7 December 1948

Original: French

DRAFT INTERNATIONAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

Report of the Third Committee

Rapporteur: Mr. E. St. Lot (Haiti)

1. The Economic and Social Council, acting under Articles 62 and 68 of the Charter of the United Nations, established a Commission of eighteen members under the name of Commission on Human Rights; its main task was to prepare a draft international declaration of fundamental human rights and freedoms and a draft international covenant for the application of such rights and freedoms, as well as to study measures of implementing both these documents.

2. The Commission on Human Rights, after devoting three sessions and close on two years to this work partly at Lake Success and partly at Geneva, submitted to the Economic and Social Council a draft declaration and some advance drafts of an international convention.

3. The General Assembly, at its 142nd meeting held on 24 September 1948, referred to the Third Committee item 13 of the supplementary list of agenda items for the third regular session; this item concerned the draft declaration and related documents.

4. The Third Committee, at its 94th meeting, decided to consider only the draft declaration, as the other two documents (the covenant and measures of implementation) were not yet in a state suitable for consideration.

5. The Third Committee spent eighty four meetings in considering and discussing the draft prepared by the Commission on Human Rights. Most of the articles were adopted by unanimous votes. Representatives exercised their rights to explain their votes to a large extent and thus were able either to enter reservations or to indicate the meaning of their votes or the meaning which they attached to certain expressions. The summary records of these meetings (given in documents A/C.3/SR.88 to 116, A/C.3/SR.119 to 170 and A/C.3/SR.174 to 178) mention all these statements and reservations.

6. In view of the fact that a considerable number of amendments were adopted and having regard to the difficulty of making the resulting texts correspond exactly in the official languages and to the wish to introduce a logical order, the Third Committee set up a Sub-Committee to consider the Declaration of Human Rights as a whole, including the twenty-nine articles and the preamble, solely from the point of view of arrangement, consistency, uniformity and style.

7. The report of the Sub-Committee was considered, discussed and adopted in the course of the 174th to 178th meetings of the Third Committee, resulting in the adoption of the following draft Universal Declaration of Human Rights (see text under A) which is recommended by the Third Committee to the General Assembly for adoption.

8. A draft resolution (resolution B) on the right of petition was adopted by the Third Committee at its 160th meeting.

9. A draft resolution (resolution C) concerning the fate of minorities was adopted at the 163rd meeting.

10. A draft resolution (resolution D) concerning publicity to be given to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted at the 178th meeting.

11. A draft resolution (resolution E) concerning the early consideration by the Economic and Social Council of the draft Covenant and measures of implementation was adopted at the 178th meeting.

12. The Third Committee therefore recommends for adoption by the General Assembly the following five texts:

INTERNATIONAL BILL OF HUMAN RIGHTS

A

Draft universal declaration of human rights

B

Resolution relating to the right of petition

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
CONSIDERING that the right of petition is an essential human right as is recognized in the constitution of a great number of countries,
HAVING CONSIDERED the draft article on petitions in document A/C.3/306 and the amendments offered thereto by Cuba and France,
DECIDES not to take any action on this matter at the present session;
REQUESTS the Economic and Social Council to ask the Commission on Human Rights to give further examination to the problem of petitions when studying the draft Covenant on Human Rights and measures of implementation, in order to enable the General Assembly to consider what further action, if any, should be taken at its next regular session regarding the problem of petitions.

C

Resolution relating to the fate of minorities

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
CONSIDERING that the United Nations cannot remain indifferent to the fate of minorities,
CONSIDERING that it is difficult to adopt a uniform solution of this complex and delicate question, which has special aspects in each State in which it arises,
CONSIDERING the universal character of the Declaration of Human Rights,
DECIDES not to deal in a specific provision with the question of minorities in the text of this Declaration;
REFERS to the Economic and Social Council the texts submitted by the delegations of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Yugoslavia and Denmark on this subject contained in document A/C.3/307/Rev.2 and requests the Council to ask the Commission on Human Rights and the Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and the Protection of Minorities to make a thorough study of the problem of minorities in order that the United Nations may be able to take effective measures for the protection of racial, national, religious or linguistic minorities.

D

Resolution relating to publicity to be given to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
CONSIDERING that the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an historic act destined to consolidate world peace through the contribution of the United Nations towards the liberation of individuals from the unjustified oppression and constraint to which they are too often subjected,
CONSIDERING that the text of the Declaration should be disseminated among all peoples throughout the world;
1. RECOMMENDS Governments of Member States to show their adherence to Article 56 of the Charter by using every means within their power solemnly to publicize the text of the Declaration and to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories;
2. REQUESTS the Secretary-General to have this Declaration widely disseminated and, to that end, to publish and distribute texts, not only in the official languages, but also, using every means at his disposal, in all languages possible;
3. INVITES the specialized agencies and non-governmental organizations of the world to do their utmost to bring this Declaration to the attention of their members.

E

Resolution relating to the preparation of a draft Covenant and draft measures of implementation

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
CONSIDERING that the plan of work of the Commission on Human Rights provides for an International Bill of Human Rights, to include a Declaration, a Covenant on Human Rights and measures of implementation,
REQUESTS the Economic and Social Council to ask the Commission on Human Rights to continue to give priority in its work to the preparation of a draft Covenant on Human Rights and draft measures of implementation.