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good the deficiency (if any) of memory on some points of those of their colleagues who were members of the Temporary Commission, or to stress the importance which the Commission attached thereto. 74. The Committee therefore, supporting the proposal submitted to the League by the United Kingdom Government, considers that, in order to do its work thoroughly, the Commission should be a permanent body in the sense that its members should be appointed for an indefinite period, so that its composition should always remain virtually the same. It should consist of not more than seven members, to whom might be added a representative of the International Labour Organisation. The members would be chosen solely for their special knowledge of the subject, but would all be of different nationalities. As a general rule, the Commission would meet only every two years for a short session. Moreover, the Commission would cease to exist as soon as the results anticipated in the campaign against slavery had been, or were on the point of being, attained.
75. In considering the task to be assigned to such a permanent Commission and its methods of work, the present Committee has never lost sight of the objections which the proposal to establish it encountered in the debates in the Sixth Committee of the League Assembly. It has endeavoured to frame a system which would meet with the acceptance of all the Members of the League.
The Commission would be a purely advisory body.
It might be instructed in particular:
(a) To follow continuously the documentary material relating to slavery, whatever its source, including the annual reports of the Governments;
(b) To endeavour to supplement such material;
(c) To submit the material to critical examination;
(d) To study any institutions, or any facts, which may come within the definition of slavery or are analogous thereto;
(e) To establish a classification of such facts and institutions according to their nature and to examine their function in the structure of the society in which they exist;
To discuss the methods to be employed, either with a view to the total abolition or the transformation of the said institutions in such a way as to rid them of any features which cannot be tolerated, while still retaining them, thus modified, if they correspond to a need;
(g) Should a country in which slavery exists ask for financial assistance from the League for the solution of problems connected with the abolition of slavery, to examine the objects for which such financial assistance is requested, the minimum amount necessary and the guarantees offered, and to inform the Council on these points;
(4) If financial assistance is accorded for this purpose, either by the League or by private organisations, to follow the result of the work carried out with the aid of such financial assistance;
(1) To consider any amendments to the 1926 Convention that may become necessary. The Commission could forward a report to the League Council on the conclusion of each
session.
The very existence of this Commission would have the advantage--a substantial one in the present Committee's opinion --of keeping public interest in the slavery question awake, and more particularly of acting as a stimulus to States in which slavery exists to make every effort for its abolition, if only by degrees.
70. As regards methods, the permanent Commission would base itself on those proposed by the 1924 Temporary Slavery Commission, as set forth in the latter's report to the Council of July 12th, 1924, approved by the Council on August 29th, 1924, and by the Assembly on September 22nd of the same year.
(a) The Commission might consult organisations and persons in a position to give information concerning slavery in one country or another, on condition that they are designated, either spontaneously or at the Council's request, by the Governments of the States in whose territory the headquarters of such organisations are situated or such persons are domiciled as being able to give additional and trustworthy information on matters of fact and make sound comments upon them.
Such consultation would be carried out according to the methods indicated by the Governments in question.
(b) In the case of communications received from organisations or persons other than those indicated by the Governments, the Commission would leave it to a sub-committee of three of its members to decide whether such communications deserve consideration. The sub-committee would deal with the matter by correspondence. In the event of the sub-committee finding the communications worthy of consideration, the Commission would request the Council to ask the Government in whose territory the headquarters of the organisation or domicile of the persons giving information are established whether it considers the organisations or the persons competent and trustworthy.
(c) All communications received under the conditions defined in paragraph (a) above and those concerning the authors of which no unsatisfactory reply to the enquiry referred to in paragraph (b) has been received would, if the Commission considered that it should examine them, be transmitted to the Council, with a request that the latter forward them to the Government under whose administration the facts are alleged to have taken place or to exist.
(a) The Commission might, if it thinks fit, give an opportunity of being heard to an individual who, or the representative of an organisation which, has forwarded a communication in writing
and has been recognised as competent and trustworthy, in order to give any additional explanations which the Commission may desire.
(e) It is proposed that, in the reports submitted to the Council, the Commission should regard as established only those facts the existence of which is admitted by the Government of the territory where they are alleged to have taken place or to exist. In the case of facts not admitted by the Government, it is proposed that the Commission, if it sees fit to mention them, should submit them without expressing an opinion as to their truth, and append to its statement any denials or explanations concerning them.
77. To sum up, the purely advisory function to be entrusted to the Commission according to the foregoing proposal, the methods which it would be required to follow, the obligation to abstain from expressing an opinion as to the truth of facts not recognised by the Governments concerned and from adopting any other attitude to which a Government might take exception would seem to eliminate the objection that the Commission might encroach on the sovereignty or internal administration of States.
Furthermore, the foregoing proposals do not confer upon the proposed Commission such wide-reaching functions as those assigned to the 1924 Temporary Slavery Commission. As regards methods, they do not involve any departure from those approved by the Council and the Assembly for the Temporary Commission, except in the sense of further safeguarding the independence of States. Thus, for example, the Commission would only be able to communicate with Govern- ments though the Council, which would exercise the right to decide as to the action to be taken on these communications. The only exception to this rule would be such communications as the Council might authorise the Commission to send direct to Governments.
78. A further objection has been raised against the proposal to establish a permanent Commission-that of the cost involved.
The Committee is of opinion that the expenses entailed by the meetings of the permanent Commission itself, if it met every other year, would average about 5,000 Swiss francs a year. To these expenses must be added those involved by the setting-up and working of the Bureau whose duties are defined above.
79. The present Committee has not considered the form in which effect might be given to the proposal for the establishment of a Bureau and a permanent Commission. These are questions which do not come within its competence.
80. The last question which was submitted by the Council to the Committee is concerned with measures which might be taken to induce States that have not yet ratified the Convention to do so.
In this connection, the Commission found first that the countries which have not yet ratified the Convention of 1926, although they have signed it, are: Abyssinia, Albania, China, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Lithuania, Panama, Persia, and Uruguay,
Further it noted that a certain number of countries, although belonging to the League, have not yet signed the Convention or have not yet acceded to it. Notwithstanding the Committee's desire to comply with the Council's resolution of January 25th, 1932, the Com- mittee after carefully considering the question, is obliged to state that it sees no means other than that of reminding States during the meeting of the Assembly of the existence of that Convention and the importance of ratifying or acceding to it, if only for the purpose of giving their moral support to the campaign against slavery.
Appendix A.
LIST OF DOCUMENTS SUPPLIED OR TRANSMITTED BY GOVERNMENTS SINCE THE SIGNATURE OF THE 1926 SLAVERY CONVENTION.
C.210.M.83.1927.VI
A.37.1927.VI
A.37(a).1927.VI
A.37(6).1927.VI
A.24.1928. VI
A.24(a).1928. VI
Slavery Convention of September 25th, 1926.
Annual Report by the Council to the Assembly (1927).
Annual Report by the Council to the Assembly (1928).
C.L.64.1928. VI, with annex. Communication from the Government of Ecuador.
A. 17.1929.VI A.17(a),1929. VI A.17(6).1929. VI A.17(c).1929. VI A.13.1930. VI A.13(a).1930. VI A.13(6). 1930. VI A.13(c).1930. VI A.17.1930. VI A.17(a),1930, VI A.17(b).1930.VI
Annual Report by the Council to the Assembly (1929).
Annual Report by the Council to the Assembly (1930).
Report by the Secretary-General, submitted to the Assembly in
accordance with its Resolution of September 21st, 1929.
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