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Collections
Fonds · 1919-

Conventions, Ratifications and other Diplomatic Instruments (League of Nations); Bulky Enclosures (League of Nations); Printed Documents (League of Nations); Brochures and Pamphlets (League of Nations); Daily Synopsis of Official Correspondence (League of Nations); Woodrow Wilson Collection (League of Nations); Museum (League of Nations); Visual Material (League of Nations and UNOG); Sound Archives (League of Nations and UNOG); Audiovisual Archives (League of Nations and UNOG); Microforms (League of Nations and UNOG).

Draft Convention on Genocide
SOA 318/1 · Sub-series · 1946-1950
Part of UNOG Registry First Period, 1946-1973

These records consist of correspondence and documentation produced and collected by the Division of Human Rights and the Ad Hoc Committee on Genocide in relation to the drafting of a convention on genocide, as requested by the General Assembly.

Conventions on Genocide
SOA 318 · Series · 1947-1950
Part of UNOG Registry First Period, 1946-1973

At its first session, second part, in 1946, the General Assembly called upon ECOSOC to undertake the necessary studies for drawing up a draft convention on the crime of genocide. The Council instructed the Secretary-General to prepare a preliminary draft with the assistance of experts in international and criminal law. To this end the Ad Hoc Committee on Genocide was formed to work together with the Division of Human Rights. In June 1947 the Secretary-General transmitted the text of the first draft convention to the General Assembly Committee on the Progressive Development of International Law and its Codification. The Committee requested that the Secretariat proceed with the gathering and evaluation of comments from governments. The final text of the draft convention was presented to the General Assembly in 1948. It was completed and ratified in December 1948, entering into force in 1951. It is the first multilateral human rights treaty adopted and opened for ratification or accession by the General Assembly.

SOA 317/1 · Series · 1946-1955
Part of UNOG Registry First Period, 1946-1973

The drafting of the covenants on human rights was undertaken in March 1947 by the Drafting Committee, a sub-organ of the Commission on Human Rights composed of eight members. Originally, the drafters intended to create one document covering all rights enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948. The initial discussions were based on a Secretariat outline prepared by the UN Division of Human Rights and on a British draft convention.

Very soon it became evident that it would be impossible to develop one system to implement both sets of rights - economic, social and cultural on one hand and political and civil on the other. These records cover this early period of drafting, where the interchange of correspondence between all concerned (the drafters, ECOSOC, the General Assembly, specialized agencies and some NGOs) shows the many divergent views.

The drafting process went on from the 1st through the 10th session of the Commission on Human Rights. In April 1954, the Commission transmitted to ECOSOC and thenceforth to the Third Committee of the General Assembly two draft covenants on human rights. It took the General Assembly 12 more years, until December 1966, to adopt the International Covenant on Economic and Social Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as the Optional Protocol. All three instruments entered into force in 1976.

Comments from Governments
SOA 317/1/01 (1) A · File · 1946.07-1948.03
Part of UNOG Registry First Period, 1946-1973

Records contain brief acknowledgements from governments having received communications regarding the work of the Committee on Human Rights. A memorandum by the Assistant Director of the Division of Human Rights summarizes the position of the British Government on the work of the Commission. Letter signed by Eleanor Roosevelt to the UN Secretary General Trygve Lie.

Human Rights (1st Series)
SOA · Sub-Fonds · 1946-1957
Part of UNOG Registry First Period, 1946-1973

The sub-fonds consist of the records of the Division of Human Rights covering the period 1946 to 1957. The collection documents the wide ranging work of the Division not only in the drafting of the International Covenants on Human Rights with the Commission on Human Rights, but also in servicing the Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, the Sub-Commission on Freedom of Information and the Ad Hoc Commission on Questions of Prisoners of War.

The collection includes voluminous correspondence with individuals, groups and governments regarding violations and complaints related to human rights. It was the task of the Division to respond to these communications and to compile a summary for the Commission on Human Rights and to governments concerned. The records document the Division's work on the repatriation of prisoners of World War II, in addition to addressing the plight of survivors, refugees and displaced persons. One especially interesting series of these records is the documentation concerning victims of Nazi so-called scientific experimentation, compiled in an effort to assist these individuals in receiving compensation from the German government.

UN NY Registry