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cided that the draft Covenant was not yet ready for completion and remitted it to the Commission on Human Rights. This action made it impossible to base a discussion of the freedom of information convention on any set of agreed principles, such as would have appeared in the freedom of information article of the Covenant.

Convinced that this would further complicate the discussion of the Convention on Freedom of Information and having learned from consultations during this session that it was still not possible to agree on a constructive text, the United States Delegation again urged that further action on the convention be postponed pending completion of the Covenant. This proposal was rejected in Committee III by a vote of 25 to 14, with 10 abstentions, and the General Assembly decided instead to establish a special committee to meet not later than March 1, 1951, to prepare a new draft of the Freedom of Information Convention. The resolution as finally adopted further requests the Committee to report to the thirteenth session of the Economic and Social Council and to submit recommendations concerning the feasibility of convening a conference of plenipotentiaries to complete the convention. The resolution recommends that the Economic and Social Council consider the Committee's report and, if it deems it appropriate, convene a conference of plenipotentiaries to meet not later than February 1, 1952. The committee established for the purpose of reexamining the draft text comprises 15 member countries but suffers from inadequate geographic representation in that it includes four Arab States while neither the Scandinavian states nor members of the British Commonwealth (other than the United Kingdom) are included.

The General Assembly also adopted a resolution condemning the jamming of foreign radio broadcasts as a denial of the right to freedom of information and calling upon all member governments to refrain from such interference with the right of their peoples to this freedom. This resolution, submitted by the Economic and Social Council at the suggestion of the United Nations Subcommission on Freedom of Information and of the Press, was directed to the largescale and systematic attempt of the Government of the U.S.S.R. to jam broadcasts of the Voice of America and broadcasts of other countries which are beamed to the Soviet Union. As finally adopted the resolution also invites all governments to refrain from broadcasting unfair attacks or slander against other peoples and invites member states to give every possible facility to the reception and transmission of the official broadcasts of the United Nations.

The General Assembly also adopted another resolution, sponsored by the Subcommission on Freedom of Information and transmitted

by the Economic and Social Council, which recommends to all member states that, when they are compelled to declare a state of emergency. measures to limit freedom of information and of the press shall be taken only in exceptional circumstances and to the extent strictly required by the situation.

During May of 1950 the United Nations Subcommission of Freedom of Information and of the Press held its fourth session at Montevideo, Uruguay. This session was marked by a decided difference of opinion between those members of the Subcommission who contended that this body should concern itself primarily with professional and technical matters affecting freedom of information and avoid becoming involved in political questions and those members (including Carroll Binder, the member from the United States) who contended that if the Subcommission is to accomplish anything within its terms of reference it must consider the political obstacles to freedom of information.

In addition to the two above-mentioned resolutions, which were later approved by the General Assembly, the principal accomplishment at this session was the drafting of an international code of ethics for journalists. The code sets forth a suggested standard of conduct for all those engaged in gathering and disseminating news. It has been transmitted through governments to information enterprises and professional associations in the member states for comment and suggestions and will be reexamined by the Subcommission at its fifth session in the light of comments received. It is intended that the final text will be approved by an international professional conference which may be convoked by the Economic and Social Council. In its present form the code is a blend of two conflicting concepts concerning the question of the responsibility of the press: those who believe in achieving responsibility by moral suasion and those who would achieve it by legislation. As such, it tends to satisfy the proponents of neither concept.

Among the other significant actions at this session was the adoption of a resolution inviting member states to put an end to confiscatory measures and discriminatory actions concerning the allocation of newsprint to the press in their territories.

The Subcommission also recommended that the Economic and Social Council request the Secretary-General to continue to obtain from governments information concerning legislative and other measures affecting freedom of information and to obtain from professional enterprises or associations any reports or surveys which they may compile concerning the current status of freedom of information in any part of the world.

4. Status of Women

Efforts to improve the status of women, and to remove legal discriminations against them which still remain in the laws and customs of many countries, center in the Commission on the Status of Women. The Commission held its fourth session at Lake Success in May 1950. As in other U.N. meetings of this period, the U.S.S.R. representative was absent.

The principal achievement of the fourth session of the Commission on the Status of Women was agreement on principles to establish equality of nationality rights for women. Distinctions in nationality laws have largely related to married women, who are forced in some countries to adopt the nationality of a foreign husband and give up their own. A series of studies on conflicts of laws in the field of nationality over the past 3 years made possible this year the formulation of principles which might be incorporated into a new international convention on the nationality of women.

The principles accepted by the Commission on the Status of Women are similar to those in the Montevideo convention of 1933 on the nationality of married women, to which the United States and a number of Latin American states are already parties. They provide (a) that there shall be no distinction based on sex as regards nationality, in legislation or in practice, and (b) that neither marriage nor its dissolution shall affect the nationality of either husband or wife. The Commission specified further that these principles should not prevent provisions for simplified voluntary naturalization of alien husbands and wives. The principles as adopted are consistent with article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that everyone has the right to a nationality and that no one shall arbitrarily be deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality. The actual drafting of an international convention was left to the International Law Commission, which will consider also other phases of nationality problems.

The Commission on the Status of Women received an encouraging report on equal suffrage showing that women now have equal political rights in 56 countries, 21 of which have taken action since 1945 to grant women suffrage, and that fewer than 20 countries remain which still discriminate against them on the franchise. The Commission noted with regret that as yet the proportion of women appointed by their governments on delegations to U.N. bodies is low. In an analysis of experience over the past 5 years, the record of the United States, which has invariably had a number of women in its delegations to the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council, and the special

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ized agencies, compared favorably with that of other countries. The Commission urged greater attention to encouraging women to assume responsibilites in political and community life, especially in countries where they have recently gained the franchise.

In 1946 the Economic and Social Council requested governments to report on various aspects of laws affecting women on the basis of a questionnaire directed toward discrimination problems. Interested nongovernmental organizations were also asked to contribute information. The Commission has used the replies of governments to this questionnaire in its recommendations in political and educational fields and also on nationality. This year the Commission planned for the analysis of further material in hand and for the collection of comparative information in the field of private law, the area not yet covered by government replies.

Further progress was made during the year in establishing the principle of equal pay for equal work by ILo's adoption of preliminary recommendations for international regulations to assure pay on the basis of rate for the job without distinction as to sex. The equal-pay issue also remained an item under review by the Commission on the Status of Women, which had in the past requested appropriate ILO action.

5. Failure of the U.S.S.R. To Repatriate or Otherwise Account for Prisoners of War

On August 20, 1950, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States submitted the item, "Failure of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to repatriate or otherwise account for prisoners of war detained in Soviet territory," for inclusion on the provisional agenda of the fifth regular session of the General Assembly. On August 25 an explanatory memorandum was submitted outlining the efforts made by the Allied Powers to aid in the solution of the prisonerof-war problem before agreeing that it should be brought to the United Nations. For humanitarian reasons and because of concern that specific repatriation agreements should be implemented, the Allied Powers had endeavored over a period of years to obtain information concerning the numbers of prisoners of war in Soviet territory, the names of those still detained and those who had died in transit or in Soviet camps, and Soviet plans for the repatriation of those still living. As stated in the supplementary memorandum, all

efforts to obtain this information had been fruitless. Pertinent supporting documents were submitted with the memorandum.

As was expected, the delegates of the Soviet group of governments tried to block consideration of the item, stating that all prisoners of war had been returned and that consequently no problem existed. The item, however, was placed on the agenda of the General Assembly and because of its humanitarian aspects was referred to the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee.

Before the Committee considered the question, the Australian, United Kingdom, and United States Delegations consulted extensively with other delegations. The draft resolution submitted by these three delegations embodied the result of these consultations. As presented, the draft resolution provided for the establishment by the SecretaryGeneral of an impartial three-man commission to make an investigation and report to the Secretary-General concerning the situation with respect to prisoners of war in any country in which they were still detained.

In the debate the United Kingdom presented a general review of the situation with particular reference to German prisoners of war. The Australian Delegation presented a detailed history of the Japanese prisoner-of-war situation. Following these two presentations, the Soviet Delegate gave a bitter and lengthy speech in which he maintained that the missing prisoners of war were being detained by the United States and other Allied countries and that it was the Allied countries, not the U.S.S.R., that had failed in their undertakings under specific repatriation agreements. The Soviet Delegate also said this his Government would not cooperate with the United Nations in the matter. The United States presentation stressed the humanitarian aspects of the case and refuted some of the Soviet arguments; others were not dignified by a reply.

Delegates of other governments of the Soviet group supported the position taken by the Soviet Delegate. A number of speeches were given by other delegates, and a number of amendments to the resolution were offered. Among these was the amendment providing, as a substitute for a U.N. commission, that the United Nations should call on all governments holding prisoners of war to furnish complete information regarding them. Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, after some discussion and after consulting with other delegations, amended their original resolution to include the provision that the governments still holding prisoners of war should be called on by the United Nations to furnish complete information regarding them but maintained the provision that a U.N. commission be set up. The commission would examine the information furnished

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