A resolution in the House calling for the Soviet Union to immediately release Prisoner of Conscience Anatoly Shcharansky and allow him to emigrate to Israel was passed unanimously yesterday.
The resolution, which was introduced by Rep. Richard Ottinger (D. N.Y.), and which had 219 co-sponsors, also urged President Reagan and Secretary of State George Shultz to raise the issue “in strongest terms” with Soviet officials. The resolution expressed the opinion of the House and does not carry the force of law.
Ottinger said the U.S. must bring up the subject of Shcharansky and other imprisoned Soviet Jews at the April 19 negotiations on the Helsinki human rights accord in Madrid. The lawmaker said the Soviet treatment of Shcharansky “clearly violates Soviet obligations under international law and makes a mockery of their stated commitment to the Helsinki agreement.”
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