§ 3. Mr. Sumbergasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will seek further opportunities to remind the Soviet authorities of their human rights obligations under the Helsinki agreements.
§ Mr. RifkindMy right hon. and learned Friend raised the question of Soviet commitments in the field of human rights with Mr. Gromyko at their meeting in Stockholm on 19 January.
We shall continue to take suitable opportunities to raise this question with the Soviet authorities.
§ Mr. SumbergI welcome my hon. Friend's reply, but can he confirm that in any future meetings with the Soviet Foreign Minister he will continue to raise this issue, and will he make it clear that until the Soviet Union's record improves there can be no real advance in East-West relations?
§ Mr. RifkindI can give my hon. Friend that assurance. We always make it clear to the Soviet Union that an improvement in human rights would be a clear indication of the Soviet Government's desire for a reduction in tension and an improvement in relations with the West.
§ Mr. CormackDoes my hon. Friend accept that if the new Soviet leadership wishes to have better relations with this country it can do no better than free Andrei Sakharov and some of his unfortunate compatriots?
§ Mr. RifkindI can only agree with my hon. Friend. Mr. Sakharov is one of the best known dissidents in the Soviet Union, but sadly there are many tens of thousands of people who have been persecuted in the Soviet Union, and clearly an improvement in human rights there would make a substantial impact around the world.
§ Mr. AndersonWill the Minister confirm that during the Stockholm discussions with Mr. Gromyko only the most pressing cases, such as those of Anatoly Shcharansky and Mrs. Bonar Sakharov were raised, and will he seek opportunities to raise other acts of discrimination, particularly in relation to breaches of the postal regulations, and examples that have been given to the Foreign Office of confiscation of dictionaries and other material, in spite of the Helsinki agreements?
§ Mr. RifkindIt is regrettable that only a small number of individual cases can be mentioned during these meetings, but we use these opportunities to raise the general problem of interference in contacts between the Soviet Union and other countries, particularly as that affects agreements that come under the Helsinki accord, which the Soviet Union voluntarily signed.