News In Brief

Reagan urges US ratification of postwar genocide treaty

President Reagan urged the Senate Wednesday to end a 35-year-old source of political embarrassment for the United States by quickly ratifying the international treaty outlawing genocide. The treaty has been dormant for decades , largely because of strong opposition by conservative groups that claim it constitutes an infringement on national sovereignty.

The treaty was signed by President Truman in 1949 amid lingering world horror over the Nazi Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews died during World War II. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide has been ratified by 96 other nations.