Situation of the Jewish community in the Soviet Union
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 27 January 1983 (27th Sitting) (seeDoc. 4936, report of the Committee on Relations with European Non-member Countries). Text adopted by the Assembly on 27 January 1983 (27th Sitting).
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Recalling its
Resolution 412 (1969) on the situation of the Jewish communities in European non-member countries, its Recommendations 632 (1971), 722 (1974), 778 (1976) and its Resolutions 679 (1978) and 740 (1980), on the situation of the Jews in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe ;
2. Noting that there is considerable variation in the situation of the small Jewish communities in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania, and noting with concern the rise of anti-Semitism in Poland and for a time in Romania ;
3. Considering that attention is correctly focused on the Soviet Union where, in spite of the emigration of more than 260,000 Jews permitted over the last twelve years, the world's largest Jewish community, numbering 1.8 million, is to be found ;
4. Noting with concern the current wave of anti-Semitism present in most areas of Soviet life, particularly in higher education ;
5. Considering the previous high hopes of Soviet compliance with its commitments under the Helsinki Final Act to facilitate the free movement of people over national borders, which were raised by the record emigration figures of 51,000 in 1979 ;
6. Considering that the world political situation should not influence the possibility of Soviet Jews to exercise their right to leave ;
7. Noting that the Jewish community in the Soviet Union is an oppressed cultural minority, and considering this situation as a case for international concern ;
8. Noting that the Soviet Union is the signatory of many international conventions and agreements, as well as the Helsinki Final Act, which guarantee freedom of emigration and cultural expression ;
9. Recalling the obligations which the Soviet Union itself recognises under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as under the United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion or Belief, adopted by General Assembly
Resolution 36/55 of 25 November 1981,
10. Calls upon the Soviet Government :
10.1 to eliminate the kinship-rule with a view to creating an atmosphere of good faith at the resumed Madrid CSCE talks ;
10.2 to increase the number of visas granted, so that families may be reunited in Israel or elsewhere, as the current figure is not acceptable ;
10.3 to grant amnesty and to release those who are imprisoned or have been exiled because of their effort to exercise their right to emigrate and their freedom of cultural expression, and to allow them to emigrate and/or be reunited with their families ;
10.4 to implement the UNESCO "Convention Against Discrimination in Education", by ceasing the practice of restrictive admission to institutions of higher education ;
10.5 to cease the diffusion of anti-Jewish propaganda and the harassment of Hebrew teachers ;
10.6 to declare an official time-limit to the waiting period for exit visas : some refuseniks have been waiting for more than ten years ;
10.7 to grant, as a matter of priority, exit permits to those Jews who have applied to leave five years ago or more ;
11. Calls upon members of the Assembly to intervene with their national parliaments and with their governments to press for Soviet compliance with the undertaking regarding emigration, and ensure that these matters are raised at the resumed Madrid meeting ;
12. Recognises the cause of Soviet Jewry as an issue of international concern.
