The Berlin Wall: a defiance of human rights

Europe and Central Asia
Issue:
Document Type: Thematic Report
Date: 1962

As a non-political organization, the ICJ is dedicated to the support and advancement of those principles of justice which constitute the basis of the Rule of Law. Respect for fundamental human rights is one such principle.

The Report submitted herewith is therefore concerned  with the human rights aspect of the Berlin problem and mentions political events merely to provide historical background.

The material on which this Report is based has been gathered from many sources published in the German Democratic Republic: from its legislation, from its court decisions, from the pronouncements of its leaders and from the comments of its newspapers. The plight of the population of East Berlin is here reflected with the same intensity as would have been found if evidence had been taken from the thousands of refugees. Not always has it been reasoned political judgment that drove them away, nor were they in the majority moved solely by economic considerations. But the one feeling they had in common was the apprehension of being unable to determine freely the course of their lives and of those of their children, of being brutally separated from their families, of being gradually deprived of their German and European cultural heritage.

An intimidated and fearful community has now been hermetically sealed from its contacts with the outside world and from its last chance of reaching freedom. The violation of human rights that has thus been committed is here brought to the attention of the world legal community.”

Germany-Berlin Wall-thematic report-1962-eng (full text in English, PDF)

Germany-Berlin Wall-thematic report-1962-fra (full text in French, PDF)

Germany-Berlin Wall-thematic report-1962-spa (full text in Spanish, PDF)

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