§ 11. Major Beamishasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has considered the law recently published in the Bulgarian State Gazette, under Article 72 (a) and (b) of which heavy sentences are laid down for the relations and friends of refugees who have sought, or may seek, asylum outside Bulgaria and who refuse to return to that country; if he is aware that this law contravenes the human rights Clauses of the Bulgarian Peace Treaty; and what action Her Majesty's Government are taking with regard to this contravention.
§ Mr. Selwyn LloydYes, Sir. I have considered this law and am aware that it contravenes the human rights Clauses of the Peace Treaty with Bulgaria. The punishment of innocent people for actions which they have not committed or to which they are not accessories, violates 180 a principle universally accepted by civilised nations. Her Majesty's Government deplore this further evidence that the Bulgarian Government are unmoved either by elementary principles of justice or by the obligations laid on them by the Peace Treaty. I propose to add this new evidence to the documents already submitted to the United Nations by Her Majesty's Government in accordance with the General Assembly's Resolution of November, 1950.
§ Mr. S. SilvermanWill the right hon. and learned Gentleman at the same time draw the attention of his right hon. colleague the Secretary of State for the Colonies to his remarks about the punishment of people for acts which they could not control and with which they have had nothing to do so that the practice of collective penalties shall cease before we make complaints about other people?