Liberation Front protests Soviet repression, Helsinki act (12/28/80)

Liberation Front protests Soviet repression, Helsinki act

OTTAWA - Nearly 450 people picketed the Soviet Embassy here for two days on December 6 and 7 - to protest Soviet subjugation of East European countries and to voice their opposition to the Helsinki Accords. Organizers of the demonstration, which included members of the Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada as well as representatives from the Latvian, Lithuanian, Estonian and Polish communities, said that the 1975 accords, which include provisions on human rights, primarily serve the interests of Moscow, reported the Ukrainian Central Information Service.

The demonstration was coordinated by the various organizations of the Ukrainian Liberation Front and was scheduled for early December to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was adopted by the United Nations on December 10, 1948. The rally also marked the signing of the U.N. Declaration on Independence for Colonial Countries and Peoples on December 14, 1960.

Ed Broadbent, leader of the National Democratic Party, briefly joined the demonstrators in front of the embassy and extended his support for their cause. Another member of Canada's Parliament, Progressive Conservative Michael Wilson, spoke on the value of freedom, human rights and the need to struggle for those ideals. His remarks echoed the words of Yuriy Hanas, who earlier opened the demonstration.

Spokesman for the demonstrators, many of whom carried placards demanding the release of Soviet political prisoners Lev Lukianenko, Vasyl Stus and Yuriy Shukhevych, called for the revocation of the Soviet-Canadian "friendship protocol" as well as other diplomatic sanctions against the Soviet Union. They also contended that the Helsinki agreement, which gave the Soviets de jure recognition of post World War II borders, was ineffective in forcing the Soviets to discontinue prosecuting political prisoners. The demonstrators pointed out that the Soviet Union continues to persecute Helsinki monitors, still has troops in Afghanistan and is threatening to invade Poland - all actions that violate the Helsinki agreement.

The demonstration ended with a public rally on Parliament Hill on December 7 and a march to the Soviet Embassy.

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