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View all events after 1945

November 05, 1988

US Ratifies Genocide Convention

US President Ronald Reagan signs the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide.

The Convention had faced strong opponents, who feared it would infringe on US national sovereignty. One of the Convention's strongest advocates, Senator William Proxmire from Wisconsin, delivered over 3,000 speeches advocating the Convention in Congress from 1968–1987.

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