Foreign Relations of the United States, 1951, The United Nations; The Western Hemisphere, Volume II

IO Files

Department of State Instruction to the United States Delegation to the Seventh Session of the Commission on Human Rights

restricted
SD/E/CN.4/56

[Washington, April 1951.]

Draft International Covenant on Human Rights Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

problem

What should be the position of the United States Delegation at the Seventh (1951) Session of the Commission on Human Rights with respect to the inclusion of provisions on economic, social and cultural rights in the International Covenant on Human Rights?

recommendation

1. As a first position, the Delegation should support—or, in its discretion, propose—the view that the provisions on economic, social and cultural rights in the International Covenant on Human Rights should be limited to general language along lines proposing the promotion of economic, social and cultural progress and development. The Delegation may, if it is deemed advisable, submit and support language along the lines of the alternative texts (a) and (b) set forth in the Annex, preferably alternative (a). The Delegation should explain that the United States, in view of the resolution adopted by the General Assembly on December 4, 1950, is prepared to support the inclusion of such language in the Covenant. If necessary to strengthen support in the Commission for general language in the Covenant, the United States Delegation may consult with other Delegations with respect to language along the lines of alternative (c) in the Annex and support such language in the Commission.

2. If the Commission rejects the United States proposal to limit the language in the Covenant on economic, social and cultural rights-along general lines and decides to include language in the Covenant which is detailed, the Delegation should undertake to limit this language as far as possible along practical lines generally in harmony with American practice and constitutional principles, and should vote for such detailed provisions if so modified. It should be assumed, in considering the provisions for inclusion in the Covenant, that they will be subject to a federal state article.

discussion

Delegations of the United States to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights during 1948, 1949 and 1950 consistently opposed the addition of articles on economic, social and cultural rights to the present text of the draft International Covenant on Human Rights. The United States urged that provisions relating to economic, social and cultural matters be set forth in separate protocols for separate ratification. This position of the United States was in the majority in the Commission.

When the same question was raised in the General Assembly consisting of representatives of 60 members, the General Assembly adopted a resolution on December 4, 1950 expressly deciding “to include economic, social and cultural rights in the draft Covenant on human rights” and calling “upon the Economic and Social Council to request the Commission on Human Rights, in accordance with the spirit of the Universal Declaration to include in the draft Covenant a clear expression of economic, social and cultural rights in a manner which relates them to the civic and political freedoms proclaimed by the draft Covenant.”

The United States opposed the inclusion of these provisions in the December 4, 1950 resolution, but the General Assembly nevertheless voted to include them in the resolution. The vote in the General Assembly in favor of these provisions was 23 to 17 with 10 abstentions.

It appears that when this issue is voted again in the General Assembly at its 1951 session, the vote for the addition of provisions on economic, social and cultural rights in the Covenant will again be favorable to their inclusion in the Covenant.

In view of the decision at the 1950 session of the General Assembly and the anticipated repetition of this decision at the 1951 session of the General Assembly, it seems advisable for the United States to proceed with the development of language expressive of economic, social and cultural rights which is generally in harmony with United States practice and constitutional principles, and to take appropriate steps to advise friendly members of the Commission on Human Rights of such language.

It is particularly important that the United States proceed along this line in order to prevent the USSR and Yugoslavia from winning the acceptance of their proposals for inclusion in the Covenant at the next session of the Commission. It is felt that only if the United States proceeds along this line will there be a possibility of forestalling the acceptance of the USSR and Yugoslav texts in the Commission.

The USSR and Yugoslav proposals have been submitted to previous sessions of the Commission. The language of these proposals is in general not consistent with American practice and constitutional principles and accordingly is unacceptable to the United States. The proposals are in general drafted along typical communist totalitarian lines, with particular stress on governmental control. The USSR texts include the usual Soviet effort to restrict the freedom of the individual and to obtain United Nations approval of ambiguous language ostensibly promoting freedom but actually not doing so.

In accordance with the recommendations set out above, if the Commission decides to vote on language such as the USSR and Yugoslav texts for inclusion in the Covenant, the United States should propose and support modifications of these texts to conform them as much as possible along practical lines generally in harmony with American practice and constitutional principles.

With respect to articles on economic, social and cultural matters in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which may be proposed by other delegations for inclusion in the Covenant, the United States should propose necessary modifications to these also to conform them as much as possible along practical lines in harmony with American practice and constitutional principles. In general, these articles are mow phrased in terms of rights to which all individuals are entitled immediately. Obviously, for inclusion in the Covenant, many of them must be rephrased as objectives to be promoted by parties to the Covenant.

Considerable discretion in phraseology is necessarily left to the United States Delegation to the Commission since it is difficult to foresee all the various texts that may be submitted for consideration to the Commission at its next session.

The United States Delegation should in particular emphasize in the Commission that much of the work in implementing and effectuating the promotion and safeguards of economic, social and cultural rights is being done and should continue to be done by specialized agencies such as the ILO, WHO, UNESCO, etc.

Annex

(See Recommendation 1 of this Paper concerning these alternatives)

Alternative (a)

“Each State party hereto undertakes to promote conditions of economic, social and cultural progress and development for a higher standard of life in larger freedom for all, with due regard to the organization and resources of the State; and to cooperate for effective international action in economic, social and cultural matters with organs of the United Nations and with specialized agencies established by intergovernmental agreement and brought into relationship with the United Nations under the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.”

Alternative (b)

“Each State party hereto undertakes to promote conditions of economic, social and cultural progress leading to the development of high levels of education, health, leisure, culture and living and working conditions in larger freedom for all and with due regard to the organization and resources of the State. In addition, each State party hereto undertakes to further these objectives through cooperation for effective international action in economic, social and cultural matters with organs of the United Nations and with specialized agencies established by inter-governmental agreement and brought into relationship with the United Nations under the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.”

Alternative (c)

“Each State party hereto, believing that all human beings have the right to pursue both their material well-being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity, of economic security and equal opportunity, undertakes, with due regard to the resources and organization of the State, and in cooperation with the organs of the United Nations and with the specialized agencies established by inter-governmental agreement and brought into relationship with the United Nations under the provisions of the United Nations Charter to promote:

• “(a) The highest attainable standard of health;
• “(b) Provisions for adequate education designed to enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society to the extent of their capabilities, to develop fully the human personality, and to strengthen respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;
• “(c) Measures to raise the standard of living, to give special protection to mothers and children, to provide adequate nutrition, housing and facilities for recreation and culture;
• “(d) The effective recognition of the rieht of collective bargaining, the cooperation of management and labor in the continuous improvement of productive efficiency, and the collaboration of workers and employers in the preparation and application of social and economic measures;
• “(e) Policies in regard to wages and earnings, hours and other conditions of work calculated to ensure a just share of the fruits of progress to all, equal pay for equal work, adequate protection for the life and safety of workers in all occupations, and a minimum living wage to all employed and in need of such protection;
• “(f) The opportunity for everyone to engage in occupations and ‘businesses in which they can have the satisfaction of giving the fullest measure of their skill and attainments; and
• “(g) Measures to provide basic security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond the control of the individual.”

[If other delegations insist on a reference to full employment, the United States Delegation may agree to the words “full employment and” being inserted at the beginning of paragraph (f). Actually paragraph (f), as set forth above, already covers full employment.]²

2. Brackets in the source text.