6. The Department of State should create an Advisory Committee on Human Rights which would advise the Department of State on U.S. policy with respect to international human rights issues. The committee should include selected representatives of nongovernmental organizations, scholars, and others active in the human rights field (pp. 12-13). Recommendations for the Congress 7. The Congress should extend by law the functions of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission to include international human rights. The Commission would observe and comment upon the attention given to human rights by U.S. foreign policy, and comment on conditions in other countries. If extending the Commission's mandate is not possible, a new agency with the same degree of independence from the executive branch should be created with the above-mentioned functions (p. 14). 8. Members of parliaments in various countries should establish an informal network of parliamentarians to enable its members to consult, exchange information, and develop coordinated action programs for the purpose of making their own governments and the international community more effective in the protection of human rights throughout the world (p. 15). Human Rights Treaties 9. The Department of State should undertake a comprehensive review of the international human rights treaties which the U.S. Government has not signed or sent to the Senate for its advice and consent; and submit with suitable reservations or understandings as many of these conventions as appropriate to the Senate for its advice and consent. Early attention should be directed to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (U.N.), and the American Convention on Human Rights (OAS) (pp. 20-23). 10. The Senate should 'consent to ratification of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, and the other human rights conventions pending before the Senate; namely: Convention on the Granting of Political Rights of Women (OAS); Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right To Organize Convention (ILO); Abolition of Forced Labor Convention (ILO); Convention on the Political Rights of Women (U.N.); and When appropriate reservations or understandings should be attached to a ratification (pp. 22-24). United Nations Machinery To Promote Human Rights 11. The Department of State should request the U.N. Commission on Human Rights and the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities to devote special attention to civil and political rights in their studies of particular human rights questions (p. 25). 12. The Department of State should request the U.N. Commission on Human Rights to establish a committee of independent experts appointed by the Secretary General to review the periodic reports on human rights, and to make objective comments and recommendations on international conditions generally and regarding specific countries (pp. 25-26). 13. The United States through the Department of State, should host a human rights seminar under the U.N. advisory services program (p. 26). 14. The Department of State should propose that the U.N. Commission on Human Rights revise the procedures for reviewing communications on human rights to provide for: (a) Notifying the author of a communication and the government concerned of any decision taken with respect to the communication; (b) Supplying to the author of the communication a copy of the government's reply; (c) Permitting the appearance of the author of the communication (or counsel) and the government concerned before the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities or a sub-body thereof; and (d) Recognizing the right of a member of the Sub-Commission to bring before that organ any communication which has not been referred to it by the working group (pp. 27-29). 15. The Department of State should continue to support the creation of an Office of U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. The High Commissioner would consult with governments on their implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments in the human rights field. The High Commissioner would be nominated by the Secretary General and elected by the General Assembly (pp. 29-30). 16. The Department of State should propose that the Commission on Human Rights be authorized to hold regular sessions more than once a year, if necessary, and to hold special sessions at any time to deal with urgent situations involving massive violations of human rights (p. 30). Southern Africa 17. The Governments of South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, and Portugal should fully implement the U.N. Declaration on the 29-692-74- -3 Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples which states that "All peoples have the right to self-determination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development" (p. 31). 18. The Governments of South Africa, Southern Rhodesia, and Portugal should fully implement the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights," in particular: (a) To eliminate the practices of racial discrimination and apartheid; (b) To insure the right of everyone to take part in the government of his country, including the right to vote; (c) To insure the right to work, free choice of employment, just and favorable conditions of work, equal pay for equal work, and to form and to join trade unions; and (d) To insure the right to education and provide the opportunity for education at all levels without regard to race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status (p. 31). 19. The Department of State should support the efforts of the black majorities in southern Africa to achieve self-determination and independence (pp. 31–32). 20. The Department of State should seek membership for the United States on the U.N.'s Council for Namibia and give its full support to the Council's objective of ending South Africa's illegal occupation of Namibia (pp. 31-32). 21. The Department of State and the Department of Commerce should ask U.S. firms doing business in southern Africa to provide their employees with just and favorable remuneration and conditions of work; equal pay for equal work; adequate pensions, medical care and legal assistance; educational assistance for their employees and their children; and vocational and management training programs (p. 32). 22. The Congress should repeal the Byrd amendment which contravenes the U.S. legal obligation to uphold the U.N. resolution adopted by the Security Council imposing economic sanctions against Southern Rhodesia (p. 33). The Laws of War 23. The Department of State and the Department of Defense, at the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law Applicable in Armed Conflicts, should support: (a) Extension of the laws of war to internal armed conflicts as defined under international standards; (b) Provision for prisoner-of-war status for guerrilla fighters who conform to international standards; (c) Greater protection of civilians in armed conflicts including (1) standards and restrictions governing methods or means of combat which strike or affect indiscriminately the civilian population and combatants, or civilian objects and military objectives; (2) restriction or prohibition of attacks on objects designed for civilian use, objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, and works and installations containing dangerous forces-dams, dikes, and nuclear generating stations; and (d) The convening of a second diplomatic conference to consider the restriction or prohibition of the use of specific weapons which cause unnecessary suffering such as delayed action weapons, incendiary weapons, and certain types of fragmentation bombs and high velocity projectiles (pp. 33–37). 24. The Department of Defense should establish a regular procedure for reviewing new weapons, if possible early during the research and development stage, to determine whether they cause unnecessary suffering (p. 37). Massacre 25. Whenever massacre occurs or appears likely to occur, the United States (if no other state takes such action) should convene the Security Council to consider appropriate measures under the charter (pp. 38-40). Torture 26. The Department of State should urge the United Nations to undertake the following measures to help prevent the practice of torture: (a) The Commission on Human Rights should conduct a thorough study of the practice of torture, based upon information received from governments, the United Nations and its specialized agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and other available sources, and make recommendations concerning measures to be taken at local, national, regional, and international levels to prevent the practice of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment; (b) The U.N. Committee on Crime Prevention and Control should adopt a periodic reporting procedure to be used by governments, specialized agencies, and nongovernmental organizations concerning the implementation of the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners; and (c) The Fifth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders, to be held in 1975, should give special attention to the problem of torture (pp. 40-41). Status of Women 27. The Department of State should urge the relevant U.N. organs and agencies to undertake practical measures: (a) For insuring that its development assistance programs promote the full integration of women in the civic, political, social, economic, and cultural areas of national societies; and (b) For increasing the number of women at the professional level in the U.N. Secretariat. To accomplish these objectives the professional staff in the Directorate of Labor and Women, Bureau of International Organization Affairs of the Department should be increased (pp. 41-42). Human Rights Program of the Organization of American States 28. The Department of State should propose that the OAS strengthen the role of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights through adoption of the following measures: (a) A public discussion by the OAS General Assembly of the substantive issues contained in the Commission's report, including allegations of human rights violations in particular countries; (b) An increase in the staff of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights; and (c) The creation within the OAS Secretariat of a Human Rights Division comparable to the Directorate of Human Rights of the Council of Europe (pp. 47-48). Nongovernmental Organizations 29. The Department of State should continue U.S. Government funding for international nongovernmental organizations in the human rights field provided: 7 (a) The funds are publicly acknowledged; (b) The organization fully accounts for the use made of the funds; (c) The funds do not account for a major part of the organization's budget; (d) The organization has a significant number of duespaying members in the United States; (e) The Department does not introduce political considerations in deciding what organizations are to receive funds; and (f) The Department does not seek to undermine the objectivity of the organizations (pp. 50-51). |