REPORTS OF THE COMMISSIONS



Art. 13.
  Article 13 as amended by the addition of a new para. 4, proposed by
the Australian Delegation (See C.P. (GEN.) Doc.L.BA), and identical
with the U.S. proposal contained in the Draft Peace Treaty with Italy
as U.S. proposal, was adopted by the Commission by 12 votes to 2 with
6 abstentions. With a slight drafting alteration, it reads as follows:
  "The State to which the territory is transferred shall secure to all
persons within the territory, without distinction as to race, sex, lan-
guage or religion, the enjoyment of human rights and of the funda-
mental freedoms including freedom of expression, of press and publi-
cation, of religious worship, of opinion and public meeting."
  According to the resolution issued by the General Secretariat (C.P.
(SEC) N.S.131), the two following reports, putting the respecting
[respective] points of view of the majority and of the minority, are
submitted to the Conference.
  a. Majority report by the United States Delegation.
  In putting forward the majority point of view, the United States
and also the Australian Delegation, "drew attention to the fact that
the Australian amendment, which is identical with that of the United
States, was accepted in the Commission on September 23, by 14 votes
to 6, i.e., a two-thirds majority. When the article, as amended was
adopted by the Commission, it received 12 votes to 2, with 6 abstentions.
Amongst the delegations abstaining were those who had voted against
the United States proposal, together with Brazil and Greece, whose
amendments to those articles had been rejected by the Commission.
The abstention of the Brazilian and Greek Delegations was not be-
cause of disagreement with the American proposal, but because the
article did not reflect their own amendments.
  However, in support of the proposal for a new paragraph to Article
13 (which it must be remembered received an affirmative two-thirds
vote, of the Commission), the United States delegation states that it is
designed to secure for persons in ceded Italian territories equal treat-
ment and the enjoyment of human rights and the fundamental free-
doms. The new paragraph 4 to Article 13 is not restricted to any one
country but applies to all countries receiving Italian territory. People
who live in territory which passes from one sovereignty to another are
entitled to the enjoyment of the fundamental freedoms and human
rights and it appears obvious that the receiving sovereign State should
guarantee these rights and freedoms to the new citizens whom they
acquire in the same measures as to their own citizens. All the peace
treaties should guarantee, fortify and strengthen the rights of human
beings, and thus, while the United States proposal is a simple one, it is
fundamental in character. All nations represented at the Paris Con-
ference are signatories of the Charter of the United Nations, which
also reflects the vital principles of human rights and freedom. The
transfer of sovereignty over territory, material goods, reparations or
battleships cannot be compared with the transfer of human beings
which may affect their personal rights and privileges and it is in this
spirit that the American Delegation urged and obtained the adoption



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