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RICHARD N. GARDNER

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for International Organization Affairs

TEXTS OF CONVENTIONS ON
SLAVERY, FORCED LABOR, And
POLITICAL RIGHTS OF WOMEN

AND PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S LETTER
TRANSMITTING THE CONVENTIONS
TO THE SENATE

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN LIBRARIES

Reprinted from the

DEPARTMENT OF STATE BULLETIN of August 26, 1963

DEPARTMENT OF STATE PUBLICATION 7597 International Organization and Conference Series 43 Released September 1963

Office of Media Services

BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents

U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington, D.C.. 20402 - Price 15 cents

DEPOSITED BY THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Human Rights-Some Next Steps

CONVENTIONS ON SLAVERY, FORCED LABOR,
AND POLITICAL RIGHTS OF WOMEN

ADDRESS BY RICHARD N. GARDNER1

More than 150 years ago, Thomas Jefferson predicted that from this country the "fire of freedom and human rights" would "be lighted up in other regions of the earth." Today this fire glows brightly: Men of many races, nations, and creeds some only lately awakened to their birthright of equality-are now demanding their full measure of freedom.

In the struggle against repression the front is everywhere. No nation is so remote or so familiar, so tiny or so large, so poor or so wealthy, so backward or so advanced, as to stand apart. In less than two decades the number of independent nations has doubled. Today barely 2 percent of the world's peoples live in non-self-governing territories. With national independence so nearly secure, the arena of action has broadened from the nation to the individual. The contest will not be won until men, like nations, determine their own destinies.

With the Declaration of Independence, the United States dedicated itself to preserving and

1 Made before the Rotary Club of Ypsilanti, Ypsilanti, Mich., on Aug. 5 (press release 403 dated Aug. 3; asdelivered text). Mr. Gardner is Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs.

enlarging individual human rights. In the intervening years it built upon this foundation a series of specific guarantees, among which the Bill of Rights, the Emancipation Proclamation, the 13th and 19th amendments, the Child Labor Act, the minimum wage laws, and the 1954 Supreme Court decision are only the more familiar.

Small wonder, then, that many of the emerging nations shaped their constitutional doctrines after the same concepts which molded our own. Nor is it surprising that these same nations look to the United States for support in world affairs when fundamental human rights are at stake.

I submit that the real significance of Little Rock and Birmingham and Cambridge is not that the United States is making no progress in civil rights but precisely that we are making progress. Certainly we are far from perfect. But it is gratifying that so many other countries have observed recent events in our country with sympathy and understanding because they are aware that we are sincerely trying to do something about our shortcomings.

The United Nations, like the United States, was built on a foundation of respect for individual freedom. In article 56 of the charter the members of the U.N. "pledge themselves to take joint and separate action in cooperation with the Organization for the achievement of the purposes set forth in Article 55"-which include "universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion."

In accordance with these provisions, the General Assembly and other U.N. organs have considered questions of racial discrimination and other violations of human rights where they

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