Statement of-Continued McHenry, Hon. Donald, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.... Newman, Hon. Frank C., Associate Justice, Supreme Court of Cali- Oliver, Covey T., professor of public affairs, Rice University, Houston, Tex... Owen, Roberts B., Legal Advisor, Department of State, accompa- Page 395 131 66 231 118 24 248 85 Schlafly, Phyllis, Alton, Ill.. 104 Shestack, Jerome J., president, International League for Human Simmons, Althea T. L., director, Washington Bureau, National Asso- Sklar, Morton H., chairman, Washington, D.C. Office of the Helsinki 338 74 260 Sohn, Louis B., Bemis professor of international law, Harvard University Law School, Cambridge, Mass.-- 90 Weissbrodt, David, professor, University of Minnesota School of Law, 175 Wipfler, Rev. William L., director, Human Rights Office, National 352 Yost, Hon. Charles, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Reservations to the Civil and Political Rights Covenant submitted by Critique on the reservations proposed by the Department of State Response by the Department of State to the Critique of Reservations 48 54 Ms. Patricia Derian's responses to additional questions submitted by 57 Prepared statement of Hon. Claiborne Pell, cochairman of the Com- 60 65 69 76 Response to Senator Pell's query re Which State Department Reserva- Prepared statement of Prof. Covey T. Oliver... 81 83 84 87 89 92 97 106 116 120 Insertions for the record-Continued Page Letter from Bruno V. Bitker to Senator Pell, dated November 28, 1979, concerning Genocide Convention__ 129 Prepared statement of Hon. George Miller. 132 ------- 138 Article submitted by Prof. Louis Henkin: The Constitution, Treaties, and International Human Rights; from the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, April 1968 141 Prepared statement of Prof. Louis B. Henkin. 163 164 168 175 Article submitted by Prof. David Weissbrodt: U.S. Ratification of the Human Rights Covenants; from the Minnesota Law Review, November 1978_ 178 Letter from Tadeusz Sadowski to Senator Pell, dated December 3, Prepared statement of the Washington Helsinki Watch Committee. - 263 266 Statement from International Human Rights Law Group, in reference to what they have done in the past year. 268 Witnesses response to additional questions requested by Senator 275 Biographical sketch of Prof. Oscar M. Garibaldi.. 319 Prepared statement of Rev. William L. Wipfler.. Article supplied by Department of State: Covenant Open for Signa 09! ! ! ! ! ! ! 323 330 336 340 355 371 ture by Any Member of U.N. or Party to ICJ... 399 Letter to Senator Church from President Jimmy Carter, dated November 30, 1979---- 453 Prepared statement of Edward F. Snyder on behalf of the Friends 453 457 Prepared statement of Sarah Goddard Power, chairman, U.S. National Commission for the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization. 458 Letter to Senator Church from the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of AmericaUAW, dated November 29, 1979. 460 Prepared statement of Western New York Lawyers Committee for Prepared statement of Denise Tourover Ezekiel, representing Ha- 461 461 462 Appendix-Continued Letter to Senator Church from American Newspaper Publishers Page 465 Prepared statement of Dana D. Fischer, assistant-professor, George 466 470 Prepared statement of James E. Wood, Jr., executive director, the Prepared statement of Unitarian Universalist Association, Washing- Prepared statement of Dr. Kenneth L. Teegarden, general minister Resolution adopted by the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.. Human Rights Committee Publishes Views on First Case Dealt With International Covenants on Human Rights-From the United Nations Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination-From the United Nations General Assembly, 34th session, item 86(b) of the provisional agenda.. 472 473 474 476 479 480 483 488 492 Rights or Wrongs-Editorial commentary from Barron's, October 17, 1977___ 495 497 498 Defrosting Human Rights in the Senate-An article from the New Material submitted by the Library of Congress, Congressional Research 527 531 INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS TREATIES WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1979 UNITED STATES SENATE, Washington, D.C. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:33 a.m., in room 4221, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Claiborne Pell, presiding. Present: Senators Pell, Javits, and Helms. Senator PELL. The Committee on Foreign Relations will come to order. As the witnesses know, the hearing is scheduled for 9:30, I think perhaps inappropriately. But, as long as it is scheduled for that time and everyone was duly notified, we will begin. Is the Honorable Arthur Goldberg here? [No response.] Senator PELL. Is the Honorable Warren Christopher here? [No response.] Senator PELL. Are Ms. Patricia Derian or the Honorable Robert Owen of the State Department here? [No response.] Senator PELL. Is the Honorable Charles Yost here? Ambassador YOST. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Senator PELL. Wonderful. My dear, old friend is here and I am delighted. We will begin with Ambassador Yost in this case. Would you please come forward, Mr. Yost, while I deliver my opening statement. OPENING REMARKS The first step toward safeguarding the human rights of all peoples was taken nearly 31 years ago on December 10, 1948. For, on that day, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Eleanor Roosevelt delivered a passionate speech before the General Assembly in support of the Declaration. She said: We stand today at the threshold of a great event both in the life of the United Nations and in the life of mankind, that is, the approval by the General Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recommended by the entire committee. This Declaration may well become the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere. We hope its proclamation by the General Assembly will be an event comparable to the proclamation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, by the French people in 1789, the adoption of the Bill of Rights by the people of the United States, and the adoption of comparable declarations at different times in different countries. The International Human Rights Covenants before us today represent the culmination of the commitments we assumed under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But, indeed, the American commitment goes back to the very creation of our Government. We have always believed in human rights and have followed this principle through the years. From the beginning, our Republic was to be a safe harbor for liberty. Government was to be by consent of the governed, with its powers divided among separate branches, and with certain individual rights, such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion, decreed to be inviolate. Most Americans felt, along with Thomas Jefferson, that their "great experiment in republican government" would serve as a "standing monument and example for the aim and imitation of the people of other countries." Of course, if we are to set such an example, we must practice what we preach. We must keep striving to end discrimination and attain basic human rights for minority groups and oppressed peoples. Speaking personally, in 1956, I was in charge of the International Rescue Committee's Hungarian Relief operation, and I learned first hand about the human rights violations in that nation. I also grew up in an age when barbaric acts of inhumanity were perpetrated without the slightest regard for human life. Indeed, the Holocaust still stands out as the most massive and savage destruction of people in the history of mankind. In this connection, my own father, Herbert C. Pell, Jr., was the head of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations War Crimes Commission in 1943, and was responsible for having genocide declared a war crime. Although, I regret to say, we will not be considering the Genocide Convention during these hearings, let us bear in mind that this treaty stands as the first universal declaration that genocide would never again be tolerated by the community of mankind. The International Human Rights Treaties before us today represent the first opportunity to give the full force of international law to the principles of human rights. In the world at large, the sad fact is that free government is the exception and repression the rule. But the United States must still persevere in securing the rights of the downtrodden and repressed. Questions surely abound concerning the appropriate method for achieving these lofty goals. These hearings serve as the first step toward a comprehensive review of the options available to us. At the very least, the human rights treaties before us today codify language that everyone should be able to support. As cochairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, I am concerned that a year from now, when the Second Review Conference is held in Madrid in compliance with the 1975 Helsinki accord, we will be in a poor position to demand full compliance with the Helsinki accords' provisions on the part of the Soviet Union and its allies, if we ourselves have not ratified the foremost human rights conventions in the world. Senator Javits, do you have an opening statement? Senator JAVITS. Mr. Chairman, I see Ambassador Yost is at the witness table, and not Mr. Goldberg. Senator PELL. We are trying to begin on time today, and Ambassador Yost was present. |