§ Lord BETHELLMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are aware of the names and addresses of individual Soviet citizens in Moscow who are monitoring the application by the Soviet Government of Basket Three of the Helsinki Final Act and whether they will instruct their diplomatic representatives in Moscow to make efforts to meet these individuals, in order to obtain the results of their work and bring it before the review conference of the Helsinki Final Act in Belgrade this summer.
§ The MINISTER of STATE, FOREIGN and COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (Lord Goronwy-Roberts)My Lords, Her Majesty's Government take a close and continuing interest in all aspects of the fulfilment of the provisions of the CSCE Final Act, both by the Soviet Union and by all other signatories of the Act. The work of individual citizens of the countries concerned makes an important contribution to this assessment. It is a normal and legitimate activity of Her Majesty's embassies to keep in touch with opinion in the countries to which they are accredited. Her Majesty's Embassy fulfils this function in Moscow as in other capitals.
§ Lord BETHELLMy Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that fairly reassuring reply. Is he aware that certain of the individuals in question have tried to meet members of our Embassy in Moscow in order to hand 496 over the results of their monitoring, and that they have not always met with a welcome reception at the Embassy? Will he give instructions so that those individuals who have a contribution to make to the monitoring of this agreement are received properly and courteously by the Embassy in Moscow and allowed to hand over the results of their work?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, I should be surprised to be in a position to confirm that our Embassy in Moscow, or anywhere else, has not been properly courteous and co-operative in a legitimate way with people of the description which the noble Lord mentioned. I refer him once more to the fairly full and precise substantive Answer I gave to his Question. However, I take note of what he said although, I repeat, I should be very surprised if what he has heard to be the case is, in fact, borne out by the facts.
Lord JANNERMy Lords, in view of the barbaric treatment that is being meted out to those who have applied to leave the USSR, which has undoubtedly been communicated to my noble friend by the Embassy if not by other sources, is it not time that something definite was done to convince the USSR that people throughout the world will not stand for this kind of barbaric action on their part?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, I repeat the assurance that I have given on a number of occasions to my noble friend that Her Majesty's Government, and in particular the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, lose no opportunity of making absolutely clear to other Governments their view of this kind of repression. We shall continue to follow that policy consistently and strongly.
§ Lord AVEBURYMy Lords, is the Minister aware that when some of us have tried to telephone Academician Zakhorov to discuss the implementation of the Helsinki Agreements we were unable to get through on the telephone and that when complaints have been made to the chairman of the Post Office he has said that the Helsinki Agreements are a matter for Governments and not the Post Office? Therefore, what will the 497 Minister do to ensure freedom of communication between the citizens of this country and those in the Soviet Union who are concerned with the implementation of the Helsinki Agreements? Will he raise this matter at the Belgrade review meeting in the summer?
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, I think that in the latter part of his contribution the noble Lord has answered his own Question, We are now actively engaged with our friends and partners, and indeed with other countries, in discussing the preparatory moves towards the Belgrade meeting—that is to say, the preparatory committee work that will be necessary in June in order to make the plenary conference in September a really worthwhile operation. The kind of case and circumstances that the noble Lord has mentioned will clearly come up for assessment and evaluation at the actual conference. He can be absolutely assured that we shall not in any way avoid raising such cases. Indeed, we are collating performance by all countries so that we can substantially and reasonably put forward our own assessment of progress at the September review meeting.
§ Baroness ELLESMy Lords, can the Minister say whether non-Governmental organisations will have some chance of being observers and taking part in the September conference? As the Minister will well know, human rights are the protection of the individual against Governments, and therefore it will surely be in the interests of both Governments and monitoring organisations at least to be able to make statements at the September conference.
§ Lord GORONWY-ROBERTSMy Lords, that is certainly a matter for consideration. As the noble Baroness knows, for some years now in both United Nations and other international connections the position of non-Governmental organisations has been subject to consideration and indeed implementation. It may be possible to arrange for an observing presence by certain organisations. I could not commit either my Government, or indeed any other Government, at this stage, but it is a valid point. I can give the assurance that it is being considered with other matters and will 498 continue to be considered. The best way in which to move forward will be a matter of consensus.