Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 98 Part 3.djvu/1128

 98 STAT. 3500 Oct. 4, 1984 [s. Con. Res. 119]

CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS—OCT. 4, 1984 RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION IN WARSAW PACT STATES—U.S. OPPOSITION

Whereas the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, and the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief, adopted by the same body on November 25, 1981, proclaim the principles of nondiscrimination and equality before the law and the universal right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion for all individuals; Whereas the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (hereafter referred to as the Helsinki Final Act), which all of the Warsaw Pact states have signed, commits the participating states to act in conformity with the purposes and principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and to fulfill their obligations with respect to human rights and fundamental freedoms as set forth in international law; Whereas the Helsinki Final Act reaffirms the commitment of the participating states to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms including the freedom of the individual to profess and practice, alone or in community with others, religion or belief acting in accordance with the dictates of his own conscience; Whereas the constitutions of the Warsaw Pact states provide for freedom of religion both for the individual and for religious groups or sects, the laws of these states are highly restrictive with respect to religious activities and practices and do not permit certain denominations such as the Baptists, Pentecostals, and the Seventh Day Adventists to practice their religion freely in the Soviet Union, or sects such as the Jehovah's Witnesses in Romania, East Germany and the Soviet Union and the Uniates in Romania and the Soviet Union to function as legally recognized religious entities; Whereas the governments of the Warsaw Pact states impede the free exercise of religion through administrative interference in the affairs of religious bodies including control over seminaries, religious publications and materials, construction and restoration of church buildings, finances, and the selection of religious leaders; Whereas the Government of Czechoslovakia, in particular, has not reached an agreement with the Vatican on filling the vacant bishoprics of the Roman Catholic Church in Czech and Slovak dioceses; Whereas religious believers in several Warsaw Pact states experience officially sanctioned discrimination in employment, housing, and education; Whereas the governments of most Warsaw Pact states severely restrict or prohibit optional religious instruction for children even on church premises; Whereas the Governments of Czechoslovakia, Romania, the Soviet Union, and at times Bulgaria persecute, imprison, and confine religious believers for exercising religious freedom; Whereas the Government of Poland has attempted to exert pressure on the Catholic Church to endorse governmental policies, particularly with respect to Solidarity and its members; Whereas the Government of Czechoslovakia has increased persecution of clergy and religious believers, especially those of the Catholic faith, since the birth of Solidarity in Poland;

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