§ 15. Mr. Greville Jannerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Common- 992 wealth Affairs whether he will make representations to the Russian authorities concerning the harassment, arrest and conscription of Russian Jewish scientists before and during President Nixon's visit to Moscow.
§ 16. Mr. Cormackasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make renewed representations to the Russian authorities concerning the latest restrictions imposed on those Jewish citizens who have applied for visas to go to Israel.
§ 22. Mr. Haselhurstasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he will make further representations to the Russian authorities about the recent treatment of certain citizens of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
§ Mr. GodberWhile appreciating the concern which prompted these Questions Her Majesty's Government have no standing to make formal representations to the Soviet Government about the treatment of Soviet citizens. The views of Her Majesty's Government on this general question are, however, already known to the Soviet Government.
§ Mr. JannerIs the right hon. Gentleman aware of the deep sense of outrage felt among scientists in this country at the harassment and persecution of their colleagues in the Soviet Union? Will he consider some way of giving public voice to this concern through our representatives at the United Nations or UNESCO or one of the other specialised agencies?
§ Mr. GodberWe do recognise this problem and we have on many occasions made clear our views about this kind of treatment. It has been done by my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary and by the Permanent Under-Secretary as well as myself. Our representatives at the last session of the Human Rights Commission appealed to all Governments to ensure that their policies with regard to the movement of subjects were in accord with Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Our position on this is absolutely clear and we are very much against action of this kind. However, this is a matter within the responsibility of the Soviet Government. We 993 can make our views Known but beyond that we cannot go.
§ Mr. CormackI am sure that all hon. Members are grateful to my right hon. Friend for what he has said. Would he agree that the way in which the Soviet authorities acted in banning the prayer book, signed by Members of this House, which was recently sent for the little Jewish boy showed them in an extremely bad light? Has he any further information about the whereabouts of that book, because we understood that the Russians were to return it but as yet it has not turned up?
§ Mr. GodberI would not dissent from the opinion expressed by my hon. Friend in the first part of his question but there are Questions on this subject down for answer later and I must reserve my answer until then.
§ Mr. HaselhurstIs my right hon. Friend aware of the concern felt by many in my constituency, particularly Councillor Leslie Donn of Whitefield, about the harassment of the Korenfeld family who live in district E37 of Moscow? Can he make representations to the Soviet Government as there has been interruption of postal and telephone communications between my constituents and that family?
§ Mr. GodberIf my hon. Friend would like to send me the details of any case I am always willing to look at them, but I must remind him of the point I made earlier that we cannot intervene in the cases of individual citizens of the Soviet Union. I will be glad to look at any particular case to see whether there is any way in which we can help. I have to remind the House that we have stated our position absolutely clearly and have done so again recently in the Commission on Human Rights.