The Prohibition of Propaganda for War in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
| Author | Michael Kearney |
| Published date | 01 December 2005 |
| Date | 01 December 2005 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/016934410502300402 |
| Subject Matter | Part A: Article |
THE PROHIBITION OF PROPAGANDA FOR WAR
IN THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON
CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS
MICHAEL KEARNEY*
Abstract
The prohibition of propaganda for war as set forth in Article 20(1) of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights represents a key provision of international law, albeit
one which has been grossly neglected, both by States parties and legal commentators, since its
adoption by the General Assembly in 1966. The object of this article is to direct attention towards
a provision which has the potential to play a major role in the prevention of war. Drawing on
the travaux pre
´paratoires of both Articles 19 and 20 of the Covenant, the reservations and
declarations entered with regard to Article 20(1), the pertinent General Comments of the
Human Rights Committee and the periodic reports submitted by States parties to the Committee,
the article seeks to clarify the meaning of the provision and to dispel assumptions that either it is
an unwarranted restriction on the right to freedom of expression or both legally and politically
untenable.
1. INTRODUCTION
Although history has recorded the use of propaganda from earliest times, the 1789
French Revolution and its repercussions may be taken as representing: ‘the
beginning of world consciousness of international propaganda’.
1
Modern propa-
ganda for war can be traced to the First World War where the widespread use of
radio and the press for the dissemination of propaganda resulted from the
realisation that modern warfare required the mobilisation of the totality of the
economic and industrial life of the nation. The greater sacrifices thus asked of the
civilian population meant that the morale of the nation at war was of vital
importance, hence: ‘the attention given by all belligerents to the importance of
propaganda, for if armies are mobilized by orders, it is not too much to say that
civilians are mobilized by propaganda’.
2
The League of Nations sought to regulate
such propaganda and sponsored an intergovernmental conference which led to the
PART A: ARTICLES
Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, Vol. 23/4, 551-570, 2005.
#Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM), Printed in the Netherlands. 551
* Ph.D. Candidate, Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway, BCL
(University College Cork), L.L.M. (NUI, Galway). The author wishes to acknowledge the funding
received from the Irish Research Council for The Humanities and Social Sciences in the form of a
research scholarship.
1
Martin, L. John, International Propaganda: Its Legal and Diplomatic Control, University of Minnesota
Press, Minneapolis, 1958, p. 6.
2
Whitton, John B. and Larson, Arthur, Propaganda: Towards Disarmament in the War of Words, Oceana
Publications, Dobbs Ferry, 1964, p. 31.
552
Convention Concerning the Use of Broadcasting in the Cause of Peace, 1936.
3
Whilst this Convention was ratified by few States and never applied, it was
nevertheless: ‘a model, a kind of authoritative code of good conduct (...) Hence its
historical significance and moral influence should not be underestimated.’
4
Following the Second World War, the General Assembly of the United Nations
was to revisit the issue passing several resolutions both condemning propaganda for
war
5
and asserting the right to freedom of information.
6
These resolutions were to
set the basis for the discussions which led the Third Committee of the General
Assembly to adopt Article 20 of the ICCPR which states that:
1. Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law.
2. Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement
to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.
This article shall focus on the meaning of Article 20(1). Section 2 shall examine the
drafting history of the provision, which was discussed both under the rubric of
Article 19 on the right to freedom of opinion, expression and information and
Article 20 which was initially concerned solely with the prohibition of advocacy of
hatred. Section 3 examines the reservations and declarations entered by States
parties to the ICCPR with regard to Article 20(1). Section 4 analyses the General
Comments of the Human Rights Committee (HRC) which address the meaning and
scope of the provision, whilst section 5 shall examine States Reports to the HRC in
order to shed light on the manner in which States have interpreted their obligations
under Article 20(1).
2. THE DRAFTING HISTORY OF ARTICLE 20(1)
Perhaps the most significant conclusion which may be drawn from a study of the
travaux to Article 20(1), is that there was widespread, if not universal, acceptance of
the principle that propaganda for war was contrary to the aims and goals of the UN
as set forth in the Charter and the Declaration. Rather than set forth a subjective
right, the provisions of Article 20 limit the right to freedom of expression as
enumerated in Article 19. That the right to freedom of expression as set forth in the
ICCPR should contain a reference to propaganda for war was first proposed by Dr
Malik, the UN Rapporteur on Freedom of Information, in 1947.
7
He suggested that
when the draft texts on the right to freedom of expression were referred by the
Working Group on Human Rights to the Sub-Commission on Freedom of
Michael Kearney
3
Convention Concerning the Use of Broadcasting in the Cause of Peace, Registered No. 4319. See
League of Nations, Treaty Series, Vol. 186, p. 301; Vol. 197, p. 394; and Vol. 200, p. 557; 17 League of
Nations O. J. 1438 (1936).
4
Whitton, John B., ‘Aggressive Propaganda’, in: Bassiouni, M. Cherif and Nanda, Ved P. (eds),
International Criminal Law: Vol. I, Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, 1973, pp. 238-272, at p. 262.
5
‘Measures to be taken against propaganda and the inciters of a new war’, GA Res. 110(II),
3 November 1947; ‘Condemnation of propaganda against peace’, GA Res. 381(V), 17 November
1950.
6
‘Strengthening of peace through the removal of barriers to free exchange of information and
ideas’, GA Res. 819(IX), 11 December 1954.
7
Commission on Human Rights, 2
nd
Session, Working Group on Convention on Human Rights,
9 December 1947, Geneva, UN Doc. E/CN.4/AC.3/SR.6, pp. 5-6.
To continue reading
Request your trial