Page 20 - Report on the National Lawyers Guild, legal bulwark of the Communist Party

14 THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD
The following national sections were represented in the congress by their delegations: Albania, Argentina, Austria, French Black Africa, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Hungary, Italy, Iraq, Iran, Luxemburg, Poland, Rumania, Republican Spain, Soviet Union, Switzerland, Syria,Tunisia,andtheU.S.A. Thethemeofthefourthcongress was "law in the service of peace," in line with the current "peace offensive" of the international Communist apparatus.
The following were among the resolutions which were adopted:
(1) The Resolution on the Necessity of Respect for International
Agreements expressed the view that lawyers have the duty to condemn actions which violate international engagements and especially when their own governments are involved. The resolution offered no criticism of Soviet policy but insisted that the North Atlantic Pact, which is supported by the United States, is irreconcilable with the Charter of the United Nations.
(2) Resolution asserting that the prosecution of the leaders of the Communist Party in the U. S. A. is in violation of articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations. An appeal along this line was then made to UN Secretary General Trygve Lie.
(3) Resolutionprotestingstronglytheprisonsentencesforcontempt meted out to the attorneys for the Communist leaders in the United States.
(4) ClearlyintendedasameasureofsupportforCommunistinsur- rections in colonial areas, the Resolution on Dependent Countries declared that the actual independence of these countries can only be achieved by national liberation struggle in alliance with the people of the exploiting country and the progressives of all countries. In Com- munist jargon aU efforts to subvert democratic countries are referred to as "liberation struggles." Russia is always the liberator while the U. S. A. is considered the exploiter. The resolution intended to en- courage rebellion in the home country is support of Communist up- risings. The meeting also created a permanent Commission on the Colonial, Semicolonial, and Dependent Countries.
Commenting on the afore-mentioned convention, The Guild Lawyer
of Autumn 1949 stated that the convention "marked a significant
change in the strength and influence of the progressive lawyers of the world."
Reflecting the current line of Moscow and the Cominform in its dispute with Marshal Tito, the Association of Democratic Lawyers voted to expel the Yugoslavian delegates. This proposal was sup-
ported by Robert J. Silberstein, American delegate.
The proceedings of the Association of Democratic Lawyers were
considered of sufficient importance to warrant a report by Soviet Delegate Kirgin in May 1949 before the Soviet Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, the Soviet equivalent of the Nazis League for Germandom in Foreign Countries. This was made the subject of a Moscow broadcast on May 11, 1949. In conformance with the current Soviet "peace offensive," Kirgin urged democratic lawyers to intensify their fight against war propaganda. He stated that upon the Soviet delegate's initiative, a resolution was passed by theAODLtoidentifywarcriminalsandpublishtheirnames. The
organization has not as yet published the names of those responsible for the assault upon the peaceful South Korean Republic.