asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the fact that Baptist and Pentecostal Churches in the Soviet Union are treated in a cruel and inhuman way; if he will take the matter up with the Soviet Union; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers - Plight of Religious Groups.
76.
I am aware of recent expressions of concern about the plight of members of religious groups, such as Baptists and Pentecostalists, in the Soviet Union. Information available to me suggests that their treatment by the Soviet authorities is contrary to the human rights provisions of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) and other international commitments entered into by the Soviet Union.
I continue to believe the CSCE is the most appropriate forum in which to raise situations or cases of non-respect for human rights, including the right of freedom of religion, arising in other participating States. Irish delegations to CSCE meetings, including the current Follow-Up meeting in Vienna, have voiced, and will continue to voice, our concern at human rights violations by the Soviet Union as well as other European countries. It is our hope that these repeated public expressions of concern by ourselves and our partners in the Twelve may effect a change in the treatment by the Soviet and Eastern European authorities of religious groups in these countries, including the Baptists and Pentecostalists in the Soviet Union.