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Considering that the prominent position attained by the American republics and the special social conditions of the Western Hemisphere have been demonstrated at the labour conferences of the American States which were held in 1936 and 1939, at Santiago de Chile and Havana respectively, and which had far-reaching results ; Considering that the nations of Latin America constitute the great majority of the States of America and number twenty independent Republics, of which thirteen are Members of the International Labour Organization ; Considering that the ethnical unity, historic traditions and ideals characteristic of the peoples of Latin America demonstrate the existence of an authentic culture, the value of which is all the greater in as much as it extends over the whole of the South American continent and Central America ; Considering that the social development of Latin America springs from the Iberian civilization, which is both Spanish and Portuguese and is two-fold in its nature, and still maintains this diversity, which so far from being a cause of division, rather serves to bind them more closely together for the preservation of the characteristics they derive from a common historic source ; Considering that the Spanish and Portuguese languages spoken by the nations of Latin America are also the languages of the countries of the Iberian Peninsula, of the peoples of a large part of the continent of Africa, and of various regions of Asia ; Considering also that the Spanish and Portuguese languages are regional transformations and progressive adaptations of Latin and at the same time modern, living languages, with a classical etymology, which can be readily understood and acquired ; Considering that the original root and the manner of development of the Portuguese and Spanish idioms, which development has taken place in geopolitical conditions presenting substantial similarities, have rendered impossible wide divergences between the two tongues, so that to-day the peoples who speak them can readily understand one another ; Considering that the Havana Conference of 1939, in resolution XXV, expressed itself unanimously in favour of the publication of legal decisions by the International Labour Organization in Spanish and Portuguese ; Considering finally that the use of the Spanish language has become an established practice of the International Labour Organization and that Portuguese has been used for several official publications of the Organization ; The Conference requests the Governing Body to consider the possibility of making Spanish and Portuguese official languages of the International Labour Organization and to submit to the next general session of the Conference any necessary amendments of the Standing Orders of the Conference and of its, committees. XXIII Resolution concerning Atrocities in the Occupied Countries or Europe Whereas the Declaration concerning the aims and purposes of the International Labour Organization, adopted by the Twenty-sixth Session of the International Labour Conference, includes the reaffirmation of the following fundamental principle on which the Organization is based— " That all human beings irrespective of race, creed or sex have the right to pursue both their material well-being and their spiritual development under conditions of freedom and dignity " ; Whereas Nazi Germany and its satellites are continuing the criminal persecution of all Axisoccupied countries, aiming particularly at annihilation of the Jews of Europe ; Whereas especially in occupied Poland mass murder of populations is being committed on a scale hitherto unknown in modern history ; The International Labour Conference adopts the following resolution : — The General Conference of the International Labour Organization, convened in its Twenty-sixth Session at Philadelphia, on 12 May 1944, 1. Protests against Nazi crimes which violate the fundamental principles of humanity and of international law ; 2. Welcomes the statement on atrocities signed by President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Premier Stalin, announced on 1 November 1943, following the Three-Power Conference in Moscow, and the Joint Declaration against extermination of the Jewish people announced on 17 December 1942, in London, Moscow and Washington by the Governments of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Yugoslavia, and the French National Committee ; and expresses its firm conviction that all guilty of such crimes must be tried and punished ; 3. Requests that the United Nations take immediately all possible steps to stop mass slaughter of the population of the occupied countries of Europe ; 4. Expresses its deepest sympathy for all victims of Nazi terror and its great admiration for the underground fighters of all occupied countries, including the defenders of the Ghettos of Warsaw and other cities, who have been fighting and dying together for the common cause of the United Nations.

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