§ Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.—[Mr. Maclean.]
2.30 pm§ Mr. Ken Hargreaves (Hyndburn)I am grateful for the opportunity to draw the attention of the House once again to the plight of Anna Chertkova, a Soviet Christian who is being forced to be confined in a psychiatric hospital near Kazan. I am pleased to see that my hon. Friends the Members for Basildon (Mr. Amess) and for Erith and Crayford (Mr. Evennett) are also to take part in the debate, which comes appropriately on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the revolution, and, therefore, on the eve of the day on which the Soviet authorities have promised a major amnesty.
It is equally appropriate that the debate coincides with the week-long vigil outside the Soviet embassy in Bayswater by the Rev. Dr. Richard Rodgers and four other men to draw public attention to Anna's plight. I am grateful to them for all that they have done, and I am equally grateful to many of my constituents, who have written letters and signed petitions on Anna's behalf.
Anna Chertkova is now 59, and has spent the past 14 years of her life in a special psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. Yet Anna is neither criminal nor insane. She simply believes in God, and will not renounce her Christian faith. Anna was arrested in 1973 by militiamen who bundled her into a van and took her to the local psychiatric hospital. Friends and neighbours searched for her for a week before they became aware of her whereabouts. When her mother inquired why her daughter had been imprisoned, doctors told her that they did not know why people like Anna were sent to them. They wished that they could release her, but they were powerless to do so.
Anna was tried in secret, having been accused of circulating deliberately false concoctions slandering the Soviet state and social order—charges motivated by her open adherence to religious practices and dissemination of literature. She was declared criminally insane, and sentenced to indefinite confinement in psychiatric hospitals.
In 1975, Anna was moved to the psychiatric hospital in Tashkent, 400 miles from her home, and, in January 1986, to a hospital near Kazan, 1,300 miles from her home. During her years of imprisonment, Anna has been harshly treated. She developed jaw tremors which spread to her whole body owing to the administration of neuroleptic drugs. She was threatened that visits by her family would be stopped if she once complained about her treatment. She has been told that if she denies her faith in God she will be released. With great courage, she has refused to do so. She conducts herself with great dignity, and is a magnificent example and inspiration to those of us in this country who take our freedom of worship for granted.
On 1 August 1975, in Helsinki, the Soviet Union, along with the United Kingdom, the United States and other countries, adopted the Helsinki Final Act. In part 7 of that agreement, those signing agreed to respect human rights and freedom of thought, conscience, religion and belief for all without distinction as to race, language or religion. They agreed to recognise and respect the freedom of the individual to profess and practise alone or in the community, religion or belief, acting in accordance with 1242 the dictates of his own consceince. The cruel and inhuman treatment received by Anna Chertkova is at variance with the undertakings given when the agreement was signed. Sadly, Anna is only one of many Christians treated in that way in the Soviet Union.
The persecution of religious believers in the Soviet Union is of great concern to the British people, including many hon. Members from both sides of the House who have signed early-day motions tabled by my hon. Friends the Members for Stratford-upon-Avon (Mr. Howarth) and for Birmingham, Northfield (Mr. King). Many of us are grateful to my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister for raising the question of religious believers in the Soviet Union during her visit last March. We are especially pleased that my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary in making representations to the Soviet Foreign Minister singled out Anna's case for special mention as a victim of psychiatric abuse. Mr. Shevardnadze undertook to look into her case, but, sadly, she is still detained.
The Soviet Union signed the Helsinki Final Act freely and the violation of its commitments, so freely given, is a matter of great anxiety. In equally serious matters, for example the arms control talks, we must trust and have confidence in the Soviet Union. That trust and confidence would be a little increased if the Soviet Union accepted its responsibilities under the agreement it signed and gave its people the freedom to worship. The release of Anna Chertkova would be a sign of the Soviet Government's good intentions and I hope that the British Government will do everything possible to encourage the Soviet Union to release her. I hope, too, that the Government will urge the President of the United States to raise Anna's case when he meets Mr. Gorbachev in December, and that the Soviet Government will respond favourably. Such a reaction would remove much of the distrust which exists when people rightly ask, "If this is how the Soviet Union treats its citizens, how will it treat us, given the chance?".
Anna Chertkova is a brave, good woman. The Soviet Union should be proud to have people like her as citizens. Her release will pose no threat to the Soviet Union, but her continued imprisonment threatens the welcome recent improvements in the relations between the Soviet Union and the West. I plead that the Soviet Government will release Anna and not put at risk all that has been achieved since Mr. Gorbachev came to power.
§ Mr. David Amess (Basildon)rose——
§ Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Harold Walker)Order. Do the two hon. Members who are standing have the consent of the hon. Member for Hyndburn (Mr. Hargreaves) and the Minister to take part in the debate?
§ Mr. Hargreavesindicated assent.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. David Mellor)indicated assent.
§ Mr. David Amess (Basildon)The details of the circumstances surrounding the imprisonment of Anna Chertkova highlight how we take our personal freedoms for granted. The very idea that someone should be imprisoned for her religious beliefs would be anathema to each and every one of us. When we consider that the time which Anna has spent imprisoned represents one fifth of the total time that the Soviet Union has been in existence, 1243 one realises that it is an appalling fact. The conditions in the hospital where she is detained are not what we in the United Kingdom would accept as satisfactory for the treatment of psychiatric patients and in many cases the conditions are worse than those which exist in ordinary prisons in the Soviet Union.
Anna has been told at review tribunals that if she denies her faith in God, she will be released. Such an idea is repugnant to every hon. Member and, indeed, to everyone who upholds the right of freedom to worship. Sadly, Anna is not alone. At present, there are 265 religious prisoners in the Soviet Union who are known by name and possibly thousands of others who are not. There are also at least 32 prisoners currently held in psychiatric hospitals similar to Kazan or other hospitals in the Soviet Union who suffer the same treatment as Anna Chertkova.
I am sure that most people would agree that freedom of worship should be one of the basic rights guaranteed by all nations. The horrors of compulsory treatment for an illness that does not exsist and the removal of basic human rights imposed on Anna deserve our contempt. I am sure that some people outside the Chamber would say "What right do British parliamentarians have to interfere in what happens in other states? I believe that we would be failing in our duties and responsbilities as parliamentarians if we did not speak out for those who cannot speak out for themselves.
We are very encouraged by successes leading to the release of prisoners of conscience over the past 18 months to two years. I very much hope that that success will continue. I urge the Government on behalf of Anna Chertkova, on behalf of the hundreds more like her in the Soviet Union, the Members of this House who feel as strongly as I and my hon. Friend the Member for Hyndburn (Mr. Hargreaves) and the many members of the general public who are sickened and appalled at what is happening to Christians purely as a result of their beliefs, to make urgent representations to the Soviet Union to secure the immediate release of Anna Chertkova.
§ Mr. David Evennett (Erith and Crayford)I am pleased that my hon. Friend the Member for Hyndburn (Mr. Hargreaves) was able to secure this afternoon's Adjournment debate on such an important issue and I am most grateful to him for allowing me to make a short contribution in the debate.
The plight of Anna Chertkova, a Soviet citizen, is unfortunately an all too familiar plight for those of us who monitor the Soviet Union's observation of the Helsinki accords. As my hon. Friend the Member for Hyndburn has stressed, Anna has been detained in a psychiatric unit by the Soviet authorities for 14 years for what we in this country consider to be a basic human right, notably the exercise of the freedom of religious worship. Anna Chertkova is not a thief, murderer, terrorist or criminal. Her only crime is that she wishes to read the Bible, to pray and to worship God in accordance with her beliefs as a Baptist and to fulfil her Christian religion. For that, she was arrested and taken away. She was tried in secret without witnesses and found guilty of slandering the Soviet state. Her sentence, as we have heard, was indefinite detention in a psychiatric unit where she has received drugs and so-called treatment. Those drugs have had a 1244 serious side effect on her mental and general health and they would not be allowed in a civilised country and certainly would not be allowed in this country.
Her only hope of release will come if, as my hon. Friend the Member for Basildon (Mr. Amess) said, she is willing to collapse and give into the pressure being imposed on her by the Soviet authorities to denounce her Christian beliefs. That is an act which so far she has bravely resisted against all the odds.
Reports that reach us in the West say that she is constantly reviewed by psychiatric review panels and told that if she were to deny God she could be home tomorrow. That is the other side of Russia in 1987, the side frequently hidden by the Soviet authorities and their propaganda.
In this country we would rightly be appalled by such treatment because in the democratic society that we have the privilege to enjoy in Britain we recognise and protect the rights of the individual. In the Soviet Union, such matters are handled quite differently and the Soviet state works ceaselessly to extinguish all rights and beliefs that do not fit in with its rigid political dogma. Indeed, it is believed that Anna's petition to former Soviet leader Brezhnev asking for help to prevent the local authorities from persecuting her actually precipitated her indefinite detention on the grounds of criminal insanity.
We hear much today in the press and the media of the so-called new Soviet openness, the self-proclaimed policy of glasnost. Yet, behind that window dressing and the courting of the world's media, lies a harsh and vastly different reality. It is the reality of the totalitarian state, where the act of Christian worship is sufficient to cause an individual to be branded an enemy of the state.
Those of us in the free world must let people such as Anna know that their suffering does not pass unnoticed. It is up to us to bring pressure to bear on the Soviet Union and we are grateful to my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary for what he has done in the past to bring to the attention of the Soviet leaders our feeling about the treatment of people such as Anna. Their suffering is immoral and inhuman. Above all, we must work tirelessly to ensure that the rights of the individual are respected internationally, not just in democracies such as Britain.
Despite the Soviet Union's signature on the Helsinki accord a decade ago, the Russians flagrantly breach the important clause on human rights. In any negotiations with the Russians—I am sure that we all welcome discussion and negotiation in the interests of world peace—it is essential to remember that human rights must be at the top of the agenda. People such as Anna are expecting help from the free world. We are not interested in the rewriting of Russian history in the years since the revolution about which we hear so much in the speech of the Russian leaders. We are not interested in past events but are looking to the future. I urge my hon. and learned Friend the Minister to continue the good work that the Government are doing in the negotiations on behalf of people such as Anna so that one day in the near future, hopefully sooner rather than later, people such as her will be released, allowed freedom to worship and to live a full life as we would hope to in this country.
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. David Mellor)I am extremely grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Hyndburn (Mr. Hargreaves) 1245 for raising the tragic case of Anna Chertkova. It is the first opportunity I have had to congratulate him on a truly spectacular result at the general election when his not too comfortable majority of 21 was increased to over 2,000. That is a sign of the respect with which he is held in his area. Perhaps I could also say, knowing how ill he was during the last Parliament, what a joy it is to see him so fully restored to health. Long may that continue.
I enjoyed the contributions of my hon. Friends the Members for Basildon (Mr. Amess) and for Erith and Crayford (Mr. Evennett). It was appropriate to show that Anna Chertkova's case concerns not only one or two but a large number of hon. Members. Each week I sign several letters to hon. Members who have written expressing their concern about this case. Anna Chertkova is certainly not forgotten in the United Kingdom and never will be for as long as she remains incarcerated in the manner referred to by my hon. Friend the Member for Hyndburn.
Anna's case is well known to us, particularly thanks to the efforts of the Rev. Dick Rogers and organisations such as Keston college. I pay tribute to their work. Her plight has rightly aroused great concern among the wider British public, just as it has among hon. Members. The aim of this debate must be to ensure that those with direct control over her fate get the message loud and clear that she is not forgotten and never will be.
As my hon. Friend the Member for Hyndburn has made clear, the facts of the case are strikingly simple. Anna is a Christian and has suffered for many years for her religious beliefs. She was arrested in 1973 and declared criminally insane. She has been confined to a special psychiatric hospital ever since. I will not repeat what has already been said about the details of the treatment she has received. It is enough to say that the behaviour of the Soviet authorities has been deplorable.
The Government have taken an active interest in her fate. We have taken every suitable opportunity to ensure that the Soviet authorities are fully aware of the strength of our views. In March this year, for example, my right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary, as has been mentioned, raised Anna's case with Mr. Shevardnadze. Her name was included on the list of 26 prisoners of conscience that he handed over. I am glad to say that 11 of those on that list have since been released but sorry that Anna was not one of them.
In September I went to Vienna to address the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe. I made it clear that we want to see a significant improvement in Soviet human rights performance and that we shall continue hammering away until we get it. I made a point of drawing the attention of delegates to the harassment of religious believers in the Soviet Union. I referred specifically to Anna Chertkova and called for her immediate release, as part of a general amnesty for all prisoners of conscience.
As a signatory to the Helsinki Final Act, the Soviet Union made a number of important commitments on human rights. One of these was a pledge to respect
human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief.According to this principle, all Soviet citizens should be guaranteed the freedom to profess their faith, but experience shows that this principle is not upheld in practice.1246 Anna Chertkova is the victim of an especially pernicious double violation of her rights. She is persecuted as a Christian and subject to that most frightening of practices—the abuse of psychiatry for reasons of state policy.
Anna Chertkova is not alone. It is a sad irony that the Soviet Union is preparing to celebrate 1,000 years of Christianity next year. We can expect to see that millennium celebrated with considerable pomp and circumstance by the pillars of the official church in the Soviet Union. Meanwhile hundreds of believers are still languishing in psychiatric hospitals and prison camps. Mr. Gorbachev, as we all know, is committed to transforming Soviet society. He has called it a new revolution. He has spoken at length of the need for greater openness and structural reform, for a greater role for the individual and a lesser one for central bureaucracy, which is trying to lay down norms in all areas of life.
There is no more individual area of human life than the act of religious faith. It should flow naturally from Mr. Gorbachev's reforms that individuals are genuinely free to worship as they wish. We are not asking the Soviet authorities to encourage religion in their country. It is for them to choose whether they wish to do so or not. We fully accept that and there is room for different views here. But there is no room for argument about whether religious belief and activity should be freely allowed. When will the Soviet authorities accept this and accept the logic of glasnost and perestroika in this sensitive and important area of life?
I shall quote from an article on human rights in the Soviet Union which appears in the most recent edition of Soviet News, a weekly newsheet put out by the Soviet embassy in London. It reads:
How does Soviet jurisprudence understand human rights and freedoms? They are above all the possibilities the individual has in the political, economic, social and cultural spheres and in his personal life. Human rights are not a gift from the state: they are not a magnanimous gesture on the part of a law giver … Human rights—respect for the individual's sovereignty, integrity and dignity—are inalienable components of socialist democracy".I could hardly put it better myself. But when are Soviet deeds going to match these fine words?Anna Chertkova is sane but imprisoned against her will in a psychiatric hospital. The extent of psychiatric abuse in the Soviet Union has been fully documented. No one can seriously doubt that the practice has been widespread. Even the Soviet press is now beginning to reflect this reality, however timorously.
One of the most courageous exposers of psychiatric abuse in the Soviet Union has been Dr. Anatoli Koryagin, himself a psychiatrist. It is perhaps of some interest that he has been visiting Britain this week. His attempts to bring to public attention psychiatric malpractices in the Soviet Union earned him a seven-year sentence in a prison camp and five years of exile. Throughout his period of imprisonment Dr. Koryagin continued to fight for the rights of psychiatric patients whom he knew to be sane. He smuggled statements to the West. He urged Western psychiatrists to boycott their Soviet colleagues. He went on hunger strikes to demand better conditions, despite the extra harsh conditions, treatment and prolonged sentence that that earned him. He was finally released earlier this year and allowed to leave for the West.
I take this opportunity to salute Dr. Koryagin's courage and welcome the initiative that brought him to 1247 Britain to share with us his knowledge and views. Let us hope that his long fight will soon be crowned with success. That will come when the Soviet Union admits openly that it has deliberately practised psychiatric abuses for political reasons and undertakes that there will be no repetition in the future.
I have said that religious persecution and psychiatric abuse continue. They are two areas where glasnost seem to have had perhaps least effect. But it is only fair to say that the picture is not entirely black. I welcome the release of a number of political prisoners earlier this year and the amnesty declared in June. So far over 200 political prisoners have been released before the end of their sentences. At the same time the number of Jewish and ethnic Germany applicants allowed to leave has increased noticeably. Some long-standing refuseniks have been given permission to leave.
These are steps in the right direction. But they are not nearly enough. In particlar those convicted for allegedly illegal religious activities do not qualify under the terms of the amnesty, nor does it include inmates in psychiatric hospitals. The Anna Chertkovas of this world have yet to see any benefit to themselves from Mr. Gorbachev's reforms.
Human rights are increasingly, and rightly, seen as an important international issue, an issue with profound implications for relations between states. The Soviet Union is slowly beginning to realise this. We hear less now of the tired old complaint of interference in internal affairs. The commitments entered into as a result of the CSCE process have booted that argument out of court once and for all. At Vienna pressure will be kept up for further improvements in human rights performance. It is not a question of notching up propaganda points. Respect for the individual's rights is at the heart of our democratic system and fundamental to all of our policies.
That is why we have called on the Russians in Vienna to reflect in the texts under negotiation there the spirit of change now abroad in the Soviet Union. Their response so far has been almost entirely negative. I hope that it will change.
The Russians have made one proposal in this area—a conference on humanitarian issues, to be held in Moscow. How should the West respond?
Our response will depend crucially on Soviet performance in the human rights field. There have been improvements but can it convincingly be argued that as things stand, and while cases such as Anna Chertkova are before us, Moscow is an appropriate place for a conference dealing with the promotion of human contacts, and 1248 therefore with human rights? We shall take a great deal of persuasion and need a good deal more evidence of real improvement before we can even begin to be convinced.
If there is one concern that lies at the heart of the Final Act, it is concern for people, ordinary people, individuals. That is why the human rights of these individuals are so important to us, not only in our own country, but in all the states which signed the Final Act, and beyond. that concern for people does not find its way into reality, into specific improvements in human rights performance, the Helsinki process is fundamentally a hollow shell. That is why we and our Western partners insist that the present meeting in Vienna must conclude not only with further commitments in the areas of security and economic exchanges, but with an equally substantial follow-up in human rights and contacts. Anything else is simply unacceptable. We have made clear and specific proposals for such follow-ups in what has become known in the jargon as the human dimension. We await a constructive response to these proposals.
Mr. Gorbachev wrote in Pravda in September that the world cannot be secure if human rights are violated in it. He added:
national legislation and administrative rules in the humanitarian sphereshould everywhere be brought into accordance wish international obligations and standards. Mr. Gorbachev, we are waiting for you to put this into practice.I hope that the Soviet Government will take a long hard look at their own performance and ask themselves some questions. Can a super-power be seriously threatened by the Christian faith of Anna Chertkova? Does the imprisonment of individuals like her contribute to the release of individual energy and creativity the Soviet economy and Soviet society so badly need? Does history suggest that persecution can stamp out non-conformist behaviour and thinking? Is the image of the Soviet Union abroad and its professed desire for international peace and stability helped by the knowledge that Anna Chertkova, after 14 years, is in a psychiatric hospital?
There is only one answer to all these questions. I hope that the Soviet Government will draw the right conclusions in their own interests. I appeal to them to free Anna Chertkova and those like her and let her live in peace. I appeal to them to put an end to practices which bring only disgrace on their country. I know that the House will join me in sending this simple message about Anna Chertkova—let her go!
§ Question put and agreed to.
§ Adjourned accordingly at Three o'clock.