MS-603: Rabbi Marc H. Tanenbaum Collection, 1945-1992. Series D: Internationalional Relations Activities.Activities. 1961-19921961 Box 59, Folder 12,, HHelsinkielsinki Agreement,Agreement, 11978.978.
3101 Clifton Ave, Cincinnati, Ohio 45220 (513) 221-1875 phone, (513) 221-7812 fax americanjewisharchives.org . EXECl.mVE BRANCH~ DANTE B. FASCELL COMMISSIONERS CHAIRMAN PATRICIA M . DERIAN DAVID E . McGIFFERT CLAIBORNE PELL FRANK A . WEIL CO-CHAIR MAH COMMISSION ON , R. SPENCER OUVER COMMISSIONERS . SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EU.ROPE STAFF DJRD:'l'Olt DICK CLARK CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES ALFRED FRIENDLY. JR. PATRICK J. LEAHY · DEPVTY STl#F DJR:EC1'08 RICHARD STONE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515 CLIFFORD P. CASE ROBERT DOLE . .JONATHAN B. BINGHAM PAUL SIMON May 25, 1978 (202) US-1901 SIDNEY R. YATEs JOHN BUCHANAN MILLICENT FENWI~
•. ..
Dear Friend:
In l~ght Qf oµr common interest in and concern for the Helsinki Agreement .and its implementation, we thought you might ·like a copy of the debate and vote on House Concurrent Resolution " 624. expressing the .sense of the. Congress that the Helsinki Final · ,i\ct, as w~ll as· international law, guarantees' th,e right of members of the. }>ublic Groups to Promote Observance of the . . .Helsinki Agreement in the USSR to pursue _their lawful activities~ · ".and urging . the President to continue to express U.S. oppos ition ·": to the imp~isoninent· · of members of the Soviet Helsinki groups •
. . . ~ ..The ·Resolution .unanimously passed the House of Representatives .. on May 18th and the Senate on May 22nd and expresses, we believe, -,the Ccmgress' and the American people's anger and indignation at . t;his ~lag_i;an·t Soviet violation o~ the Helsinki Agreement.
Thank ··you. for ·your continued interest,· and please feel .free to contact the Commission if you have any questions or 1· · >comments.
sincerely,
DANTE B. FASCELL Ch airman . K.., CLAIBORNE PELL Co-Chairman
DBF/CP/ek Enclosure \._\ Q:onyr(ssional ]l(cord United States of America PR9CEEDINGS AND. DEBATES OF THE 9 5th CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION
Vol. 124 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, MAY 18, 1978 No. 74 House of Representatives
P.ROMOTING ·OBSERVANCE 0F ing offered. tion, believe that it ts an lmPorta.nt :res HEI..mmt1 AGREEMENT Mr. ZABLOCKI. :And I know be does olution. I support the resolution. How not sign h:ls name or agree to cosponsor ever., I felt, in view of the last colloquy Mr. ZABLOCKI. Mr. Speaker, I ask a resolution unless he knows what it 1B we had on another unanimous-consent unanimous consent that the Committee in it. request. that 1t should be understoe>Q by on International Relations be discharged the full House that a majority of the from further oODSldera.tion of the con Mr. RDUSSEL01'. Further reserving the right to obJect. Mr. Speaker, I was merilbers .of the committee feel it is now current resolution
.Moorhead, Pa. . Rlcbmond Steiger " The · b~erk ~ounced . the ':following Moss Rinaldo St.Ockman pairs: . Mott! Risenhoover Stratton · ' Murphy, m . Robinson Studds· ·Mr. Jobi>. L. Burton with Mr. CllJ'.ter. . -. ·· · Murphy, N.Y. Rodln·o ··· Stump · Mr. Roberts with Mr. Kasten. Murphy, Pa. Roe Symms Mr. Mitchell of Maryland with Mr. Schulze. Murtha Rogers· Taylor Mr. Teague with Mr. F'?ey. .. Myers, Oary Roncallo Thompson ·Mr. Charles H . Wllscin ·oi Cali!ornla with Rooney Thone Myers. J ohn Tra.xler Mr. McCloakey. Myers. Michael Rose Mr. Jones of Oklahoma with Mr. Whitten. Natcher Rosentbal Treen RostenkoWllkl Trible Mr. Baucus with Mr. . Nlx. · · Neal Mr: AuColn with Mr.. Tsongas. Nedzl Rousselot Udall Nichols Roybal Ullman Mr. Bre~llll'i~e with Mr. Edgar. Rudd van oeerlln Mre. Burke o! Call!ornla with Mr. Cochran Nolan Va.nder Jagt Nowak Ruppe of Mlaslaslppt. Russo vanl.lc Mr. Cornwell with Mr. Rullilela. O'Brien veil Oatar Ryan to Mr. Stokes with Mr. S&raatn. Oberstar Santini Volk.mer Satterlleld waggonner Mr. Downey wlth Mr. Thornton. Obey Mr. with Mr. Walsh. Ottinger Sawyer Walgren oent Schroeder Walker Mr. Holland with Mr. watkl.n8. Pa.netta Wampler Patten Sebellua Mr. Scheuer wtth Mr. TUcker. Patterson Seiberling Waxman So the concurrent resolution was Pattison Sharp weaver agreec;i to. Pease Shipley Weiss Pepper Shuster Wbe.ten The result of the ·vote was announced Sll
Vol. 124 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, MAY 18, 1978 No. 74 Senate
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION punished merely for their actlvltJes and par Chairman of the Presidium ot the Supreme 88-SUBMISSION OF A CONCUR ticipation In the Groups-two, Pyotr Grlgo Soviet o! tile U.S.S.R.. RENT RESOLUTION ON SOVIET renko and Tomas Venclova were strlpp_ed of • Mr. Mr. TRIAL OF HUMAN AC clttzellllhlp while abroad and thus banlsbed PELL. President, the concur RIGHTS from thelr homelanct; another, Malva Landa, rent resolution which I and six of my col TIVISTS had been sent lnto Internal exile; and ntne leagues are pleased to submit today is, in Mr. PELL (for himself. Mr. CASE, Mr. _.teen others, Eduard Arutyunyan; Zvfad one respect, like the 1975 Helsinki accord CLARK, Mr. DoLE, Mr. STONE, Mr. LEAHY, Gamsaltburdla, Alek5andr Olnzburg, Orlgory with which it deals. Neither document and Mr. BAYH) submitted the· following Ooldshtetn,. Ambartsum Khlgatya-'n, Merab Kostava, Levlto Lultyanenko, MyrOs!av M&ry has the binding force of law. Both are concurrent resolution, which was re novycb, Mykola Matusevych, Robert Nazar simply declarations of intent, but they ferred to the Committee on Foreign Re- yan, Yur~ Orlov, Vlktoraa Petkus, Alekaandr carry great. political weight. lations. · Podrablnek, Viktor Jltskhiladze, Mykola The Soviet Union has already dam 8. CoN. RES. 88 Rudenko, Feub Berebrov; .Anatoly Shcba• d.ged its international standing by dis Whereas, the Fine.I Act of the Conference ransky. Olek:Sly Tyk.hy, &J:!.d Pyotr Vtns are regarding many provisions of the Final on Securlty and Cooperation In Europe com pre8ently lmprtsoned; and Act of the Conference on Security and mits the signatory countrles to respect hu Whereas: Soviet authorltlee have already Cooperation in Europe. The Soviet Union man rights and fundamental freedoms; and tried and cori.vlcted several Publlc Group will also damage the development of Whereas, the Signatory states bave pledged members and their associates for thelr ac normal. U.S.-U.S.S.R. relations if it con themselves to "fUlfill In gooct faith thelr ob ~tv1t:tes In promoting the standards ot the Ugations under 1nternattona1 law"; and ffelsinkl Flnlll Act; a.nd tinues to punish Soviet citizens for en · Whereas. the Universal Declaratlon or Whereas. Yurt Orlov. the leader and touud ga8-ing in activities which their govern· Huma.n Rights guarantees to all the rights lllg member of·the Moscow Group. was con ment pledged ill the Helsinki accord to of treedom or .tho~ht. conactence, religion. victed this week Ill the Soviet capltal tor resp.ect. opinion, anct expression; and «ttch activities and sentenced to seven years The resolution, though lengthy. ls Whereas, the Internattonai Covenant 011 in prison camp and five years in internal Civll and Polltlce.l Rights guarantees that exUe, and Zvlad Oamsakhurdta· and Merab simple. It calls on the leadership of the everyone shall have the right to freedom of Kostava, two !oundlng members of the Soviet Union to cease the vicious cam thought, colllld.ence and religion and the Gilorg1an Oroup, were brought to trial in paign of repression begun more than a right to hold oplnlons without lnterterence; TbUJ.sl this week as well to !ace similar year u.go against the courageous indi and charges; and viduals in Moscow, Ukraine, Lithuania, Whereas, the Soviet Union signed the Whereas, the activities ot the Public Group Georgia, and Armenia who have worked CSCE F1n.a1 Act, 1s a party to the Universal a.ad their members should be protected and to have their own government implement Declaration of Human Rights, and J:ias rati not punished Jn accordance Wlth the Hel fied the International Covena.nt on Civil and stnkl Final Act, the Universal Declaration the human rights promises it made at Polltlcal Rights; a.nd and the International Covenant; and ffelsinld. Their efforts to ~ubl1clze viola-· Whereas, Principle vn of the F1neJ Act Whereas. the arrests and trials of all the ttons. of.the liclsiDki ·accord....:....vioiations. specJ.6.cally con.6.rms the "right of the lndl members ot these groups call Into question in ef!ect, of international standards of vidue.1 to know and act upon his rights anct the tntentlon of the Soviet Un1on to adhere human rights-have been treated by d uttes" 1n the field or human rights and In good fatth to tbe International treaties Soviet Police and courts as criminal ac Principle IX coD.11.rms the relevant and posi and agreements to whlcb It ts a party; Now . ti'vities. But what can ·be criminal, under tive role by lndlvldual8 In the implementa therefore be It any reasonable standard of Justice. 1n the tion of the Final Act's provisions; and Resolved by the Senate (the House of Rep open discussion of such issues as the Whe~s. act.Ing In conformity wlth these resentatives concurring), That It I& the con11rmed rights., tndlv1du.al8 in the Soviet !lense of the Congress that. 111 conlormlty right to travel, the rlght to receive mail Unton .rorm.ed the Public Groups to Promote wlth the Helsinki Final Act. the Universal and telephone calls, the right to be free Observance of the Hel81nk.t Agreement in the Declara.tton of Human RlghtB. the Interna from arbitrary search, arrest or forcible U.S.S.R. and sought, through those Groups tional Covenant on Clvll and Political Rights psychiatric confinement. the right to tn Moscow, Ukraine, Lithua.nta. Georgia and and basic standards of Justice, the unjustly practice a rellgious faith, the right to Armenta, to call the attention of public imprisoned members anct a1W.iates of the so preserve an ethnic minority's culture and opinion, their· own government and other viet Helsinki Groups sbould be granted their language? Final Act signatories to documented viola freedom and allowed to pursue their lawful If tion.a of human rights by compiling and Is activities In behalf of basic human rights the 22 members of the Soviet Hel suing open, thorough reports on official pra\: without !urther harassment, and sinki Watch imprisoned by Soviet au:: ttces toward religious believers, persons seek Be it turther resolved, That the Congress thoritles in the last 15 months had con ing to rejoin or visit relatives abroad, per urges the Prestctent, the Secretary of State duct.eel their activities secretively, per sons confined In mental hospitals because of and other appropriate e:z:eC1,1tlve branch olD• haps one could see in their work a. plot their political beliefs, persons contlned Jn -::!ala to continue to e:z:presa at every suitable against the regime. But theirs was at })rtsona, prtson camps or intern.al exile be opportunity und In the strongest terms the worst a conspiracy ot conscience. And cause of thelr efforts to express sucb beliefs opposition of the United Sta.tell to the lm the unjust sentences already imposed on or dtssemlna.te their v1ews and lntormatton. prl.eonment O! the Helslnk1 Group member,;, and minority groups s~klng cultural and ~d . some of them. the unconscionably long polltlcal rights In the Soviet Unlon; and Be it further resolved, That a copy ot this detention of others, must rest instead on Whereas, twenty-two members o! the resolution be tranamtttect to the Sovlet Am the consciences of Soviet leaders. Public Groups and .their a1!lllates have been bassador to the United States and to the This week in the Soviet capital the head of the Moscow Helsinki. Watch, Their actions are also supported by desirability of cooperation with the So Prof. Yuri Orlov,.was convicted and sen principle 9, entitled Cooperation Among viet Union in ·any field under serious tenced to 7 years in prison camp and 5 States. which confirms the relevant and question.. · years in internal exile in a courtroom to positive role individuals and organiza e Mr. CASE. Mr. President, Yuri Orlov which no outside observers were ad tions. as well as governments can play in has been tried a.nd convicted in a Moscow mitted. His wife, who was nllowed to at reaching the goals of the Final Act. City court under two Soviet statutes, one tend, was harassed every time she at TH.lAL VIOi.ATES SOVIJ:.'T CONST1Tt1TION calling for a conviction for "anti-Soviet tempted to make even a sketchy record But even if the Soviet Union wanted agitation" and another calling for con of the proceeding. Soviet authorities to ignore its international agreements viction for "anti-Soviet propaganda.." treated the trial as though It dealt with and commitments, one would think that Between the two statutes, under Soviet state secrets, when, in fact, their only it would abide by its own much-touted law the one concerned with anti-Soviet reason for hiding the workings of their constitution. Article 49 of the Constitu agitation' is the more serious. The prose justice from the world must be their tion states "persecution for criticisms is cutor in the case has asked for a severe own shame at the injustice they are per prohibited'' and article 51 declares that sentence in light of the Orlov conviction. petrating. ''citizens of the U.S.S.R. have the right to He has called for 7 years imprisonment When Pro!essor Orlov joined in found associate in public organizations that 8Jld an additional 5 years in exile in the ing the Moscow Public Group to Promote promote their political activity and initi U.S.S.R. while the city court may rec Observance of the Helsinki Agreement ative and satisfaction of their variolis ommend a d.Uferent sentence, it is likely in the U.S.S.R. in May, 1976, he appealed interest. Public organizations are guar there will be a jail term for Mr. Orlov. ~ all the other Helsinki signatories to anteed conditions for successfully per Mr. Orlov claimed he acted pursuant protect him and his colleagues from the forming the functions defined in their to the Helsinki a.greements which repression he foresaw. These were his rules." Apparently the Soviet constitu prom.i:;cd certain rights and privileges words: tional rights do not extend to all citizens to citizens of the signatory powers. The problem.;; or security ln tod11y's world equally. However, in his presentation in the Me ln.eeparable from humanitarian problems. That the Soviets barred reportel's, dis court, Mr. Orlov was not permitted to This ts tbe evident rationale for the h\lman- sidents and a U .s. observer from entering eall witnesses or to establish that docu 1Ul.rlan provisions ot the Final Act. And why all peoples and all government West in its commitment to human rights. aganda," and the Helsinki accords. Mr. Orlov and the other members of This is a dangerous a.nd erroneous con Should the Supreme Soviet fail to allow the Helsinki Watch Groups have been in clusion for the Soviets to arrive at. It can an appeal to be taken on this basis, tJien volved in none other than a courageous lead t;o serious miscalculations on their observance of the Helsinki agreements public effort to promote the aims of the part and could endanger many future by the U.S.S.R. must be c!Jlled into seri Final Act, as set forth in principle. 7 cooperative ventures. ous question. of the Bnsket I Declaration of Principles If the Soviet Union is indeed serious Because o! specific American interest about detente e.nd cooperation with us, in this matter, as a signatory state to the which calls the states to: Helsinki agreements, I would urge the Promote l\lld encourage tbe effective exer its actions to date have not reflected this ci,;e of civil, political, economic, social, cul desire. Deeds speak louder than words President to urge tl1e Soviet authorities tural, and other rights and freedoms. and those of the past few days bring the to allow an appeal to be taken on this be.s.ls. It would seem to me that on the of Solzhenitsyn, "prosperity at any crime. well accepted principle of international price." They could not be more wrong. The Helsinki Monitoring Group re law of ·•comity between states" that the More than anything else, . the Soviet vealed that the Soviet authorities have u.s.s.R. should acquiesce in this request. Union must understand that we are a persecuted Pentacostalist religious In addition, should the appeal not be people of values 8$. well as interests. groups. Religious persecution Is no crime allowed on the basis of this confiict in Those interestS are not served when our under the Soviet system. The crlme, as law, it seems to me that.. matter must be basic values as a Nation are outraged. Yuri Orlov hn.s learned, ls to speak out raised by all the signatory powers to the To say :anything less to the Kremlin at against it. Hels1llki agreement. this point in our relations would be. to The Hels!nkl Monitoring Group re My hope is that the Soviet Union Will mislead them and ourselves in our ef vealed to the world that some impover not carry on actions against Mr. Orlov forts to tmprove those relations. ished Soviet workers wish to leave that which so clearly seem to contravene the workers' paradise in order to find better spirit, intent, and letter of the Helsinki ·:.i Ma1i 21i, ).9'18 lives elsewhere. A criminal thing to re accords. Mr. Orlov, as· is well known, EXPRF.SSION OF U.S. OPPOSITION port, says Soviet justice. n may be true; was the founder of the first public group TO IMPRISONMENT OF' MEM Just do not talk about it. in the U.S.S.R. to "Promote Observance BERB OF THE SOVIET HELSINlD Mr. President, SOviet Justice has found of the Helsinki Accords." Our stake· in GROUPS Yuri Ol'lov guilty. It has found two other th!s matter runs as deeply as does his Mr. ROBERT C. BYRD. Mr. President, Soviets guilty. It has the same in st.ore own.~ I ask unanimous consent that the Chair for Scharansky, for Ginsburg, and no TRIAL OP Ytro.I OIU.OV lay before the Senate a message from the doubt, for the many other lonely heroes Mr. · BAYH . Mr. President, reports House of Representatives on House and heroines who have had the uncom from the U.S.S.R. of the sentencing of c;oncurrent Resolution 624. mon courage to stand for simple decency human rights advocate Yuri Orlov to 7 ·The PRESIDING OFFICER la.id be against the might ·of the Soviet state. years' hard labor and 5 years internal fore the Senate House Concurrent Reso The soviet Government may suppress exile has angered and saddened people lution 624 expressing the ·sense of the the,se individuals. .But even the KGB, the world over who are committed to the Congress that the Hels1nlt1 Final Act, as cannot kllitJie"idea of liberty. Aild there cause of human cUgnity and freedom. well as international law, guarantees the can be no mistake about it-the idea of The mistreatment and harassment of right of the members of the Public liberty ls loose in the Soviet Union today. Mrs. Orlov can likewise only be deplored. GroUPs to Promote Observance of the Mr. ·President, there 1s enormous The incredible spectacle of Nobel Prize Helsinki Agreement in the Union of So irony in the "crime" for which Mr. Orlov winner Andrei Sakharov being rii.shed viet Socialist Republics to pursue their has been convicted. away by Soviet police suggests as well lawful activities and urging the Presi How, I ask you, can ·Orlov or anyone the contempt Moscow must hold interna dent to continue to exPress U.S. opposi else slander a state whose own actions tional opinion. tion to the imprisonment ot members of bring down upon it the scorn and con Let us hope, Mr. President, that the the Soviet Helsinki GroupS. tempt of civilized hwnanity? If it is a crime in the Soviet Union conclusion of this first proceed.i.rig The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there aga.l.Dst the Helsinki Watch Group ls riot to make the country look absurd, then objection: tO the-immediate ccm.sideratton let them put the judge in this· case on a.n indication of what lies ahead for of the concurrent resolution? Alexander Ginzburg 8lld Anatoly trial. Let them haul Mr. Brezhnev into There being no objection. the Senat.e th'e dock. Let them try the secret police, Shcha.ra.nslty and other Soviet citiZens proceeded to eoosider tbe concurrent whose only "crftne" has been to insist the informers. and the Communist party resolution. offi.cials who are so frightened, so inse that their country abide by the prin Mr. ROBERT c. BYRD. :Mr. President, ciples contained in the Helsinki Accords. cure in their moral claim to power that I believe Mr. METZENBAUM has a state they make tl)eir great country the laugh Regrettably, if the history of pa.st polit meni he wa.ntS to make on Uilii resolu ical trials in the Soviet Union is any in ingstock of the world. tion. Before yielding the ftoor, I want to · Mr. President, the resolution before us dication of future performance by Soylet thank Mr. HATCH for his courtesy in authorities, I fear the Orlov trial is a yielding. today does not constitute an attempt to harbinger of future proceedings. interfere in the internal aaairs of the Mr. METLENBAUM. Mr. President, it Soviet Union. What ls going on now fa the Soviet Js with a feeling of great sadness that I Rather. it represents a call to the So Union must be condemned. mt~out hesi rise to ask the senate to add its approval viet Union to honor international obli tation or equivocation. We must a.ct to that given by the House to House gations freely undertaken by that coun- quicklY to put the. s .enate on reeord to Concurrent Resolution 624. This resolu trY. . . this end, and I am proud to join with tion expresses the strong support of the · It says to the Soviet Union that the several of. my colleagues today in SPon Congress of the United States. for the peculiar Soviet concept of Justice is not so1'1n8 a. resollltion· ca.I.Ung for the release brave struggle of Soviet dissidents to ex acceptable to the rest of the world. et these brave fndf.viduals iii order that ercise the fundamental right to free ex And it says to the Soviets that they they .ciUg.ht. be auO\Ved tO' resume their pression guaranteed to them by tl;le final slander themselves and they slander their lawful activWes; ID adxl'ltfon, I would' act of the Helsinki conference, the uni system by indulging 1n this contemptible hope that the President Will denounce versal declaration of human rights and the international convention on civil.and persecution of men and women who, I am the Orlov trial and'· the Soviet court's conftdent. will someday be honored in the harsh sentence. · · political rights-documents to which the 19oviet union as the prophet.a of a new Perhaps the Soviet authorities believe Soviet Union is a signatory. and better time for the Soviet people. they are asserting the sovereignty of the I find this a sad occasion, Mr. Presi u .S.S.R. by sanctioning the. brutal treat dent, because of the shocking news that The PRF.SIDING OFFICER. The ment of Nobel Prize winners. They are has cotne from Russia of the conviction question ls 'on agreeing to the resolution. wrong. of :Yuri Orlov, a brave man. or the curi The reaolution CH. Con. Res. ISZ4> was Perhaps Moscow truly believes that ous crime of slandering the Soviet sys acrreea tc>. Jews and other ethnic groups can de tem. After a trial that can only be de The pr~ble was agieed to. stroy the will' of these people to jotil scribed as a scandal and a farce, Orlov Mr. JAVITS. Mr. President, I will Ju.st friends and loved ones in Israel and was sentenced to 7 years in prison and an be a minute. elsewhere. They are wrong. additional 5 years of Internal exile. Mr. President, ilrit, !'would llke to ex It could be that the Kremlin thinks Mr. President, let us consider the press my approval of the action taken that by sentencing to prison men like crimes of Yuri ·Orlov. by the Senate in respect to the resolu Yuri Orlov and Anatoly Shchar ansky Orlov a.nd other members .of the Hel tion which hu Just been passed by the they can incarcerate their ideas as well. sinki Monitor.Ing Group published a re Senate unanimously, thereby concurring They a.re wrong. port-On a village called D.yinka, filled with with the House in the matter of the And it could be that the Soviet Union Jews who want to leave the Soviet. Union. a.dmlnlstration by the Soviet Union of thJnks that we do not really mean what but have been refused permission. . the promises which it made in the Hel we say about human rights and that we The people of Dyinka are ·happy, say sinki declaration respecting human in th_e West are p~Uing. ln the .words the Soviets, and to say otherwiSe ls a rights. · ... ·-··-.... •. , ... - . ' . ·- ··- · ·.·· ·'"7-·.. ," • . ·.·-· •. ,
CO.M·MISSION ON SECURITY C.OOP.ERATION . ·1N EUROPE ...... __,) . AND DANTE B. FASCEL.l., CHAIRMAN ROOM 3257, HOUSE OFFICE ~UILDING, ANNEX 2 U.S. HOUSE .OF REPRESENTATIVES ... cc WASHINGTON, 0.C. 20515 (202:) 225-1901
FOR IMMlEDIATE RELEASE May 31. 1978
Washington, May 31--Three prominent U.S. trial attorneys will
testify· next week ~efore a jo~nt ~xecutive-Congressional commission about
the current wave of repression in the Soviet Union aimed at human rights
activists.
Scheduled to appear at hearings before the Commission on Security
and Cooperation in Europe. are former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, and
civil rights legal experts Edward Bennett Williams and Alan Dershowitz.
·George Fletcher of the University of California, a noted expert on Soviet
law, will also appear at the hearings, according to ~ep . Dante B. Fascell,
(D. _Fla .• ),- chairma~ : .c>f the Commission.
The hearin~s will focus primarily on the legal pretexts that Soviet
authorities have used to arrest. and try .members of Helsinki Monitoring . . .Groups.. who vave sought to pressl!re t.he Soviet government to comply wi~
the human rights provisions of the Helsinki Accord. Earlier .this month,
a founder of the Helsinki Monitoring Group ·in Moscow, Yuri Orlov, was
sentenced -to seven ye~rs hard .labor and five years interna:). exile for
alleged anti-Soviet propaganda activities. ·
·Clark, Williams and Dershowitz have all taken an active interest
in aiding the defense of Helsinki Monitoring Group members Aleksandr
Ginzburg, Anatoly Shcharansky, Mykola Rudenko and Oleks~y Tykhy as well
as Orlo.v. All but Ginzburg and Shcharal)sky, who are impriso~ed awaiting
trial, have. been convicted and sentenced by Soviet courts because of
their Helsinki related activities. U.S. atto~neys have been refused
• & · ·~ - permission by Soviet authorities even to attend the trials of the accused
men, Fascell said.
The hearings are scheduled for ·9 a.m. ·Tuesday, June 6 in ro.om
2212 of the Rayburn House Office Building, where two new Commission
studies will also be released. The studies include biographical informa-
tion on Helsinki Monitoring Group members and background on Soviet law
.and legal proce.dures used against: them .
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Meg Donovan or Ester Kurz: (202) 2is 1901