§ 8. Sir Bernard Braineasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further steps will be taken by Her Majesty's Government to ensure that 905 the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics comply with their human rights obligations under the Helsinki agreements.
§ 9. Miss Fookesasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make urgent representations to the Soviet Government with regard to the detention in mental institutions of sane persons for political or religious reasons.
§ 10. Mr. Fisherasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether there has been any improvement in the human rights record of the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics since the Helsinki review conference in Madrid last September.
§ 11. Mr. Lawrenceasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what further steps Her Majesty's Government can take to ensure that the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics carry out their responsibilities under the Helsinki agreement.
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweI regret to say that there is no evidence of any change in the Soviet Government's human rights record since the conclusion of the Madrid conference, whether in relation to religious minorities, treatment of individuals confined to mental institutions or in any other regard. But, together with our allies and partners, we shall continue to follow closely the Soviet Union's actions and take suitable opportunities to draw the Soviet authorities' attention to their commitments undertaken at Helsinki and Madrid.
§ Sir Bernard BraineWill my right hon. and learned Friend confirm that the British delegation at the Madrid conference made strong protests to the Soviet representatives about the contined harassment of Soviet citizens who have tried to monitor infringements of the Helsinki accord by their own Government? Will he also say whether the opportunity was taken to make further representations to the Soviet authorites about the fate of Mr. Raoul Wallenberg, the brave Swede who saved 100,000 Jews from the Nazis and was imprisoned by the Soviets? They have declined ever since to say whether the man is alive or dead. Are not the world and Wallenberg's family owed an explanation of what has happened to him?
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweOur delegation in Madrid took a number of opportunities to raise individual cases of the kind to which my hon. Friend refers. The case of Raoul Wallenberg was raised most recently by the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh, Pentlands (Mr. Rifkind), when he saw the Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr. Kornienko in Moscow last spring.
§ Mr. FisherWill the Secretary of State clarify the difference between his good words in the House and his actions? Did he take the opportunity to raise that matter when he spoke to Mr. Gromyko in Stockholm? If he did not do so, will he give an undertaking to raise it at their next meeting?
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweI did, indeed raise that matter. I have had two meetings with Mr. Gromyko, one in Madrid last September, and another in Stockholm last week. On both occasions I raised the matter in general terms and cited particular examples. As I told the House yesterday, 906 when I was in Stockholm I took examples of people whose cases were more serious because they were ill, such as Shcharansky and Bonar Sakharov.
§ Mr. TerlezkiWill my right hon. and learned Friend tell the House what the difference is, apart from colour, between a white Government prosecuting and oppressing black people, and a white Government oppressing and prosecuting white people? Should not the Gleneagles agreement, the Helsinki final act and the United Nations human rights charter apply equally? All of us should try to adhere to them.
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweMy hon. Friend has raised two questions which can be, and often are, linked together. It is right that we should not apply double standards in our approach to human rights matters in any part of the world, but it must be recognised that any action that is taken to repress human rights which is based specifically and exclusively on colour discrimination has an especially unattractive flavour to it.
§ Mr. CartwrightI raise a matter arising from the Helsinki agreement. What steps are the Government taking to press for the release of Solidarity and KOR leaders, who are imprisoned in Poland and are threatened with political show trials?
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweThe hon. Gentleman must understand that this sort of question arises in a number of contexts. In most cases, our formal status is very limited. We have to choose the right way and best way of making such points. We shall take full account of the hon. Gentleman's question as opportunities arise and as we consider our relationships with countries such as Poland.
§ Sir Peter BlakerWill my right hon. and learned Friend confirm that the Helsinki agreement, which was freely accepted by the Soviet Union, declares that respect for human rights is an essential factor for peace? When, from time to time, the Soviet Union loudly declares its love of peace, would it not be worth while quietly to point that out?
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweI entirely agree with my hon. Friend. I made that point in the House yesterday and, indeed, I made it to Mr. Gromyko in Stockholm last week. If people are shown conduct of the kind with which the House is concerned in terms of human rights, it is bound to have an effect on their perception of their country's disposition towards peace and international relations.
§ Mr. AndersonThe Foreign Secretary knows from previous exchanges in the House that there is a bipartisan approach to human rights. We join the Government in their condemnation of the abuse of human rights in the Soviet Union. However, we wish that the Foreign Secretary would show that same zeal and enthusiasm for human rights in Chile. The Government recently abstained from voting at the United Nations on the issue of human rights.
Does the right hon. and learned Gentleman realise the close correlation between the severity of the cold war and the Soviet Union's tightening of the screws on Jewish and Christian dissidents and human rights campaigners? Will he accept that dissidents in the Soviet Union can best be helped by avoiding the Star Wars cold war rhetoric and getting on with the business of detente?
§ Sir Geoffrey HoweThe Government take every appropriate opportunity to raise questions of human rights. 907 We have had exchanges in the House on Chile on other occasions, and I shall not go into that now. I do not believe that there is any simple connection between the international atmosphere and the way in which the Soviet Union conducts itself in such affairs. I wish that the matter were as simple as that. However, it is true that, for example, Jewish emigration was running at over 50,000 in 1979, but was below 3,000 in 1982. It is important to continue pressing the Soviet Union for an improvement in its behaviour in that respect and for an improvement in the whole international atmosphere, leading towards a dialogue between both sides of the iron curtain.