Situation of the Jewish community in the Soviet Union

Resolution 295 (1965)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 5th and 6th May 1965 (5th and 6th Sittings) (see Doc. 1912, report of the Political Committee). Text adopted by the Assembly on 6th May 1965 (6th Sitting).

1. The Assembly,

2. Reaffirming its constant concern that human rights and fundamental freedoms should be respected ;

3. Recalling the principle of respect for racial equality and religious freedom as set out in Articles 1 (3) and 55 (c) of the Charter of the United Nations ;

4. Welcoming the recent improvement in relations between the Soviet Union and the West ;

5. Noting, however, that the freedom of Jews, in the Soviet Union :

a to practise their religion, and

b to maintain their cultural traditions, is especially restricted ,

6. Expresses the hope that the Government of the Soviet Union will contribute to the improvement of East/West understanding by taking the following measures :

a accord to the Jewish community the religious and cultural rights guaranteed to all religious and ethnic groups by Articles 123 and 124 of the Constitution of the USSR, and particularly :

permit Jews to open or reopen synagogues, publish and study Hebrew texts, train an adequate number of rabbis and other religious personnel, produce and distribute freely religious and ritual articles, organise as a religious community, and to maintain contacts with Jewish communities abroad ;

allow Jews to send their children to schools and classes where the Hebrew and Yiddish culture and languages will be taught, and develop their culture, including the right to publish literature, and to re-establish Yiddish theatres ;

b prevent anti-semitic propaganda whether in the press or in the form of books or pamphlets, under the terms of Article 123 of the Soviet Constitution ;

c eliminate all judicial discrimination against Jews concerning alleged economic crimes ;

d allow Jews in the Soviet Union who wish to do so to join members of their families in other countries, particularly in Israel, from whom they have been separated as a result of the second world war and the Nazi persecution.