Zth upholding the law,, not
changing it.
,The constitution guaran-
t?es freedom of speech, free-
,;dom of the press, freedom of
assembly., including the hold-
ing of mass meetings, and
freedom of street processions
and demonstrations. It, also
recognizes freedom of reli-
gious worship and "freedom
of . anti-religious propa-
ganda ". In practice and in
law, however, these freedoms
are curbed, mostly in the
name of the defence of social-
ism. -
That the situation has im-
proved a lot since the days of
Stalin goes without saying. At
that time anyone could be
whisked away at any time for
any reason, or for no reason,
and lmpi?ts!MA r
suit out trir 1953 the
criminal code ? and the
principles of procedure were
changed. The powers of the
KGB were reduced and those
of the procurators in-
creased. The law began to
have real meaning. -
GIA 141312:79 91194AGOGIO9629991 :7
i
 CPYRGHT
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flicts of interest is absent
except in limited spheres.
Hence there can be no sepa-
ration of powers, no right of
dissent, and still less any posi-
tive value in dissent.
Nor can there be . any
room for the idea of the rule
of law as such. The law is
the servant of the party and
an expression of its political
authority, so it can be used
without qualms against any-
one who questions this autho-
rity. Individual "rights" in
this sphere have had little
place in Russian history or in
communist ideology.
Hence the failure of many
dialogues with western cri-
tics. The assumptions from
which they start are differ-
ent. Hence, too, the elasti-
city of Soviet law, which pro-
vides penalties for many
activities which would not be
regarded as crimes. in the
west. The two provisions
most commonly used against
dissidents are Articles 70 and
190-191 of the criminal
code. Article 70 provides for
up to seven years' loss of -lib-
erty and.five years' exile for
anti-Soviet agitation or
propaganda " and spreading
` slanderous fabrications de-
faming the Soviet political
and social system ".
Article 190-191 provides,
penalties of up to three years'
deprivation of liberty for the
systematic dissemination,
orally or in writing, of deli-
berate anti-Soviet fabrica-
tions. These articles enable
legal proceedings to' he
tively subjective assessments the progress of socialism and
of what constitutes anti- hence the interests of the
Soviet activity. people. But the mere fact
There is also another for- that the system is forced to
ward line of defence by the use words such as freedom
state which is often under- and democracy exposes it to
estimated abroad. In a sys- pressures to give these words
tem where the party's author- more substance.
ity is absolute the individual Second, the interest which
is dependent on its good the outside world shows in
graces for his job, his house, the Soviet Union provides a
the education of his children, certain protection for better
his permission to reside in a known dissenters, ~iarticu-
certain place, and his pass- larly in culture. Whatever
port to travel. Soviet spokesmen may say
This gives the party a about the "real" freedoms
series of graded sanctions enjoyed by'their people they
against dissenters which re- show signs of embarrassment,
quire no legal proceedings, and admit adverse effects on
no trials and no formal justi- their foreign policy, when
fication. They are used far world opinion is alienated by
more than is generally recog- the persecution of indivi-
nized, and can be effective, duals.
especially against members Third, there is probably
of the intelligentsia with more support than is gener-
good jobs and growing fami- ally recognized for Dr
lies. Sakharov's argument that
The situation is, however, science and technology can-
more complicated than this. not flourish in an atmosphere
There are a number of con- of intellectual repression.
flitting needs which can be The Soviet leaders are
used by those pressing for acutely aware of the limits of
greater freedoms. First, the their technology and the fail-
Soviet Union wishes to appear ure of their system to gener-
as a country which offers its ate real innovation. They
people more " real " freedom are unwilling to draw the
and rights than other coun- necessary conclusions.
tries. It lays particular em- But there is a new and
phasis on the guaranteed highly educated generation
right to work, to education, growing up which was not
to leisure and to social conditioned by. Stalinism and
security. is likely to press for freer dis.
Ever since Lenin, Soviet cussion and freer contacts
spokesmen have disparaged with the West, if only in the
" bourgeois " freedom as interests of efficiency. They
nothing more than the free- may or may not have had
Anne rn nnnnsn nr unrlprminp much interest in rnltnral
freedom, but they can ardly
fail to extend some f the
limits of the present system. Finally, the apparatus has
some interest in basic I gality
since it was itself a ictim
of the breakdown of I gality
under Stalin. In an o derly
state people need "to know
where they stand, an it is
in almost everyone's ' i terest
that the application if the
law should be reas nably
regulated and predicta le.
This provides 'the civil
rights movement with levers
that it can use to it own
benefit. There ? is no doubt
that the determination with
which dissidents have insis-
ted on their rights under the
law and on proper procedures
has made the authorities
more careful.
It does not stop people
being sent to prison camps
or mental hospitals. I does
not stop people being perse-
cuted in extra-legal ways. But
it has probably limited buses
of the law, and it has cer-
tainly established a number
of permanent footholds in the
rock face up which the dissi-
dents struggle to make their
precarious ascent.
There always seems to be
at least one step bat for
every two forward, but when
one looks at the press con.
ferences . given by Dr
Sakharov in Moscow a rd the
endless telephone calls to the
West by Soviet Jews, it is'
difficult to regard the situa-
t
,ven in the West governmeits represent biggest
threaVtCH119teedom of expression
C P,bFlisel Scammell
Most - societies and most
political systems claim
either to have established
freedom of expression or
else to be moving towards it,
maintaining simultaneously
that their press is independ-
ent. In the United States, for
instance, the right to free-
dom of expression is embod-
ied in the First Amendment
to the constitution, while
Soviet Russia's. constitution,
which has served as a model
for most other communist
constitutions, - also guaran-
tees its citizens freedom of
expression.
The words are the same,
but clearly they mean -differ-
ent things in different
-places, and the problem can
be resolved only by refer-
ence to John Stuart Mill's
press/i~~U6Q?eih bddr rdt~eleg~ '~I ?tT,~~i! ? i A-1 Offe I""aYt>k~ a br
tf 011111LaL y, UlC L U V ICL p1 CJJ
eluding China (
dom to ". tion and propaganda ( agit- under Khrushchev was some-
prop ) are given a high seems to be tray
privileges this brings they
are expected to submit to
rigid control by the govern-
T, Mj6&a11@,
however, to overlook the
.differences that do exist be-
tween the various conimu-
nist countries, or the fact posts, some pro
atively greater freedom of
expression. True, the limits
within which this movement
takes place are usually
narrow (the variations be-
tween the countries being
defined .by the. placing of the
limits), but there are con-
siderable differences be-
tween the guardedly "free"
(and officially " uncen-
sored ") press of Poland
today and that of neighbour-
ing Czechoslovakia or East
early sixties unt
done from " government in.
terference and is expected to ago, was a mod
behave as a- "fourth -can be. achieved
-government.
il two years
el of what
by a Marxist
the in sense frPP In t e-recent
controversy
from government control
(though it might perhaps be
said to be free from "bour-
geois control"), but is held
to be " free to " advance the
interests of the proletariat-
as interpreted by the Soviet
Communist Party. It is not
free to advance anyone else's
interests, however, nor the
proletariat's interests as in-
terpreted by- anyone other
than the party leaders,
In general the press and
radio and television in com-
munist countries are - re-
garded primarily as sources
of power and only seconda-
rily as-providers of informa-
tion. For this reason they
are assigned flatteringly im-
losophers whom the League
of Communists wanted to
However, wh t happens
when the press i a commu-
nist country t obviously
exceeds the limits laid down
for it was vividly illustrated
by the events in -Czecho-
slovakia in 196 , after the
press had plane a leading
role in the der ocratization
of the country. eanwhile it
is still _ the--darc ._-fer__
press freedom i Romania,
Bulgaria and Albania (in
Europe), for all the commu?
nist countries f Asia, in-
inch even
 CPYRGHT Approved For Release 1999/09/02 : CIA-RDP79-01194A000100620001-7
mental start, for Cuba in the
western hemisphere.
It might seem from this as
if press freedom had some-
thing to do with ideology
and was linked to the old
opposition between commu-
nism and capitalism, and it
is true that Lenin provided a
persuasive ideological ration.
ale for control of the press.
But the picture is immensely
more complicated than that.
Iran calls itself capitalist
and is an aggressive advo..
cate of free enterprise eco-
nomics, yet it possesses one
of the most tightly control-
led and rigidly censored
presses. Brazil holds itself
out as a model of capitalist
development for the whole
of Latin America, yet press
-ensorship . is an openly
acknowledged tool of the
government and sets an en-
tirely different kind of pace
for the rest of the continent.
Strain, Greece, Turkey
and, until recently, Portugal,
Are all capitalist states in
which the press has been
tightly controlled, while the
looking glass " free world "
states of South Korea, South
Vietnam and Taiwan do not
differ greatly from their
communist opposite numbers
in their attitude to censor.
ship of the press. And if we
look at Chile, the Marxist
Allende would appear to
have been a far greater de-
votee of press freedom than
his capitalist successor, Gen-
eral Pinochet.
It is plain, therefore, that
we must look elsewhere for
the key to freedom of
expression, and I would sug-,
gest that the true distinction
must be sought in terms of
economic and political plur-
alism. True :freedom of the
press flourishes in, relatively
restricted areas.o?f the globe
and is usually to be found
(no great surprise, this) in
parliamentary democracies-
,in most of West Europe, in
North America, in the
former British dominions of
Similar -problems `beset
most of South-East Asia and
Central and Latin America,
and these are the battle-
grounds on which the
struggle for press freedom is
being fought. Again it is
those states that have estab.
lished, or preserved, a plur.
alist political order that have
been most successful in de-
fending freedom of expres-
sion.
Generalizations of this
kind force one to paint in
broad strokes, and most of the
qualifying detail has to be
omitted. One complicating
factor that cannot be side.
stepped, however, is the pro-
blem of finance. Newspapers
(not to speak of television
programmes) are expensive
things to produce, and as the
necessary technology be-
comes more complex so does
the demand grow for ever
larger amounts of capital.
In developing countries,
the number of people or in-
stitutions with the necessary
means is strictly limited, and
the usual sources of finance
can be boiled down to three
categories : political parties,
.wealthy individuals or groups
of individuals, and foreign
capital - particularly from
West European or American
communications groups,
The presence of all three
in a country- is usually a sign
of health but all three have
their prAlems. Political par.
ties, particularly if they
attain power, have a tendency
to swallow up their rivals
when conditions are ripe (as
in Zambia or Tanzania) and
put both them and their news-
papers out of business.
Wealthy individuals with
both the means and the desire
to invest in the press are few
and far between, and they
tend to be absorbed into
the political establishment.
Foreign-owned newspapers or
agencies, although often
bringing with them valuable
traditions of impartiality and
professionalism, are always
vulnerable to the charge of
serving foreign interests and
frequently (for example in
Argentina) fall foul of
nationalist passions.
Another difficulty is that
even a pluralist press is open
to the charge of control by a
narrowly defined, self-per-
.petuating oligarchy whose
members' interests are identi-
cal, so that apparent diversity
charges are often - wildly
exaggerated, concentration of
.ownership represents one of
the biggest potential dangers
to freedom of expression
throughout the western
world.
Nevertheless, here as else-
where, it is governments that
represent the biggest threat
to freedom of the press, and
in no area is this clearer than
in television. So far I have
treated television as an ex-
tension-of newspapers, and in
the context of the extreme
situations which prevail in
most parts of the world there
is little or no distinction be-
tween them. But in the
western world the distinction
is significant, for in most
countries the television ser-
vices come under the direct
control of the government.
The reasons for. this are
complex. They have some-
thing to do with the problems
of finance. There is also the
question of monopolies, for
most television services are
either complete or quasi.
monopolies, and in most par-
liamentary states commercial
monopolies are outlawed. But
above all it has to do with
power. .
Television is universally
recognized to be the most in-
fluential and powerful
medium of communicat~.on yet
invented, and as such is held
to be too potent an instru-
ment to be allowed out-of the
control of government. In
this respect, although the
analogy cann,t be taken too
far, television, in relation to
the political power, stands
roughly where newspapers
stood two centuries ago.
It may be objected that this
the sort of freedom now taken
far granted by the printed
word.
So what, if any, is the
future for free speech ? For
three quarters of the globe
the problem is intimately
bound up with the wider
struggle for a whole range of
political freedoms and can-
not readily be separated from
them.
In communist countries,
either the dictatorship of the
proletariat will wither away
and yield to a diversification
of political and economic
power, bringing freedom of
expression with it, or else it
will institutionalize mono-
lithic unity and remove all
desire fir that freedom. In
the Parliamentary democra-
cies, either the present free-
doms will be refined and
adapted to meet the new tech-
nological and economic chal-
lenges, or else a loss of nerve
will set in and they will yield
to the tempting simplicities
of authoritarianism.
As for the Third World
countries, they will choose
the paths that seem most suc-
cessful from among the other
two. And if it is obiected that
this is too, Eurocentric and
too parliamentarian a point
of view, one can only say that
freedom of expression itself
is a parliamentary concept
and the Declaration of
Human Rights the culmina-
tion of a particular strand in
European history.
India, Australia and New
Zealand, and in Japan.
The outstanding omission
here is South Afnica, where
freedom of the press is vir-
tually non-existent for
blacks, and for whites is
seriously curtailed (and is
threatened with further cur-
tailment after Mr Vorster's
election victory). Even here
,
however, the outcome of the is only a sham. This charge is
struggle is not a foregone a potent weapon in the hands
conclusion ; and indeed, a of politicians with demagogic
great question mark hangs 'talents- and..h.a.. been used
-over --ahnest -the --vrltoie- of w,th particular-effect by the
Africa, where where ex-colonial governments of Ceylon and
Singapore. It is frequently
countries are imported to heard, too, in relation to the
reconcile the imported insti- free " press of the parlia-
tutions of their former con- mentary democracies ; and
querors with older tradi- while the details of such
Lions. *Pproved For Release igggiewei
The author is the editor of
Index on Censorship.
is a simplification of the com
plex arrangements for tele-
vision that have been worked
out in various countries, and
indeed it is. In the United
States, for instance, and in a
number of United States
satellites in Latin America
and Asia, commercial net-
works exist apparently inde.
pendently of the governments
concerned.
But if one examines the
licensing arrangements in-
volved, it is quickly apparent
that in principle the system
bears a strong kinship with
the licensing of newspapers
in England up to the end of
the seventeenth century, and
their freedom is the freedom
to make money rather than
political or religious propa-
ganda.,
Similarly the BBC in
Britain is regarded as being
even more politically inde-
pendent than the American
networks. Yet one only has to
imagine either the BB' or the
networks broadcasting pro-
grammes of communist
propaganda, or urging the
population to convert to
Roman at
..eemeeffeeei -:7
 Approved For Release 1999/09/02 : CIA-RDP79-01194A000100620001-7
international law has scarcely come to term with
~P 'd 1 1-1Iornberry
what you say, but will fight
to the death for your right
to say it'.', exlfresses a -meta-
physical faith in humanity,
reason and aspiration. It is
not alwaysclear today how
such a concept, protecting
the dissident pamphleteer,
can be adapted to'press and
television. -
The Universal Declaration
of Human Rights sustains
the standard. For Western
Europe, article 10 of the
Human Rights Convention
contains a detailed provision.
It guarantees the right to
freedom of expression,
wlticlr right shall include
freedom to hold opinions
and to receive and impart
information and ideas with-
out interference by public
authority and regardless of
frontiers.
The licensing of radio,
television and cinemas is
permitted, however, and the
right made subject to var-
ious limitations. These in-
clude restrictions necessary
for national security, the
prevention of disorder or
crime, the protection of
health,- morals, the reputa-
tion or rights of -others, the
prevention of disclosure of
information received in con-
fidence, and for maintaining
the authority and impartial-
ity of the judiciary. To jus-
tify a restriction, a govern-
ment sirust show that it is
Article 10 must also be
read in conjunction with
articles on the right to
respect for private and
family life, home and corre-
spondence, and with the im-
plitations of the article guar-
anteeing a fair trial (no
prior judgments by the
press).'It may also have to
be read in association with
articles on peaceful enjoy-
ment of property (in the
context of police search and
seizure operations), and with
more general articles on
abuse of rights by individ-
uals and of powers by gov-
ernments.
Many deem freedom of
expression the primordial
right, even among basic
rights, the hallmark of the
open society. The United
States Supreme Court has a
vast and illuminating juris-
prudence on the First Amend-
ment (freedom of the press).
It has emphasized that this
amendment protects the pre-
eminent right in &m roved
mass iaiers
much Less broadcasting
Me condition precedent to the Law in Western Europe is Contesting the case, the
enjoyment of all other rights, attempting to resolve these British Government m ha-
the European Human Rights
Commission should them-,
selves be held ir camera. The
reason is that governments
would not have permitted the
development of the commis-
sion on any other terms.
Though explicable, the limita-
tion could undermine the
ideal itself.
Without an informed Euro-
pean opinion the jurisdiction
of the commission could be
brittle, easily destroyed at
governmental displeasure.
Last autumn, when Britain's
continuance of the commis-
sion's jurisdiction seemed in
doubt, the press came to play
an important and distin-
guished,role on behalf of the
ordinary citizen.
In the United Nations inter-
national advancement of free-
dom of expression, has been
hesitant. A sub-commission on
freedom of information and
the press was suppressed in
1952. Despite some admirable
United Nations studies a draft
convention has lain inopera-
tive for many years.
It has been hard to recon-
cile different ideological
standpoints on essentials.
Some developing nations
tend, understandably, to view
the concepts as dispensable
luxuries. Governments of all
shades are prone to empha-
size and 'extend the limita-
tions rather than the
freedoms. In general it has
rested with non-governmen-
tal organizations to_strive for
more effective international
standards, chiefly in the area
of the mass media.
Activity has continued,
however, in the Council of
Europe. Progress has, sadly,
been slow. An imaginatively-
conceived symposium on
human rights and mass com-
munications was held at
Salzburg in 1968. Its report
emphasizes the international
legal vacuum since the rise
of the mass media. Inter-
national law has scarcely
come to terms with the mass
circulation newspaper, much
less with the issues raised by
broadcasting.
The British press
from the international discus-
sion. International law tends
to uphold a concept of
privacy, though its detail has
yet to be formulated in case
law. Such formulation seems
certain it is only a question
of time. The European con-
vention provides a framework
within which the issues can be
argued.
Curiously, little case law
has accumulated under article
10 of the European conven-
tion. In the early de Becker
case it was held that it was
unlawful for Belgium to de-
bar permanently ,a convicted
ournalist, even one col-
laborating with the Nazis,
from participating in the pub-
lication of a newspaper. In
the Greek case the commis-
sion emphasized that
exceptions to the basic free-
dom may not be so vague as
to leave the individual uncer-
tain where he stands.
The Televizier case relates
to Dutch restrictions on the
publication of information
about television programmes.
One of the first cases from
Italy, the Telebiella case,
which awaits a decision on
admissibility, may raise
important issues about state
television monopolies: the
applicant asserts a breach of
freedom of expression arising
from the official closure of
his cable-television company.
In the Hand side case against
Britain other issues are
raised.
This case arose from the
successful obscenity prosecu-
tion in 1971 of the
Little Red Schoolbook.
After an oral hearing the case
was admitted last month by
the commission for investiga-
tion, the publisher and the
British Government being
required to produce further
pleadings on the merits in
compliance with the conven-
tion's provisions on ,fact-
finding and "friendly settle-
ment ". The application may
still be dismissed by the com-
mission at any stage.
The issues touch on the use
under- of " search and seizure "
at the ,.."w ~s,t~ 1...I.-
limit freedom to prot
morals of teenagers
matters now under inq
the comm. ission go
'heart of- some con
cttte
The
dry by
.o the
enti on
guarantees and, as ink many
such cases, may be m re im-
portant than the initial publi-
cation itself.
Yet major areas of Euro-
pean dispute on expression
have still not been referred
to the commission. Aspects
? of official secrecy, the " con-
spiracy to corrupt public
morals" concepts the
Ladies Directory and 1miller
cases, last year's dismissal of
Irish television governors,
.customs' seizures of books-
.these are some of the ; many
areas of freedom of co muni-
cation which may raise criti-
cal but still unlitigated ssues.
It is at least arguabl that
press and publishing in
Britain may be especially at
risk. There is no pit-i ciple
of freedom of the press } ecog-
nized by law. There; is a
constant danger of creeping
limitation, unilluminat by
discussion of fundamentals.
The European commission
could provide a suitab y de-
tached forum, It is bel eyed,
for instance, that in on case
unrelated to freedom. of the
press, the right not t dis-
close journalistic sources was
incidentally claimed an not
challenged in the commis-
Sion. It is to be hope the
British Government may soon
decide to accept the commis-
sion's don's jurisdiction on , the
right of individual petition
on a permanent basis, thus
bringing Britain into line
with some of its nor en-
lightened European eigh-
bours.
yaarwu.y wuau auane uii ua Acts, and the adequacy of
democratic role. The ten- the current legal definition
dency towards official secre- of obscenity, among' other
tiveness does not abate, and things. Allegations of politi-
the function of an indepen- cal discrimination have been
dent press is thereby dismissed as being manifestly
.- F1!iR lease 1999/09/OBI-feftaRDP79-0I194A000I
00620001-7
 Approved For Release 1999/09/02 : CIA-RDP79-01194A000100620001-7
Enormous influence of Universal Declaration not
CP142GkiI1 mate ~by successful UN action
:human rights did not start
with the United Nations
Universal Declaration . of
.1948. But that document has
dominated the human rights
scene for the past 25 years.
With few exceptions " agen-
cies today ? concerned with
the protection of rights on a.
regional- or world front base
their. own principles on it.
In some cases the wording
is. followed almost verbatim.
Other Organizations have
dated 'the 'principles to
conditions governing the
area they serve, or have
extended, or sub-divided.
them:. But the source re-
mains the same.
.The' enormous influence
which ' the words of the
Universal Declaration have.
had has not been matched
by successful action by the
world body to see that they
are adhered to. The declar-
ation was supposed to be the
.first step in the creation of
an international machinery
for the protection of human
rights. It was not designed
to be binding.
The second step involved
drawing up covenants, which
would impose legal obliga-
tions on signatory states ;
the third stage was to be the
establishment of a machin-
ery for enforcement.
In 1966, two covenants
were agreed on by.the Gen-
eral Assembly (a singie one
having proved impractical) ;
the first on economic, social
and cultural rights, the other
on civil and political. rights.
taut these covenants have not
yet come into force because
the necessary minimum of
35 ratifications from
member states have not yet
been received.
The machinery for imple-
mentation -provided for -a
system obliging states to
report regularly what they
had done to carry out their
responsibilities under the
covenants to a human rights
-committee, which in turn
could eventually have the
matter raised before the
General Assembly. This pro-
cedure has not yet come into
operation, but. it would not
amount to anything like sat-
isfactory legal control over a
member state's behaviour.
. The ultimate decision on
.action--be--taken-against a -
defaulting state would have
to be taken in a political not
o
rms t
at v
olations
a judicial forum. The same have occurred, put pressure
is true of the various United on the culpable state to take
Nat;nnc enmmiccinns and
with vaxt cftW Jf~"For # +~ease 19 ON :
nn Human Rimbis is tho
rtrun ct - .cnre .cfail n.f .rho
Universal Dec] aration's
offspring. Drawn up under
the aegis. of the Council of
Europe, it came into force in
1953 and has now been rati-
fied by almost all the
members of the council. It
states that its purpose is " to
take the first steps for the
collective enforcement of
certain of the rights stated
in the Universal Declar-
ation ".
in addition to the main
convention five protocols
have come into operation,
two of them committing
states ratifying them to
guaranteeing further rights
not included in the original
convention. The convention
provides for- an.. elaborate
machinery of enforcement,
the most important aspect
of which is the establish-
meant of a Court and a Com-
mission of Human Rights,
which sit in Strasbourg, to
ensure the observance of a
state's obligations towards
its citizens. The striking and
original feature of the con-
vention is that it allows indi-
viduals (as well as states and
organizations) to petition
the commission with allega-
tions of a breach by their
government of its obligations
towards them. If the commis-
sion, which consists of as
many members as there are
-countries subject to the
convention, finds the com?
plaint to be initially admissi-
ble (most are not), it em-
barks on a complicated
procedure of finding out the
facts. This may involve a
hearing in which the com-
plainant and the state
against which the allegation
is made are represented.
It is also concerned to try
to effect a friendly settle-
ment between the parties. If
this fails, the commission
prepares a report, which
contains its decision on
whether it considers that a
breach of the convention has
occurred. The report goes to
the Committee of Ministers
of the Council of Europe
and to the state involved.
Either the case may be then
referred to the. European
Court of Human Rights,' by
the commission or the state.
r the final decision can be
left to the Committee of
Ministers which could theri,
if it c
nfi
h
i
rirwen nr cn havo roarl,. I rhat
ct.aga) there ,,,;11 .,&q ,. t,e
hearing followed. by a deci-
sion which, unlike that of
.the commission, will be bind
ing. The court may also
,award,damages to an inured
,party, and, probably more
importantly, may by its deci-
sion in effect call on the
state to change those laws or
conditions prevailing which
led to the complaint being
made. Same countries which
have -ratified the convention
have not accepted the juris-
diction of the court, in
which case the Committee of
Ministers is the only possi-
ble final'arbiter.
- Ultimately there are no
sanctions to back up a deci-
sion -of the court or of the
ministers. At that stage the
issue becomes political
rather than legal. In one'
case, Greece preferred to
leave the Council of Europe
rather than submit to deci-
sions against it. Neverthe-
less, in all but its final stage,
the protection of human
rights under the convention
is supervised by independent
legal and judicial control
without political consider-
ations having any say.
The institutions created by
the convention, for all the
cumbersome procedures gov-
erning them, have proved to
be of considerable practical
affect and influence. Indeed,
the only other major re-
gional convention-encom-
passing most American coun-
t tries in both hemispheres-
has fed on the European
example and drawn heavily
on its experience.
The American Convention
on Human Rights also pro-
vides a complaints procedure
for citizens complaining of
an infringement of their
basic rights, based on the
European pattern, and in-
volving a commission and a
court. The commission, how-
ever, has more to do than its
European counterpart, for in
addition to the adjudication
of complaints it is required
actively to promote human
rights, by making recommen-
dations to governments
about their conduct and re-
questing them to report on
their progress. The Perma-
nent Arab Commission of
Human Rights (an offshoot
of the Arab League) is
purely promotional rather
than judicial, although a
procedure for the settlement
has proved effective in pro.
zction (hLO), formed in
1919. The main emphasis is
on the body of rights con-
nected with employment.
Much of its work is taken
up by .the preparation of
conventions and recommen-
dations on specific topics
which, when passed by its
assembly (which uniquely
consists of -representatives of
governments, organized
labour and employers) and
ratified by its member
states, become binding on
them. Well over 100 conven-
tions are in force today, for
.a varying number of states.
The six conventions 'which
deal more than any others
with human rights issues,
such as forced labour, free-
dom from discrimination,
have been . ratified by most
member states.
The ILO's method for
supervising the implementa-
tion of these conventions
centres around -the regular
reporting by states on the
measures they have taken to
adhere to the conventions.
These reports are examined
by an independent commit-
tee of 'experts who would
then comment on them and
submit their views to the
annual main conference. Be-
cause of the high standing of
the committee of experts its
opinions, especially when
they disclose breaches by a
state, are of great influence,
and have often resulted in
the Government . making
changes in its laws.
The ILO constitution also
allows for the making of
representations alleging
breaches, - and . for a com-
plaints procedure which
could eventually involve
investigation by a commis-
sion of inquiry and a refer-
ence to the International
Court of Justice.
The European Social Char-
ter (under the umbrella of
the Council of Europe) guar-
antees 19 fundamental social
and economic rights. It, too,
uses a reporting procedure
whereby members of the
council send a biennial
report on steps they have
taken to carry out their obli-
gations under the charter.
This report is considered
by
three separate agencies
which submit their com-
ments to the council's com-
mittee of ministers which in
turn
if necessary
puts pres-
,
,
eve t ents winch
CIA -4 $%.000 1 0=2= their obli-
Nations organizations which gations to remedy their
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breaches. The achievement
of the charter has been that
almost all the members of
the Council of Europe have
in some way altered their
own laws as a result of
adverse comment by one or
more of the three agencies.
For instance, on the subject
of forced labour for seamen,
six countries have had to
amend their legislation. This
sort of experience has been
repeated in other spheres.
Not only government agen-
cies concern themselves with
human rights. A number of
non-government bodies have
men involved in the trrotec-
Woridv ide perspective uni es ~teac erg of
the new
disci despite their discord
C PbyYCl`94Y Thornberry
human rights law may, rather
arbitrarily, be given as 1945,
with the United Nations
Charter.. Twenty years
passed before the new con-
cepts came to be systematic-
ally taught and studied in the
western world. It has now
become almost an academic
growth Industry, but there is
still uncertainty over the
scope of the new field of
study, and the most effective
methods of analysis and pro-
pagation. -
In the 1960s there was an
almost simultaneous start to
international human rights
courses in a handful of law
schools in the United States,
Britain, and Western Europe.
" Human rights " were taught,
and still are in some cases, as
a part of other legal and
political Science subjects. But
it became increasingly evi-
dent that the special charac-
ter of international human
rights law precluded the pos-
sibility of treating it in any
adequate manner within
existing academic structures.
There are three reasons for
this : it' cannot be given as
a part of an internal course
because its framework is in-
ternational ; it cannot be
treated as a pert of general
international law because its
perspectives and values are
different from, and at times
controvert, those of normal
inter-state law, and its con-
cepts, for instance what is
meant by "inhuman treat-.
went ", require a multiple
discipline approach which is
not normal in general legal
studies.
Starting apparently at the
London School of Economics,
a handful of specific full-unit
Lion of civil liberties around
the world. Prominent among
them is the International
Commission of Jurists, a
Geneva-based organization
which numbers among its
members lawyers of high
calibre, many of them judges
and professors of law, from
a number of countries. The
commission's main concern
is to see to it that the rule
of law is upheld and to ' this
end it closely watches legal
developments all over the
world, and it documents and
publishes cases where inter-
nationally accepted. stand.
ards of justice have not been
Nobel Prize to the establish-
ment in Strasbourg of an In-
ternational Human Rights
Institute.
In the United States, well
.,supported courses now exist
at Berkeley, Harvard, Colum-
bia and elsewhere. Unesco is
studying the nature of the
present academic develop-
ment with a view to creating
a human rights faculty at the
proposed United ' Nations
university.
It is hard to explain this
.rapid and recent develop-
ment, though it may have
something to do with an
unease at the inadequacy of
the modern state to control
its own official mechanisms.
Pioneers such as the late Sir
'Hersch Lauterpacht had re-
searched,. proselytised, pub-
lished in the early years
after the Second World War.
Though their intellectual
achievements may remain
unmatched, the development
of hard political and legal
substance lagged behind their
vision. This was especially
true of the universal level, at
the United Nations where
work was in many ways
sadly disappointing. . How-
ever, during the 1950s there
were remarkable develop-
ments u} the Council of
Europe through the Euro-
pean Human Rights Conven-
tion.
By the end of the 1960s a
large body of international
law had been created and
awaited analysis.-There were
signs during International
+.~~,. ~?c y reawakened
take part of its mandate more to the need o the existing
seriously, by examining the international machinery.
complaints c,f those denied Above all I wa aware of the
their basic human rights vast problems o making that
throughout the world. Spe- machinery effe 've. Major
cialists began to lay emphasis omissions in e traditional
on making internationally academic area ent of inter-
created standards effective. national law nd relations
The Scandinavian govern- had become . a parent and
ments launched their unpr, - these underline a number of
t cedented international human possible miscon eptions. For
rights cases against the Greek me,, the Lauter acht aura, so
,military junta before the' strong at Cam ridge in the
European Human Rights 1950s. was still trong.
Commission in Strasbourg. There is still d'scord among
This case, which from some teachers of th new disci-
viewpoints also represented Apline. The various courses
an unprecedented failure of have varying emphases. This
the new machinery, inaugu- seems both use '111 and crea.
rated the new and still tive, provided t ere is agree-
unfolding era in which the ment on certai basic pre-
commission has been .presen- I msues. What gives unity is
ted with a series of cases the international perspective.
touching upon basic issues of The subject o study is the
state rights and human free- rudimentary common law of
doms, mankind in his relationship
Finally, an event of great with state authority. The
national and European impor- sources of such 1 w are mani-
tance, Britain at last accepted fold : treaties, t e case law
the right of individual peti- of international ti-ibunals, the
tion to Strasbourg. Hence- -practice of intern tional orga.
forth the aggrieved citizen nizations, the to ets of Phil()-
s' have his claim of denial sophy, expedient and aspira-
of human rights decided
not
by a British but ultimately by
a European and international
standard.
For myself, associated with
these new developments in
Britain, the catalytic experi-
ences were part British and
part international. Questions
of race, Northern Ireland,
and other questions in the
late 1960s seemed to invite
new forums f
d
or
ebate and
Human -Rights- Year in 1968, the` application of fresh gran.
- ga wards - standards which
tion of the Universal Declara- might be more satisfactory
tion of Hufnan Rights, that than those then available in
the older aspirations were Britain
.
courses now exist at various being refreshed by new Y poli- As a newspaper corres on
law schools in Britain or tenth tit-al initiativnc 'a___ __ p
and internal cas
some, thouah-
which domestic
reference, may b
upon self-indulge
-intellectual accen
-For graduate and e r a d u t d F o r w e l e s s " A b = : C A ` ` = c 4 i 94A 010 ~n m
the encouragemen
vague, so
ome mere
ability, Yet
instrument
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lion about possible court
judgments in a notional situ-
ation.
The amount of positive law
.now available to student, ad.
vocate, judge or academic,
seeking to apply an inter-
national human rights stan-
dard is immense and can be
overwhelming. In the area
of those human rights which
touch upon social rights, a
tribunal could be almost en-
gulfed.
It might be referred, not
only to more than 130 multi-
lateral treaties concluded
under the International
Labour Organization, to-
gether with that body's prac-
tice and dispute settlement;
but to more than 6,000 cases
decided over the past 20
years by the European
.'.Human Rights Commission,
.not to mention the decisions
of national tribunals purport-
ing to apply the European
Convention; to the treaties They establish a universal
and practice of the United catalogue of basic civil and
Nations and its various agen- political, economic, social
cic_; and to the work of and cultural rights. Neither is
the supervisory authorities yet in force. Britain has not
applying the European Social ratified either. But the study
Charter. of this subject encourages the
Only then might the inter- long view of history as well
national tribunal refer to as the perception of short-
decisions -of domestic agen. term gains. Did not the crud-
cies enforcing, est form of chattel-slavery
g, against surely the most blatant dem
national perspectives, internal of human rights, prevail in
laws. The immensity of inter- all areas of the world for mil-
national human rights law ?lennia; until the relative yes-
material is probably not even terday of abolition?
now known-to the majority of Common, limited agree-
.international lawyers, not to meat is possible. But cultural
.mention- those whose legal
specializations are internal. differences are also real.
Indeed international human
rights law may already have
passed the critical point
which long since prevented
.the international lawyer from
`having other than a nodding
acquaintance with some areas
of the subject. .
International human rights
law is about the values,
deemed common thong the
cultures and ideologies of
the world affecting the rela-
tionship between individual
and state. There is room for
scepticism over the notion
that in a world deeply divided
by politics, race and under.
development, such common
values may be found. Yet
against this scepticism must
be set such facts as the two
United Nations covenants of
1966.
Communist and developing
nations may see other priori.
sources, treat developments
in the United Nations and its
specialized agencies, before
homing in on the detailed
practical experience of the
European Human Rights Con-
vention.
The student must be ap-
praised of the differences be-
tween national and interna-
tional societies. The import-
ance of this is clearly seen
when considering questions
of effectiveness, how law
evolves, agencies and struc-
tures, Including the role of
non-governmental organiza-
tions, which substitute in in-
ternational society for the
absent organs of law creation
and enforcement.
ties than the lawyers of It may be important to en-
liberal capitalism, --Neither courage the student to evalu-
should dismiss the other's ate the -underlying forces
standpoint. Yet-one of the affecting the law's develop-
most difficult exercises for ment. because they so inti-
the teacher steeped in . one mately affect what the law
society's values is to present is -and will be in a concrete
those of another which may instance. He should' perceive
pline is to' have any preten-
sion to universality, the
attempt must be made.
Because the differences exist
there is a marked tendency
towards regionalism among
countries of close cultural
backgrounds.
Thus most European
courses, after dealing with
the historical origins of the
subject, and emphasizing the
diversity of its ideological-
the difference between this
and other international law:
there is little immediate state
interest in creating effective
international human - rights
techniques - which, while de-
pending often on the state for
their evolution, detract from
state power. This compares
for example. with`the law of
the sea, where there is im-
mediate common state in-
terest in evolution and
agreement.,
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