CO537-5116 — Page 31

25102/2(3)/49

From the Secretary of State for the Colonies

To the Officer Administering the Government of

COLONIAL

OFFIC

CIRCULAR TELEGRAM SAVING

67

CONFIDENTIAL.

3rd November, 1949.

My Confidential Circular Savingram of the

Freedom of Information.

27th September.

Draft Convention on Freedom of Information

A resolution by the Third Committee

sponsored by the United Kingdom, the United States and the Netherlands and recommending:-

(1) The inclusion of provisions on Freedom

of Information in the Covenant on Human Rights and

(2) postponing further action on the

Convention to the Fifth Session of the General Assembly and pending the receipt of either the Covenant or a progress report thereon,

has now been adopted in Plenary Session.

2.

Convention on the International Transmission

of News and the Right of Correction

A United Kingdom proposal, made in

conjunction with the United States and the

Netherlands, that the Convention on the International Transmission of News and the Right of Correction should now be open for signature was defeated in the Third Committee. Since it was originally decided by the General Assembly that this Convention should not be open for signature until the General Assembly had adopted an International Convention on Freedom of Information, the International Transmission of News Convention will now not be open for signature until October 1950 at the earliest.

3.

Access for News Personnel to Meetings of

United Nations and Specialised Agencies.

The following are the operative clauses of a General Assembly Resolution on the subject of Access for News Personnel to meetings of the United Nations and Specialised Agencies.

(The