UN Commission on Human Rights
Adopts Resolution on War Crimes
UNITED NATIONS (JTA) —
By an overwhelming vote, the
United Nations Commission on
Human Rights, holding its annual
session here, adopted .. a resolution
Monday calling for a convention
on the banning of statutes of limi-
tations regarding the trial and
punishment of war criminals and
persons charged with crimes
against humanity.
The resolution also called
upon all states "to take any
meausres necessary" to prevent
the enactment of such statutes
of limitations, "to continue their
efforts to assure the arrest, ex-
tradition and punishment" of
such war criminals, and to make
available to other governments
any documentation available re-
garding war crimes and crimes
against humanity.
The resolution, spearheaded by
Israel and solidly backed, among
others, by the United States and
France, was adopted by the 21-
member body by a vote of 19 in
favor, with none against.
Iraq, a member of the commis-
sion, abstained, while Sweden, also
a member, was noted as "absent."
The three Communist members
of the commission — the USSR,
Poland and Ukraine—were among
those voting in favor.
Another clause in the resolu-
tion called upon- the secretary-
general of the United Nations to
provide to the commission a thor-
ough study of the arrests, trials
and punishment of war criminals
and those charged with crimes
against humanity.
The commission voted to give
the drafting of the convention
highest priority before its next
session, scheduled to be held a
year from now in Geneva.
The plan calls for the com-
mission's parent body, the Econ-
omic and Social Council, to re-
ceive the final convention draft
in 1967, in time for action by the
entire United Nations General
Assembly in the fall of 1967.
The issue of banning statutes
regarding war crimes came into
sharp focus here last spring, when
efforts were made by the West
German Parliament to allow a
previous statute to come into force
on May 8, 1965, the 20th anniver-
sary of Hitler's defeat by the
Allies.
Through such a cut-off date,
major Nazi criminals not yet
caught or tried would have es-
caped trial. The Bonn Parliament,
noting the alarm of many Jewish
and other organizations around
the world, finally compromised,
and set a new deadline, permitting
trials for major Nazi war crimin-
als until Dec. 31, 1969.
T h e convention recommended
by the Human Rights Commission
Monday will, if enacted before the
latter date, make it possible to
try war criminals at any time in
the future, beyond the end of 1969.
Dr. Maurice L. Perlzweig,
permanent representative of the
World Jewish Congress at the
United Nations told the com-
mission that the WJC, in co-
operation with the prosecuting
authorities of a number of coun-
tries, "had traced more than
1,000 eyewitnesses of such
crimes," and that 300 of the
witnesses had given testimony
in person at trials of es-Nazis
in Europe.
Dr. Perlzweig pointed out that
local statutes of limitations in some
countries "had already given im-
munity to some of the most no-
torious war criminals" and re-
ferred to "cases where attempts
made to extradite known criminals
failed because the courts in the
countries concerned upheld local
statutes to protect such persons."
Another nongovernmental rep-
resentative told the commission
that an international criminal
court should be established for
trying Nazi war criminals and
others accused of crimes against
humanity. That proposal was made
by Dr. Isaac Sehifnagel, of Sao
Paulo, Brazil, a Jew, who is sec-
retary-general of the Brazilian
Institute for Human Rights.
Israel's delegate, Associate Su-
preme Court Justice Haim H.
Cohn, introduced a resolution call-
ing for the drafting of the con-
vention and the preparation of
the document for final voting a
year from now. Poland presented
its own draft resolution, endorsing
the principle of a ban on statutes
of limitations regarding war crim-
inals, but sidestepping the need
for a formal convention. The Soviet
Union proposed that a committee
be appointed to reconcile the Is-
raeli and Polish stands and Jus-
tice Cohn accepted that proposal.
The Israeli draft was co-spon-
sored, in addition to France and
the U.S.A. by New Zealand, Aus-
tria, and the Netherlands. The
Dutch delegation noted in its en-
dorsement that its thinking on the
subject had been aided by a memo-
randum submitted by one of the
nongovernmental groups having
consultative status before the com-
mission, the Coordinating Board of
Jewish Organizations. The latter
represents Bnai Brith and the
Board of Deputies of British Jews.
Anglican Archbishop Expected to Visit Israel
LONDON (JTA) — Dr. Michael
Ramsey, archbishop of Canterbury.
will visit Israel this month, it was
reliably reported in Church of Eng-
land circles Tuesday. His status in
the Anglican Church is equivalent
to that of the Pope in the Roman
Catholic faith.
Dr. Ramsey, one of the presi-
dents of the British Council of
Christians and Jews, will visit the
old city of Jerusalem on April 20,
to preside at a five-day conference
of Anglican Metropolitans from all
parts of the world.
According to the reports, he will
visit Nazareth and Capernaeum in
I s r a e 1, after the conference.
Whether he will meet any mem-
bers of the Israel Government has
not yet been decided. This will de-
pend on the wishes of both the
Government and the Archbishop, it
was indicated.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
8—Friday, April 1, 1966
a Wappy gassover
to all
As we commemorate the Festival of Freedom,
we rejoice in our liberties, with gratitude for the
blessings inherent in our Americanism and in our
Jewish heritage that stems from Passover . . . On
this Feast of Pesach, we rededicate ourselves
anew to the ideals of justice and liberty for all
humanity.
Mr. and Mrs.
Ahe
U{asle
and gamily
Canada Asked to Back Migration
of Jewish Relatives in Soviet Union
(Direct JTA Telegraph Wire
to The Jewish News)
MONTREAL—The Canadian gov-
ernment has been asked to approve
applications filed by Canadians for
the immigration into this country
of their Jewish relatives in the
Soviet Union, even though it is not
known whether the Soviet govern-
ment would issue the needed exit
visas, it was disclosed here
Wednesday by the Canadian Jewish
Congress.
The request was made during a
meeting in Ottawa between Jean
Marchand, Canadian minister of
citizenship and immigration, and a
delegation representing the Cana-
dian Jewish Congress and the
Jewish Immigrant Aid Services.
The delegation had called on the
minister to discuss projected
changes in Canadian immigration
policy.
Noting that the difficulties con-
nected with emigration from the
USSR were numerous, the delega-
tion pointed out to Marchand that
no attempt could be made to in-
duce the Soviet authorities to grant
exit visas to Jewish relatives of
Canadian citizens unless there was
some evidence that Canada is
prepared to admit potential immi-
grants from Russia.
The delegation, which was
headed by Saul Hayes, executive
vice president of the Canadian
Jewish Congress, also asked the
minister to seek an end to pro-
tracted delays in the processing
of immigration applications by
Canadian Jews on behalf of rela-
tives from Morocco now in Spain,
and for potential immigrants
from Romania now residing in
Italy, awaiting approval by the
Canadian government.
The immigration ministry was
urged to ease the regulations af-
fecting immigration applications
from various East European coun-
tries to allow Jews in this country
to file such applications even
though they are not yet Canadian
citizens.
The Jewish Immigrant Aid Serv-
ices disclosed Wednesday that in-
quiries regarding immigration to
Canada have been received during
the past few months from some
250 Indian Jews. The JIAS said
that most of these Jews seeking to
come to Canada are of "satisfac-
tory educational background" and
"appear to be desirable immi-
grants."
Regarding proposed changes in
Canadian immigration policy, the
delegation stressed in its meeting
with the minister that "sight
should not be lost of the humane
quality of Canada as a 'have coun-
try' with enormous resources, with
the corresponding duty to dis-
charge its universal moral obliga-
tion which would be substantially
hampered if efficiency were to re-
move those qualities."
New LA Hebrew School
LOS ANGELES (JTA)—Start of
construction on a 1,000-student He-
brew day school here has been
assured by a cash gift of $100,000
from Samuel A. Fryer, a bio-
chemist and philanthropist.
Hordes Agency, Inc.
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