MESSAGE FROM
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES
TRANSMITTING
A
Certified copy of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
the Crime
of Genocide, Adopted unanimously by the General Assembly of the United
Nations
in Paris on December 9, 1948, and Signed on Behalf of the United States
on
December 11, 1948.
[Ratified by the U.S. Senate on November 4, 1989.]
June 16, 1949: --Convention was read the first time and
the injunction of secrecy was removed therefrom. The
convention, the President's message of transmittal, and the
report by the Acting-Secretary of State were referred to the Committee
on
Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed for the use of the Senate.
The White House, June
16, 1949.
To
the Senate of
the United States:
With a view to receiving the advice
and consent of the Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith a
certified copy
of the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of
genocide,
adopted unanimously by the General Assembly of the United Nations in
Paris on
December 9, 1948, and signed on behalf of the United States on December
11,
1948.
The character of the convention is
explained in the enclosed report of the Acting Secretary of State. I endorse the recommendations of the Acting
Secretary of State in his report and urge that the Senate advise and
consent to
my ratification of this convention.
In my letter of February 5, 1947,
transmitting to the Congress my first annual report on the activities
of the
United Nations and the participation of the United States therein, I
pointed
out that one of the most important achievements of the General Assembly
has
been the agreement of the members of the United Nations that genocide
constitutes
a crime under international law. I also
emphasized that America has long been a symbol of freedom and
democratic
progress for peoples less favored than we have been, and that we must
maintain
their belief in us by our policies and our acts.
In view of the leading part the
United States has taken in the United Nations in producing an effective
international legal instrument outlawing the world-shocking crime of
genocide,
we have established to give the world our firm and clear policy toward
that
crime. By giving its advice and consent
to my ratification of this convention, which I urge, the Senate of the
United
States will demonstrate that the United States is prepared to take
effective action
on its part to contribute to the establishment of principles of law and
justice.
Harry S.
Truman
Convention
on the Prevention and Punishment
of the Crime of Genocide
The
Contracting Parties,
Having
considered the declaration made by the General Assembly of the United
Nations
in its resolution 26 (f) dated 11 December 1946 that genocide is a
crime under
International law, contrary to the spirit and aims of the United
Nations and
condemned by the civilized world;
Recognizing
that at all periods of history genocide has inflicted great losses on
humanity;
and
Being
convinced that, in order to liberate mankind from such an odious
scourge,
international co-operation is required,
Hereby
agree as hereinafter provided:
The
Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of
peace
or in time of war, is a crime under International law which they
undertake to
prevent and to punish.
In the
present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed
with
intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial,
or
religious group, as such:
(a)
Killing members of the group;
(b)
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting
on the group conditions
of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or
in part;
(d)
Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e)
Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
The
following acts shall be punishable:
(a) Genocide;
(b)
Conspiracy to commit genocide;
(c)
Direct and public incitement to commit genocide;
(d)
Attempt to commit genocide;
(e)
Complicity in genocide.
Persons
committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III
shall be
punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public
officials or private individuals.
The
Contracting Parties undertake to enact, in accordance with their
respective
Constitutions, the necessary legislation to give effect to the
provisions of
the present Convention and, in particular, to provide effective
penalties for
persons guilty of genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in
article III.
Persons
charged with genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article
III shall
be tried by a competent tribunal of the State in the territory in which
the act
was committed, or by such international penal tribunal as may have
jurisdiction
with respect to those Contracting Parties which shall have accepted its
jurisdiction.
Genocide
and the other acts enumerated in article III shall not be considered as
political crimes for the purpose of extradition.
The
Contracting Parties pledge themselves in such cases to grant
extradition in
accordance with their laws and treaties in force.
Any
Contracting Party may call upon the competent organs of the United
Nations to
take such action under the Charter of the United Nations as they
consider
appropriate for the prevention and suppression of acts of genocide or
any of
the other acts enumerated in article III.
Disputes
between the Contracting Parties relating to the interpretation,
application or
fulfillment of the present Convention, including those relating to the
responsibility of a State for genocide or for any of the other acts
enumerated
in article III, shall be submitted to the International court of
Justice at the
request of any of the parties to the dispute.
The
present Convention, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and
Spanish
texts are equally authentic, shall bear the date of 9 December 1948.
The
present Convention shall be open until 31 December 1949 for signature
on behalf
of any Member of the United Nations and of any non-member State to
which an
invitation to sign has been addressed by the General Assembly.
The
present Convention shall be ratified, and the instruments of
ratification shall
be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
After 1
January 1950 the present Convention may be acceded to on behalf of any
Member
of the United Nations and of any non-member State which has received an
invitation as aforesaid.
Instruments
of accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the
United
Nations.
Any
Contracting Party may at any time, by notification addressed to the
Secretary-General of the United Nations, extend the application of the
present
Convention to all or any territories for the conduct of whose relations
that
Contracting Party is responsible.
On the
day when the first twenty instruments of ratification or accession have
been
deposited, the Secretary-General shall draw up a procès-verbal
and
transmit a copy thereof to each Member of the United Nations and to
each of the
non-member States contemplated in article XI.
The
present Convention shall come into force on the ninetieth day following
the
date of deposit of the twentieth instrument of ratification or
accession.
Any ratification
or accession effected subsequent to the latter date shall become
effective on
the ninetieth day following the deposit of the instrument of
ratification or
accession.
The
present Convention shall remain in effect for a period of ten years
from the
date of its coming into force.
It shall
thereafter remain in force for successive periods of five years for
such
Contracting Parties as have not denounced it at least six months before
the
expiration of the current period.
Denunciation
shall be effected by a written notification addressed to the
Secretary-General
of the United Nations.
If, as a
result of denunciations, the number of Parties to the present
Convention should
become less than sixteen, the Convention shall cease to be in force as
from the
date on which the last of these denunciations shall become effective.
A
request for the revision of the present Convention may be made at any
time by
any Contracting Party by means of a notification in writing addressed
to the
Secretary-General.
The
General Assembly shall decide upon the steps, if any, to be taken in
respect of
such request.
The
Secretary-General of the United Nations shall notify all Members of the
United
Nations and the non-member States contemplated in article XI of the
following:
(a)
Signatures, ratifications and accessions received in accordance with
article
XI.
(b)
Notifications received in accordance with article XII;
(c)
The date upon which the present Convention comes into force in
accordance with
Article XII;
(d)
Denunciations received in accordance with article XIV;
(e)
The abrogation of the Convention in accordance with article XV;
(f)
Notifications received in accordance with article XVI.
The
original of the present Convention shall be deposited in the archives
of the
United Nations.
A
certified copy of the Convention shall be transmitted to each Member of
the
United Nations and to each of the non-member States contemplated in
article XI.
The
present Convention shall be registered by the Secretary-General of the
United
Nations on the date of its coming into force.
For Afghanistan:
For Argentina:
For Australia:
Herbert Evatt
December 11,
1948
For the Kingdom of Belgium:
For Bolivia:
Adolfo Costa du Rels
11 Dec. 1948
For Brazil:
Joao Carlos Muniz
11 December 1948
For the
Union of Burma:
For the
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic:
For
Canada:
For
Chile:
Con
la reserva que require tambien la aprobacion del Congreso de mi pais.
H. Aranciba Lazo
For
China:
For
Columbia:
For
Costa Rica:
For
Cuba:
For
Czechoslovakia:
For
Denmark:
For the
Dominican Republic:
J.E. Balaguer
11 Dec 1948
For
Ecuador:
Homero Viteri Lafronte 11
Diciembre de 1948
For
Egypt:
Armed Moh. Khachaba 12-12-48
For El
Salvador:
For
Ethiopia:
Aklilou
11
December 1948
For
France:
Robert Shumman
11 Dec 1948
For
Greece:
For
Guatemala:
For
Haiti:
Castel Demesmin
Le 11 Deciembre
1948
For
Honduras:
For
Iceland:
For
India:
For
Iran:
For
Iraq:
For
Lebanon:
For
Liberia:
Henry Cooper
11/12/48
For the
Grand Duchy of Luxembourg:
For
Mexico:
Luis Padilla Nervo
Dec. 14, 1948
For the
Kingdom of the Netherlands:
For New
Zealand:
For the
Kingdom of Norway:
Finn Moe
Le 11
Decembere 1948
For
Pakistan:
Zafrulla Khan
Dec. 11, '48
For
Paraguay:
Carlos A. Vasconsellos
Diciembre 11, 1948
For
Peru:
F. Berckemeyer
Diciembere 11/1948
For the
Philippine Republic:
Carlos P. Romulo
December 11,
1948
For
Poland:
For
Saudi Arabia:
For
Siam:
For
Sweden:
For
Syria:
For
Turkey:
For the
Ukranian Soviet Socialist Republic:
For the
Union of South Africa:
For the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics:
For the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland:
For the
United States of America:
Ernest A. Gross
Dec. 11, 1948
For
Uruguay:
Enrique C. Armond Ugon
December 11 de 1948
For
Venezuela:
For
Yemen:
For
Yugoslavia:
Ales Bebler
11 Dec. 1948
Certified
true copy.
For the Secretary-General:
Kerno
Assistant
Secretary-General in
charge of the Legal Department
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