can be no question that the United Nations needs, first of all, a mobile force able to strike quickly at long range and to bring to bear, upon any given point in the world where trouble may occur, the maximum armed force in the minimum time. If, in order that the United Nations should have such a force available to it, it is necessary that those permanent members of the Security Council which possess such forces at the present time should provide the greater portion of a particular mobile component, we think that should be done. The interests of the United Nations as a whole must take precedence over the desires or ambitions of any single nation. We consider that the contributions of the permanent members of the Security Council can be properly balanced and rendered roughly comparable without prejudice to the interests of individual nations by arranging that those nations which make available a lesser proportion of the new mobile components could put up a larger portion of other components or other forms of assistance and facilities. The mere existence of such forces will be a powerful deterrent to any nation contemplating an act of aggression. Prompt establishment of such forces will be a demonstration to the peoples of the world of the intention of the Member nations to carry out their obligations to uphold the law of the Charter. The United States welcomes at this stage in the work of establishing these forces the full participation of the non-permanent members of the Security Council. The obligations of the Charter apply equally to every Member of the United Nations large and small. Each of us is obligated to refrain "from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations." Each of us is bound by the purpose "to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace, and for the suppression of acts of aggression or other breaches of the peace.. We intend, with frankness and good will, to continue our efforts in collaboration with other members of this Council to determine ways and means of applying armed force to support the principles of the United Nations in accordance with the Charter. In particular, the United States desires the advice of those members of the Security Council, who, because they are not permanent members of the Council, have not participated in the lengthy discussions which have taken place in the Military Staff Committee. It is my hope that a general agreement on basic principles may be reached by this Council in sufficient time for the Security Council to be able to report affirmatively on this subject to the General Assembly at its next regular session in September. 256. THE WORK OF THE MILITARY STAFF COMMITTEE Letter From the Chairman of the Military Staff Committee to the President of the Security Council, August 6, 1948 1 SIR, 1 In order that the Security Council may be fully advised concerning the work in the Military Staff Committee, the United Kingdom, the United States, Chinese and French Delegations have requested the Chairman to submit the following statement to you. Such divergent views as the USSR Delegation may desire to call to your attention will be submitted when received from that Delegation. In its letter dated 2 July 1948, issued as MS/405 on 6 July 1948, the Military Staff Committee reported to you that, owing to the divergencies of view which still prevailed on some of the General Principles, it had not been in a position to undertake the final determination of the Overall Strength and Composition of the Armed Forces, and thus achieve further progress in this matter towards the conclusion of the special agreements required by Article 43 of the Charter. Since the dispatch of that letter, the Military Staff Committee met to discuss the pursuance of the tasks entrusted to it, as set out in its Programme of Work (Ref: MS/271/M44, dated 16 May 1947, an excerpt of which is enclosed as Annex). Inasmuch as unanimity could not be achieved on the question of the Overall Strength and Composition of the United Nations Armed Forces (Item I of the Programme of Work), it was, a priori, impossible to consider Items II and III of the Programme of Work, dealing with the contributions by Member Nations. The consideration of Item IV of the Programme of Work, i. e., Preparation of a Draft Standard Form of Special Agreement was then envisaged. However, there again, the five Delegations were unable to agree unanimously that such a study could be undertaken before the Military Staff Committee had received instructions from the Security Council concerning the divergencies noted on some of the General Principles. In reporting to you the existence of this latest stalemate, the Military Staff Committee has the honour to call, once more, the attention of the Security Council to the fact that the Military Staff Committee considers it urgent to resolve the disagreement which prevails on some of the General Principles, and of which the Security Council had been apprised as early as 30 April 1947 (MS/264). 1 United Nations document, S/956, 9 August 1948. HUMAN RIGHTS 257. DRAFT CONVENTION ON THE INTERNATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF NEWS AND THE RIGHT OF CORRECTION Resolution of the General Assembly, May 13, 1949 1 The General Assembly 1. Takes note of the recommendations contained in resolution 152 (VII) of the Economic and Social Council; 2. Approves the draft Convention on the International Transmission of News and the Right of Correction and recommends it for early adoption to all Members of the United Nations and other States invited to the United Nations Conference on Freedom of Information held at Geneva in 1948; 3. Urges these States to sign or accede to this Convention when it has been opened for signature, and requests any Member which does not so sign or accede to communicate its reasons therefor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations within twelve months of such opening date as well as the further steps, if any, it intends to take; 4. Urges each Contracting State to take as soon as possible the necessary steps in order to extend the application to territories for which it has international responsibility, subject, where necessary for constitutional reasons, to the consent of the Governments of such territories; 5. Urges each Contracting State which does not make a declaration under article XVIII (1) of this Convention in respect of any territories for which it has international responsibility to communicate to the Secretary-General within twelve months of the opening of this Convention for signature the names of all such territories together with the reasons for not making a declaration as well as the further steps, if any, it intends to take. ANNEX DRAFT CONVENTION ON THE INTERNATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF NEWS AND THE RIGHT OF CORRECTION The Contracting States, PREAMBLE Desiring to implement the right of their peoples to be fully and reliably informed, Desiring to improve understanding between their peoples through the free flow of information and opinion, Desiring thereby to protect mankind from the scourge of war, to prevent the recurrence of aggression from any source, and to combat all propaganda which is either designed or likely to provoke or encourage any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression, Considering the danger to the maintenance of friendly relations between peoples and to the preservation of peace, arising from the publication of inaccurate reports, 1 U. N. Doc. A/900, 31 May 1949, pp. 22-30. Considering that at its second regular session the General Assembly of the United Nations recommended the adoption of measures designed to combat the dissemination of false or distorted reports likely to injure friendly relations between States, Considering, however, that it is not at present practicable to institute, on the international level, a procedure for verifying the accuracy of a report which might lead to the imposition of penalties for the publication of false or distorted reports, Considering, moreover, that to prevent the publication of reports of this nature or to reduce their pernicious effects, it is above all necessary to promote a wide circulation of news and to heighten the sense of responsibility of those regularly engaged in the dissemination of news, Considering that an effective means to these ends is to give States directly affected by a report, which they consider false or distorted and which is disseminated by an information agency, the possibility of securing commensurate publicity for their corrections, Considering that the legislation of certain States does not provide for a right of correction of which foreign Governments may avail themselves, and that it is therefore desirable to institute such a right on the international level, and Having resolved to conclude a Convention for these purposes, ARTICLE I For the purposes of the present Convention: 1. "News material" means all news material, whether of information or opinion and whether visual or auditory, for dissemination to the public. 2. "News despatch" means news material transmitted in writing or by means of telecommunications, in the form customarily employed by information agencies in transmitting such news material, before publication, to newspapers, news periodicals and broadcasting organizations. 3. "Information agency" means a Press, broadcasting, film, television or facsimile organization, public or private, regularly engaged in the collection and dissemination of news material, created and organized under the laws and regulations of the Contracting State in which the central organization is domiciled and which, in each Contracting State where it operates, functions under the laws and regulations of that State. 4. "Correspondent" means a national of a Contracting State or an individual employed by an information agency of a Contracting State, who in either case is regularly engaged in the collection and the reporting of news material, and who when outside his State is identified as a correspondent by a valid passport or by a similar document internationally acceptable. GATHERING AND INTERNATIONAL TRANSMISSION OF NEWS ARTICLE II In order to facilitate the freest possible movement of correspondents in the performance of their functions, the Contracting States shall expedite, in a manner consistent with their respective laws and regula tions, the administrative procedures necessary for the entry into, residence in, travel through and egress from their respective territories of correspondents of other Contracting States together with their professional equipment, and shall not impose restrictions which discriminate against such correspondents with respect to entry into, residence in, travel through or egress from such territories. ARTICLE III The Contracting States, while recognizing that correspondents and information agencies must conform to the laws in force in the countries in which they are operating, agree that correspondents of other Contracting States legally admitted into their territories shall not be expelled on account of any lawful exercise of their right to collect and report news material. ARTICLE IV The present Convention shall not apply to any correspondent of a Contracting State who, while not otherwise admissible under the laws and regulations referred to in article II into the territory of another Contracting State, is nevertheless admitted conditionally in accordance with an agreement between that other Contracting State and the United Nations or a specialized agency thereof, in order to cover their proceedings, or pursuant to a special arrangement made by that other Contracting State in order to facilitate the entry of such correspondents. ARTICLE V Each Contracting State shall, to the extent compatible with its national security, permit and facilitate access to news for all correspondents of other Contracting States so far as possible on the same basis as for the correspondents employed by its domestic information agencies, and shall not discriminate among correspondents of other Contracting States as regards such access. ARTICLE VI Corespondents and information agencies of a Contracting State operating in the territories of other Contracting States shall have access to all facilities in such territories generally and publicly used for the international transmission of news material and shall be accorded the right to transmit news material from each such territory on the same basis and at the same rates applicable to all users of such facilities for similar purposes. ARTICLE VII 1. The Contracting States shall permit egress from their territories of all news material of correspondents and information agencies of other Contracting States without censorship, editing or delay; provided that each Contracting State may make and enforce regulations relating directly to national defence. Such of these regulations as relate to the transmission of news material shall be communicated by the State to all correspondents and information agencies of other Contracting States operating in its territory and shall apply equally to them. |