Book Review: United Nations and World Community
| Date | 01 March 1954 |
| Published date | 01 March 1954 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002070205400900118 |
| Author | C. R. Davy |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
66
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
Even
though
the
language
of
the
report
is
restrained,
one
finds
certain
striking
statements. In
its
conclusions
the
Ad
Hoc
Committee
says
that
it
found
"facts
relating
to
systems
of forced
labour of
so
grave
a
nature
that
they
seriously
threaten
funda-
mental
human
rights
and
jeopardize
the
freedom
and
status
of
workers
in
contravention
of
the
obligations
and provisions
of
the
Charter
of
the
United
Nations."
Of
the
Soviet
Union
it
says
that,
"persons
sentenced
to
deprivation
of
liberty
by
a
court
of
law
or
by
an
administrative
authority,
particularly
political
of-
fenders,
are
for
the
most
part
employed
in
corrective
labour
camps
or
colonies on
large
scale
projects,
on
the
development
of
mining
areas
or
previously
uncultivated
regions,
or
on
other
activities
of
benefit
to
the
community,
and
the
system
there-
fore
seems to
play
a
part
of
some
significance
in
the
national
economy."
(The
reviewer's
italics.)
Of
South Africa,
it
says:
"a system
of
forced
labour
of
significance
to
the
national
economy
appears to
exist
in
the
Union
of South
Africa."
The
report
deals
with
forced
labour
from
two
points
of
view,
political
and
economic.
It
exposes
systems of
forced
labour
employed
as
a means
of
political
coercion
in
Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia,
Roumania and
the
USSR
and
systems
of
forced
labour
of
appreciable
economic
importance
in,
Bulgaria,
Czecho-
slovakia,
Poland,
Portugal
(Island
of
San
Tome),
The
Union
of
South
Africa,
South
West Africa, and
the
USSR.
The Commit-
tee
finds
other
evidence,
though
less
conclusive,
of
forced
labour
in
several
other
countries
and
dependent
territories.
It
criticizes
certain
democratic
countries
for
laws
and
practices
which
might
lead
to
abuse
or
even
to
systems
of
forced
labour.
In
conclusion
it
may
be
said
that
the
report
is
the
most
important
single
contribution
on
the
question
of
forced
labour,
which
has
been
issued
to date.
One would
hope
that
it
will
assist
in
awakening
world
public opinion
to
the
dangers
of
what
must
rank
as
one
of
the
most
evil
systems
of
oppression
known
to modern man.
Toronto
MARTIN
LEVINSON
UNITED
NATIONS
AND
WORLD
COMMUNITY.
By
A.
H.
Feller.
1952.
(Boston:
Little,
Brown
and
Company.
vi,
153pp.
$2.75)
The
author
of
this
little
book
was
the
General
Counsel
from
1946
and
later
Acting
Assistant
Secretary
General
for
Legal
Affairs
of
the
United Nations
until
his
tragic
death
on
November
13,
1952.
His
major
preoccupation
with
the
legal side
of
the
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