CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS—FEB. 19, 1980
94 STAT. 3643
Whereas Principle VII of the Final Act specifically confirms the "right of the individual to know and act upon his rights and duties" in the field of human rights and Principle IX confirms the relevant and positive role individuals play in the implementation of the provisions of the Final Act; Whereas the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan by armed forces from the Soviet Union is a direct violation of the Declaration of Principles Guiding Relations between States of the Helsinki Final Act, including the commitments to refrain from the threat or use of force, to respect equal rights and self-determination of peoples, to observe the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, to fulfill in good faith obligations arising from generally recognized principles and rules of international law; Whereas Nobel Laureate Andrei Sakharov, leader of the human rights movement in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, condemned the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, calling it a "threat to the entire world" and demanded the withdrawal of Soviet troops; Whereas Doctor Sakharov was subsequently arrested and exiled to the city of Gorky in direct contravention of Principle VII of the Helsinki Final Act, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; Whereas all freedom-loving peoples should condemn the recent actions of the Soviet Union in denouncing and internally exiling Doctor Sakharov; and Whereas the continued repression of religious believers, scientists, writers, intellectuals, human rights activists, and Helsinki Monitors, including Scharansky, Orlov, Rudenko, Tykhy, Petkus, and many others, is an egregious violation of both Principle VII and Basket Three of the Helsinki Final Act: Now, therefore, be it Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring). That it is the sense of the Congress that, in accordance with the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics should release Andrei Sakharov from internal exile immediately. SEC. 2. The Congress urges the President— (1) to protest, in the strongest possible terms and at the highest levels, the exile of Andrei Sakharov and the continued suppression of human rights in the Soviet Union; (2) to call upon all other signatory nations of the Helsinki Final Act to join in such protests and to take actions against the Soviet Union, including refusal to participate in the 1980 summer Olympics in Moscow, suspension of appropriate trade, economic, and commercial activities with the Soviet Union, and other such sanctions as may be available to them; and (3) to inform immediately the governments of all other signatory nations of the Helsinki Final Act that the United States delegation to the 1980 Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe review meeting intends to raise at that meeting these specific violations of the Helsinki Final Act, including the individual cases of Andrei Sakharov and the Soviet Helsinki Monitors. SEC. 3. The Clerk of the House of Representatives shall transmit copies of this resolution to the Soviet Ambassador to the United States and to the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Agreed to February 19, 1980.
�
