Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 106 Part 1.djvu/887

This page needs to be proofread.

PUBLIC LAW 102-333—AUG. 4, 1992 106 STAT. 855 Public Law 102-338 102d Congress Joint Resolution To designate August 1, 1992, as "Helsinki Human Rights Day". Whereas August 1, 1992, is the seventeenth anniversary of the signing of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) (hereafter in this preamble referred to as the "Helsinki accords"); Whereas the Helsinki accords were agreed to by the Governments of Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Byelarus, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, the Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistsin, Turkey, Turkmenistan, IHa'aine, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Uzbekistan, and Yugoslavia; Whereas the Helsinki accords express the commitment of the paiticipating States to "respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief, for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion"; Whereas the participating States have committed themselves to "ensure that their laws, regulations, practices and poUcies conform with their obligations under international law and are brought into harmony with the provisions of the Declaration of Principles and other CSCE commitments"; Whereas the participating States have committed themselves to "respect the equal rights of peoples and their right to self-determination, acting at all times m conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and with the relevant norms of international law, including those relating to territorial integrity of States"; Whereas the participating States have affirmed that the "ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of nationed minorities will be protected and that persons belonging to national minorities have the right to freely express, preserve and develop that identity without any discrimination and in full equaUty before the law"; Whereas the participating States have recognized that the free will of the individual, exercised in democracy and protected by the rule of law, forms the necessary basis for successftd economic and social development; Whereas the participating States have committed themselves to respect ftdly the right of everyone to leave any country, including their own, and to return to their country; Aug. 4.1992 [S.J. Res. 310]