§ Mr. Moonmanasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth
280Wcorresponding figures for the previous five years.
§ Mr. FernyhoughMid-year estimates of the numbers of employees in employment, analysed industrially, are available for males (i.e. men and boys together) but not separately for men. Following is the information for each June from 1962 to 1967. The figures for mid-1968 will be available within the next few weeks.
Affairs how many of the international conventions arising from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Her Majesty's Government have ratified and signed; and whether he will give consideration to ratification and signature of the remainder.
§ Mr. Goronwy RobertsThe United Kingdom is party to the following instruments included by the Secretary General of the United Nations in his annual memorandum entitled "Status of Multilateral Treaties in the Field of Human Rights concluded under the auspices of the United Nations":—
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.
Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.
Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons.
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
Convention on Political Rights of Women.
Convention on the Nationality of Married Women.
Protocol amending the Slavery Convention signed at Geneva on 25th September, 1926.
Slavery Convention of 25th September, 1926 as amended.
281WSupplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, Institutions and Practices similar to Slavery.
The United Kingdom has signed the following instruments:
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
It is the Government's aim to ratify the Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in due course, but extremely careful consideration will have to be given to this, as the Covenants embody very wide-ranging obligations.
As my right hon. Friend announced in the House on 13th February, the United Kingdom's Instrument of Ratification of the Racial Discrimination Convention will be deposited very shortly.
The United Kingdom has not signed, ratified, or acceded to the following instruments:
Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages.
Convention on the International Right of Correction.
Convention on the Suppression of Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others.
Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity.
Consideration will be given to signing the Optional Protocol to the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, when the Covenant itself is in force and experience has been gained of the working of the machinery to be established under it.
We shall accede to the Genocide Convention as soon as possible after the passage into law of the Genocide Bill.
We shall accede to the Convention on Consent to Marriage as soon as possible.
282WBefore doing so we have to ensure that the dependent territories are in a position to accept the obligations imposed by the Convention.
The Convention on the Right of Correction attempts to establish machinery whereby Governments can correct what they consider to be factually misleading or inaccurate news reports sent by correspondents. In the view of Her Majesty's Government, the Convention is couched in terms which would do more harm than good to the principle of freedom of information. Only eight countries have ratified or acceded to the Convention since it was opened for signature 15 years ago.
The Convention on the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons does not include, as an element of the offence of procuring, the intention of gain. The change in English law which the Convention would involve on this point would produce a situation that, in the view of Her Majesty's Government, would be either unworkable or subject to abuse.
The Statutory Limitations Convention contains a definition of war crimes and crimes against humanity which we are unable to accept. There is in any event no time limit in the United Kingdom on the initiation of proceedings concerning war crimes and crimes against humanity.—[Vol. 777, c. 1569.]