Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 98 Part 3.djvu/1129

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PUBLIC LAW 98-000—MMMM. DD, 1984

CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS—OCT. 4, 1984

98 STAT. 3501

Whereas the restrictions imposed by the Government of the Soviet Union on the activities of all religious groups including officially recognized groups such as the Russian Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Four Islamic Spiritual Boards, and the All-Union Council of Evangelical Christians and Baptists are so severe that thousands of Soviet believers have been forced to form illegal groups in order to practice their religion according to their conscience; Whereas the Soviet Union has severely curtailed the right of Jevi'^s to study and practice their religion and to adhere to their cultural traditions; Whereas religious activity in the occupied Baltic States of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia has been harshly repressed by the Government of the Soviet Union; and Whereas in most cases the Warsaw Pact states prevent individuals from escaping religious persecution by denying the fundamental right to emigrate to all of their citizens: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring). That the Congress opposes and condemns infringement of religious freedom, persecution of religious believers, and discrimination on religious grounds by the Governments of the Warsaw Pact states. SEC. 2, Accordingly, it is the sense of the Congress that the Human rights. Government of the United States should raise publicly and privately the failure of the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, German Democratic Republic, Hungary, and Poland, Warsaw Pact states, to fulfill commitments on religious freedom undertaken in the Helsinki Final Act and to respect international law on human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially in the area of religion, at every appropriate international forum, including all of the meetings of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, all appropriate gatherings of the United Nations, and in bilateral meetings with the offending governments. SEC. 3. The President shall transmit a copy of this resolution to the Ambassador from each of the Warsaw Pact states. Agreed to October 4, 1984.

UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLIC'S DISREGARD FOR HUMAN RIGHTS ESPECIALLY IN THE UKRAINE— UNITED STATES CONDEMNATION Whereas over seven million Ukrainians in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, which was created as the result of direct aggression by the Russian Communist military forces against the Ukrainian National Republic in 1918-1920, died of starvation during the years 1932-1933; and Whereas Moscow having full and complete control of the entire food supplies within the borders of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, nevertheless failed to take relief measures to check the

Oct. 4, 1984 [H.Con.Res.iii]