Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 99 Part 1.djvu/472

 99 STAT. 450 55 Stat. 1600. 59 Stat. 1031.

Study. Asylum.

PUBLIC LAW 99-93—AUG. 16, 1985 Charter and with provisions of the United Nations Charter and the Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. SEC. 805. POLICY TOWARD TREATMENT OF SOVIET PENTECOSTALS. (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that— (1) it is the policy of the Government of the Soviet Union to hinder and deny the free practice of religion and to deny freedom to emigrate to the victims of religious persecution; (2) such policies are a violation of the letter and spirit of the Charter of the United Nations, the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, and the Helsinki Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe; (3) members of the 170-member Pentecostal Christian community living in Chuguyevka in the Soviet Far East have allegedly undergone persecution at the hands of the Soviet authorities as a result of their attempts to practice their religious beliefs; (4) the Soviet authorities allegedly have refused to allow members of that Pentecostal community to emigrate from the Soviet Union; (5) when, on Monday May 13, 1985, four members of the Pentecostal community of Chuguyevka attempted to enter the United States Embassy in Moscow in an attempt to seek refuge and make their plight known, they were intercepted by Soviet guards stationed outside the Embassy; (6) in the scuffle that ensued three of the Pentecostals were beaten severely and arrested by the Soviet guards, while the fourth Pentecostal gained entrance to the Embassy and was interviewed by United States officials; and (7) upon agreeing to leave the United States Embassy the man was driven to the subway in a diplomatic car where he was detained by Soviet police before he could enter the subway. (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Congress that— (1) the Soviet Union has acted in violation of the human rights of the Pentecostal community in Chuguyevka by hindering the practice of their religious beliefs and refusing to allow them to emigrate from the Soviet Union; (2) personnel of the Government of the Soviet Union acted in violation of the human rights of the four members of the Pentecostal community who attempted to enter the United States Embassy in Moscow, particularly in using excessive force in an attempt to prevent their entry; (3) the United States Department of State should continue through all available channels to assure the safety of the four persons who attempted to enter the United States Embassy, and to seek to persuade the Government of the Soviet Union to allow the members of the Pentecostal community in Chuguyevka to emigrate to the West; and (4) the Secretary of State should undertake a study of United States policy relating to the granting of asylum in United States embassies abroad and develop recommendations for the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives as to where current policy might be adjusted with relation to incidents over the past five years where asylum has been requested at United States embassies abroad.

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