Three Fundamental Freedoms

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVII, Issue 15059, 20 August 1949, Page 3

Three Fundamental Freedoms

Council Of Europe To Safeguard

Discussion Of Necessary

Measures

(Rec. 8.35 a.m.) Lcndon, Aug. 19. The Assembly of the Council of Europe has today been considering what measures should be taken to see that fundamental human rights and freedoms are respected such -rights as freedom of speech, freedom from arbitrary arrest, and freedom of religicn. A Strasburg special correspondent says it is clear that the Assembly

felt deeply on this subject. Some of the delegates, he said, spoke from grim personal experience of Nazi terrorism during the war. There was no disagreement whatever about the importance of the problem, though there were certain differences of approach to the question of how respect for human rights could be enforced. A British delegate said that he would not accept the view that human rights could not be defined precisely enough to make them jcgally enforceable. He added that experience in international tribunals led him to believe that the task of enforcement would not be unsurmountable. At one point M. Spaak had to intervene when there was an exchange of words on the partition of Ireland. This was between one of the delegates from Eire and the Northern Irish member of the British delegation.