193. Briefing Memorandum From the Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs (Derian) and the Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (Maynes) to the Deputy Secretary of State (Christopher)1
SUBJECT
- United Nations to Examine United States Ratification Record of International Human Rights Treaties
The United Nations has established a working group to examine the “circumstances” preventing governments from ratifying international human rights treaties, in particular the Genocide Convention, the International Covenants on Human Rights, the Racial Discrimination Convention, and various agreements on slavery.
The Secretary-General will request UN member states, which have not ratified these treaties, to inform the UN of the circumstances preventing their ratification. A working group will then examine the replies and consider ways of encouraging and assisting governments to ratify these treaties, including inviting government representatives to meetings with group members.
The resolution establishing the working group and the new procedure is attached.2 The working group will be composed of five members of the UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination [Page 602] and Protection of Minorities, a sub-body of the Commission on Human Rights. The group will meet annually, beginning next summer. The resolution was adopted by the Sub-Commission September 5 and sponsored by Sub-Commission experts from France, Egypt, and Peru (who do not serve as government representatives).
To date, the United States has not ratified any of the treaties listed except the slavery conventions. We therefore can expect to receive a letter from the Secretary-General requesting an explanation, which the working group will examine next summer. We also can expect international and public spot-light on our non-ratification record in a forum where we already have been subjected to considerable embarrassment on this score. However, in the past, our record was predominantly cited in speeches by communist countries and other states seeking to discredit us. In the future, our non-ratification record will be the subject of formal UN examination and by a wide spectrum of states.
In the absence of ratification, the new procedure will tend to make it more difficult to obtain support for the human rights objectives we pursue at the UN.