HELSINKI FINAL ACT: EASTERN BLOC COMMITMENTS (Hansard, 25 July 1985)

§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Young)

During the six-month period to 30th June 1985 implemenation by the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries of their commitments under the Helsinki Final Act remained generally unsatisfactory although the pattern varied from country to country. In the Soviet Union, in particular, attitudes towards human rights and fundamental freedoms remained negative.

Security in Europe: Principles guiding relations between participating states: Confidence building measures and certain aspects of security and disarmament (Basket I):

Principle VII, which is concerned with "respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief", continued to be violated by all Eastern European countries. The posture of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact countries at the CSCE Expert Meeting on Human Rights in Ottawa gave no hope for any immediate improvement in the human rights performance of the countries concerned.

In the Soviet Union, repression of human rights monitors and those active on behalf of religious or minority rights continued unabated. Particular pressure was put on unregistered religious sects, such as Baptists, Pentecostalists and, in the Ukraine, the banned Uniates. In March, Vasyl Kobryn, a leading member of the "Initiative Group for the Defence of Believers in the Ukraine", was sentenced to 3 years' labour camp on charge of "disseminating anti-Soviet fabrications" Victor Walter, pastor of an unregistered Pentecostalist church in the far east of the Soviet Union received a 5-year labour camp sentence in April; several other members of the church were also arrested and sentenced. A Lithuanian, Vladas Lapienis, was sentenced in March to 6 years in the camps and internal exile just before his 79th birthday, while the following month a prominent Ukrainian activist, Mykola Horbal, recieved a sentence totalling 11 years.

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Within the Jewish community there were a number of arrests and sentencing of teachers of Hebrew in what appears to be an attempt by the authorities to stop the spread of the Hebrew language in the Soviet Union. Pressures on refuseniks continued.

Action was also taken against various unofficial groups including the "Trust" group in Moscow and the Georgian "Phantom" group. The practice of resentencing political prisoners and the political abuse of psychiatry continued.

There was no sign of any significant improvement in the position of well-known individuals such as Anatoly Shcharansky or Andrei Sakharov. In early 1985, Dr. Sakharov announced that he would resign from the Soviet Academy of Sciences if his wife were not allowed to travel to the West for necessary medical treatment. Although it is not clear whether he carried out his threat to go on hunger strike, Dr. Sakharov's family believe that he did and that he might have been hospitalised as a result. At the end of June, the authorities released two films of Dr. Sakharov, alledgedly taken in Gorky, which suggested that he was in poor health but receiving medical attention. There is, however, no means of checking the authenticity of the films.

In Bulgaria, the Government continued to respect Principles I to VI whilst overlooking the others. The period under review was dominated by reports of an intensification of the persecution of the ethnic Turkish minority in Bulgaria. According to the reports a campaign was launched at the end of 1984 to force ethnic Turks to adopt Bulgarian names. Evidence suggests that there was resistance in some areas and that this may have led to a large number of deaths. Repression of religious activity heightened during the review period.

Czechoslovak implementation of Principle VII continued to be unsatisfactory. This was illustrated by the use of "protective supervision" in the case of some released prisoners, and a series or arrests and trials resulting from Government attempts to restrict religious practice. A positive development was the amnesty announced on 9th May which benefited a number of people sentenced for political offences.

In Poland, Church-State relations remained poor in the wake of the murder of Father Popieluszko despite the Government's proclaimed desire for national reconciliation. Harassment and criticism of priests associated with the opposition continued. The number of political prisoners rapidly increased over the period and a tightening of the criminal code made it easier to punish those taking part in demonstrations. In mid-February, the authorities broke up a meeting of several Solidarity leaders in Gdansk and arrested three individuals: Bogdan Lis, Adam Michnik and Wladyslaw Frasyniuk. All three were later given sentences ranging from 2½ to 3½ years, subject to appeal.

In general, Romania and the GDR continued to pay scant regard to the humanitarian provisions of the Helsinki and Madrid documents. By contrast, despite one or two disturbing developments, Hungary's record on human rights remained comparatively good.

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Confidence and security-building measures:

No observers were invited by the USSR or Czechoslovakia to a joint exercise held in May 1985 in Czechoslovakia. In mid-June, notice was given, with minimum details, of a joint Soviet/GDR exercise involving more than 25,000 troops to be held in July in the GDR. No observers were invited. Observers from certain countries (including smaller NATO countries) were, however, invited by the Soviet Union at the end of June to an exercise to be held from 15th to 21st July in the south of the USSR.

Co-operation in the field of economics, of science and technology and of the environment (Basket II):

There were no major developments in this field over the period. There were, however, some encouraging signs of a renewed interest in expanding trade. Hungary and Poland still provided the easiest access to business contacts and to economic and commercial information.

Co-operation in humanitarian and other fields (Basket III):

With the exception of Hungary and Poland, Eastern European countries continued to take a restrictive attitude to family visits or reunification, and binational marriages. Emigration remained generally low although in the Soviet Union a slight increase in the permitted level of Jewish emigration was recorded in April 1985, but this increase was not sustained. In the first four months of the year, 5,800 people were allowed to leave the GDR legally to settle in the Federal Republic of Germany, fewer than in the corresponding period in 1984. Tourist travel outside Warsaw Pact countries remained very limited, again with the exception of Hungary and, to a lesser extent, Poland.

In the field of information, restrictions on access to Western sources of information continued, as did jamming of several Western vernacular services (except in the GDR, Hungary and Romania).

Co-operation and exchanges in the field of culture:

Existing agreements and projects were generally implemented in a satisfactory manner. Bureaucratic and financial constraints were the main obstacles to the development of new programmes of exchanges and co-operation. For example, the Soviet Union failed to grant visas under the Cultural Agreement to enable British teachers to visit their students, and modest proposals on increased exchanges, which the British side made to the Romanians in February, were not taken up.