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Catalogue
Human Rights Division
S-0918 · Series · 1932 - 1962
Part of Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) (1955-present)

The Human Rights Division of the Department of Social Affairs consisted of an office of the Director, five Sections, and a secretariat. The five Sections were concerned with: (I) the work of the Commission on Human Rights; (II) freedom of information, forced labour, freedom of association, and the plight of survivors of concentration camps; (III) the work of the Commission on the Status of Women; (IV) prevention of discrimination, protection of minorities, abolition of slavery, and problems of statelessness; and (V) the work of the Ad Hoc Commission on Prisoners of War. The Human Rights Division gathered material relevant to these subjects and issues, undertook research, and supported the work of associated Commissions. Records of the Human Rights Division originate from Sections I, II, III, and V and span from 1932 to 1960. There are no records for Section IV.

Records for Section I pertain to the International Bill of Rights Project of the American Law Institute and the “Universal Declarations of Human Rights,” a group of unpublished studies by Dr. Luis Recasens-Siches.

Section II records relate to the Ad Hoc Committee on Forced Labour. They include memoranda between members of the Committee and the Division about hearings held by the Committee from 1951 to 1953. The files also contain reports and testimony about the existence of forced labour camps from non-profit organizations and individuals such as the American human rights activist Stetson Kennedy. The reports and testimony were submitted to the Committee by the United States Mission, the Chinese Delegation, and the International Commission Against Concentration Camp Practices.

Records from Section III detail the Section’s work for the Commission on the Status of Women. The records include: reports, working papers, and meeting agenda generated by the Commission; International Labour Organization (ILO) reports on the post-World War II employment of women; and correspondence between Section staff and representatives of Member States, the ILO, and NGOs. The correspondence largely pertains to the General Assembly resolution of 11 December 1946 [A/RES/56(I)] on the political rights of women, the inclusion of gender in the non-discrimination clause of an ILO draft convention, and a questionnaire sent to Member States on the legal status and treatment of women within the respective states.

There are also chronological files, which include: weekly reports prepared by the Chief of the Section and sent to the Director of the Division; Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) resolutions; and correspondence between the Chief of the Section, the Director of the Division, and other Division staff. The correspondence relates to: radio broadcasts produced by the Section featuring remarks by notable women such as Eleanor Roosevelt; a married woman’s right to a nationality; aid for survivors of Holocaust “experiments”; the right to equal pay for equal work; prostitution; and other subjects.

Section V records consist of bound and unbound lists of prisoners of war which were submitted by Member States to the Ad Hoc Commission on Prisoners of War. The lists identify foreign prisoners detained within the borders of Member States, as well as nationals detained in other countries. Some of the lists group the names into categories such as war criminals, deceased, escaped, and repatriated. The lists often contain personal information, for example, cause of death, next of kin, birth date, and army rank. Some of the lists include accompanying documentation, such as: officially certified declarations of absence for German prisoners; postcards sent by German prisoners later declared missing; petitions from an organization of relatives of Japanese prisoners; letters to family members from Japanese detainees in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR); maps depicting locations of Japanese repatriates in China; and photographs, testimony, and correspondence relating to Italian soldiers held in the USSR.

S-0918 also includes records of Ezekiel Gordon, a senior officer in the Human Rights Division of the Department of Social Affairs (DSA) and the Division of Human Rights of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) from 1947 to 1962. Prior to joining the United Nations, Gordon served in the French Army in World War I and was a member of the Palestine bar. The bulk of Gordon’s records date from 1945 to 1949 and include reports on the protection of minorities, statelessness, and human rights. The records also contain Gordon’s subject files, which include reports on genocide and Gordon’s research material on the topic of slavery.

S-0544 · Series · 1933 - 1954
Part of Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) (1955-present)

Series is comprised of the filing system numbered files of the Assistant Secretary-General relating to Culture-Education-Science matters, to the Economic and Social Council, to matters of development in health, to human rights and the Human Rights Commission, to narcotics (and the work of the Division of Narcotic Drugs), to non-governmental organizations, to the work of the Population Division, to refugee issues, to the work of the Temporary Social Commission (including the protection of youth), and includes studies on related matters. The predominant dates are 1946-1947 (with records dated in the 1930s related to health work within the League of Nations). Arranged in classification system order.

Related records: This series is followed by S-0917.

S-0979 · Series · 1939 - 1948
Part of Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) (1955-present)

Series consists of administrative files of the Division and the files of the Fiscal Commission. The latter include interaction with non-governmental organizations and special economic missions. Arranged in the following order: administrative files of the Division, Fiscal Commission files, followed by the Director's correspondence and ephemera.

S-0969 · Series · 1946 - 1949
Part of Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) (1955-present)

Series consists of records of the Division of Economic Stability and Development. Included are the Economic and Employment Commission records, records of divisional sections (the Economic Development Section and the Technical Assistance Section), and a substantial volume of the official documents of the United Nations Scientific Conference on the Conservation and Utilization of Resources (UNSCCUR), as well as research papers submitted to UNSCCUR. The functions documented here were subsequently absorbed by the Regional Commissions Section situated within the Office of the Assistant Secretary-General (see series S-0543 and S-0932). Arranged in the order cited above.

Related records: S-0543 and S-0932.

S-0932 · Series · 1946 - 1955
Part of Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) (1955-present)

Series is a continuation of S-0543, here the records created by the Regional Commissions Section within the Office of the Assistant Secretary-General. Included is the continuation from S-0543 of the European Unit (which includes country files and conference files), as well as the Far Eastern Unit (files relating to the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East, ECAFE), and files relating to the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA). Arranged in the order cited above.

Related records: Series S-0543 is part of the same series.

S-0604 · Series · 1960 - 1962
Part of Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) (1955-present)

Series consists of cables which were originally with the Executive Office of the Secretary-General, but were created by Sture Linner in his initial capacity as Chief of the United Nations Civilian Operations, then as of 25 May 1961, as Officer-in-Charge ONUC. Arranged chronologically.

S-0543 · Series · 1939 - 1954
Part of Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) (1955-present)

Series consists of the records of the Office of the Assistant Secretary-General, including those of ASG David Owen (1946-1950), and his assistants. Also included are the records of the Regional Commissions Section (see S-0932 for the remaining records of this Section). Arranged in the order cited above.

Related records: Series S-0932 is part of the same series.