Human Rights In The Soviet Union

EDM number 1026 in 1989-90, proposed by David Atkinson on 18/05/1990.

That this House, recalling that in January 1989 it was agreed at the Vienna CSCE Review Conference to hold a series of conferences on human rights to discuss the implementation of the commitments entered into by participating states, and noting that the second of these commences in Copenhagen in June, urges Her Majesty's Government to raise the continuing concerns on the human rights performance of the Soviet Union, which include continuing restrictions on movement, emigration and return, outstanding Jewish Refusniks including the 'poor relation' and those with 'state secrets', remaining political and religious prisoners, continued state interference in religion and Church affairs and the public financing of the propagation of atheism and continuing KGB harassment of groups and individual campaigners for political freedoms and human rights and of individual journalists; and calls upon the Soviet Government to make further substantial progress in response to these concerns before a final decision can be made to approve Moscow as the venue of the third such conference to be held in September 1991.

This motion has been signed by a total of 13 MPs.