Editorial Note
The question of the observance in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania of human rights and fundamental freedoms was considered by the United Nations General Assembly during its Fourth Regular Session, held at Lake Success and Flushing Meadow, New York, September 20–December 10, 1949. The resolution (272(III)) concerning the observance in Bulgaria and Hungary of human rights and freedoms, adopted by the General Assembly, Third Session, Second Part, April 30 (page 245), provided for the retention of the subject on the agenda of the Fourth Session. In a letter of August 20 to the Secretary-General (U.N. Doc. A/948), the Australian Mission to the United Nations proposed that the observance of fundamental freedoms and human rights in Romania be added to the agenda of the General Assembly. In a letter to the Secretary-General dated September 20 (U.N. Doc. A/985), Warren R. Austin, the United States Representative to the United Nations, reviewed the measures taken by the United States, in accordance with the treaties of peace with Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania, regarding the charges made against those governments on the question of violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. As annexes to his letter, Austin submitted the texts of 31 exchanges of notes and letters from April 2 to September 19 between the United States and the governments of Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and the Soviet Union. For the text of Austin’s letter and its 31 annexes, as circulated to the United Nations as document A/985/Res. 1, see United Nations, Official Records of the General [Page 267] Assembly, Fourth Session, Ad Hoc Political Committee, Annex to the Summary Record of Meetings, pages 75–96. (Hereafter cited as GA (IV), Ad Hoc Political Committee, Annex). For the text of Austin’s letter, see also Department of State Bulletin, October 10, 1949, pages 541–542, or Raymond Dennett and Robert K. Turner, editors, Documents on American Foreign Relations, Volume XI, January 1–December 31, 1949 (Princeton University Press, 1951), pages 655–657.
Sir Alexander Cadogan, the United Kingdom Representative to the United Nations, sent a similar letter of September 19 to the Secretary General. For the text of Cadogan’s letter and 21 annexed exchanges of notes and letters between the United Kingdom and Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and the Soviet Union, circulated to United Nations as document A/990/Rev. 1, see GA (IV), Ad Hoc Political Committee, Annex, pages 96–111.
At its 224th meeting, September 22, the General Assembly decided to refer the question of the observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania to the Ad Hoc Political Committee for consideration and report. The question was considered by the Ad Hoc Political Committee during its 7th to 15th meetings, October 4–15. At the 7th meeting of the Ad Hoc Political Committee on October 4, Bolivia, Canada, and the United States introduced a draft resolution (U.N. Doc. A/AC.31/L.1 /Rev. 1, ibid., pages 111–112) requesting an advisory opinion on the question by the International Court of Justice. In introducing the resolution, Benjamin V. Cohen, the United States Alternate Representative to the General Assembly, reviewed in detail the violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania, and outlined the efforts of the United States to utilize the procedures provided for by the treaties of peace in order to bring a halt to the violations. For the text of Cohen’s address, see Department of State Bulletin, October 24, 1949, pages 617–624. During the 13th meeting of the Committee on October 11, Soviet Foreign Minister Audrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky, the Soviet Representative to the General Assembly, defended Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania against the charges of violations of human rights and charged in turn that the accusations were part of an attempt by the Western powers to destroy the people’s democracies in the Balkans. For an extensive summary of Vyshinsky’s address, based upon the text appearing in the Soviet newspapers Pravda and Izvestiya on October 13, see Current Digest of the Soviet Press, volume I, Number 42, November 15, 1949, pages 19–23. In a statement made at the 14th meeting of the Committee, October 12, United States Representative Cohen replied to Vyshinsky’s allegations and denied that the United States sought to impose any political group or institution on the people of Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania in its advocacy of individual freedoms. For the text of Cohen’s statement, see Department [Page 268] of State Bulletin, October 31, 1949, pages 659–661. At the 15th meeting of the Ad Hoc Political Committee on October 13, the joint resolution earlier presented by Bolivia, Canada, and the United States, as amended by a joint Brazilian, Lebanese, Netherlands resolution (U.N. Doc. A/AC.31/L.3, GA (IV), Ad Hoc Political Committee, Annex, page 113) was adopted by 41 votes to 5, with 9 abstentions. For the official record of the discussions in the Ad Hoc Political Committee, see United Nations, Official Records of the General Assembly, Fourth Session, Ad Hoc Political Committee, Summary Records of Meetings, pages 25–67. The resolution adopted by the Ad Hoc Political Committee was discussed by the General Assembly at its 234th and 235th meetings, October 21 and 22. The General Assembly adopted the resolution on October 22 by a vote of 47 to 5, with 7 abstentions. For the text of the resolution, see infra. For the official record of the discussions in the General Assembly, see United Nations, Official Records of the General Assembly, Fourth Session, Plenary Meetings, pages 130–151.
For a brief general review of Department of State documentation covering the events and papers described here, see the final paragraph of the editorial note, page 245.