– in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 15 June 1964.
Mr Barnett Janner
, Leicester North West
12:00,
15 June 1964
asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many countries have now acceded to or ratified the Genocide Convention of the United Nations.
Mr Peter Thomas
, Conway
Of the 43 States which originally signed the Genocide Convention, 38 have since ratified it. There have also been 30 accessions to the Convention.
Mr Barnett Janner
, Leicester North West
Can the right hon Gentleman let the House know why, at this stage, Her Majesty's Government are not prepared to reconsider their decision not to accede to this Convention? Is he aware that in the Dering case, and in numerous cases taking place in Germany at present, acts of indescribable horror have been shown to have been perpetrated by Nazis? Is he also aware that the Convention itself provides that a person or persons who incite to acts of genocide or who are accessories before the fact, can be charged, but that our present Laws make no adequate provision to cope with that situation at all? What does the right hon. Gentleman intend to do about it? Will he now accede to the Convention?
Mr Peter Thomas
, Conway
As the hon. Gentleman knows, we went into this in great detail in an Adjournment Debate in which I took part with him on 23rd July last. As I told him then, we accept the spirit of the Convention wholeheartedly and support its objectives. We have considered the matter further since then, and I am afraid that we are still not convinced that we should reconsider our decision not to accede.
Mr Barnett Janner
, Leicester North West
Will the right hon Gentleman agree to look at the matter again? Does not he realise that in our own country some people are advocating the commission, either directly or indirectly, of acts of genocide and that the courts themselves apparently cannot deal with the matter? Will he see to it that this Convention is accepted?
Mr Peter Thomas
, Conway
I accept the strength of the arguments which the hon. Gentleman has frequently deployed on this, and I certainly accept the strength of his feelings, but, as he knows, the difficulty arises on Article 7 of the Convention. There are real difficulties, as I explained to him in the Adjournment Debate.
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