Reports of Helsinki Accord Monitors in the Soviet
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COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES WASHINGTON, D.C. 20515 REPORTS OF HELSINKI ACCORD MONITORS IN THE SOVIET UNION VOLUME THREE OF THE DOCUMENTS OF THE PUBLIC GROUP TO PROMOTE OBSERVANCE OF THE HELSINKI AGREEMENTS IN THE USSR A PARTIAL COMPILATION, EDITED AND PREPARED BY THE STAFF OF THE COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE NOVEMBER 7, 1978 Table of Contents Page I Statements of the Moscow Helsinki Group: In Defense of Aleksandr Podrabinek and Iosif Terelya--An Appeal 1 Statement to the Press on Joining H.A.I.G. 2 Statement on Charter '77 4 On the. Life of Soviet Workers by Anatoly Marchenko 5 II Documents of the Moscow Helsinki Group: Document No. 24 Discrimination Against the Crimean Tatars 11 Continues Document No. 25 To the Heads of Signatory States of the Helsinki 23 Final Act Document No. 27 On the Pre-Trial Detention of Orlov, Ginzburg 25 and Shcharansky Document No. 31 An Appeal for Levko Lukyanenko 27 Document No. 32 On Violations of the Right to a Free Choice of 29 One's Country of Residence Document No. 33 In Defense of Aleksandr Zinoviev 36 Document No. 34 Statement on the Lengthy Illegal Detention of 38 Professor Yuri Orlov in Prison Document No. 35 Statement to the Belgrade Conference 40 Document No. 36 Announcement on the Formation of an Association 41 of Free Labor Unions in the Soviet Union Document No. 37 Statement on the Need to Create a Free and 43 Independent Association of Disabled Persons Document No. 38 On the Right to a Fair Pension 45 Document No. 39 On the Belgrade Conference 49 Document No. 40 On the Case of Anatoly Shcharansky 50 Document No. 41 On the Revocation of P.G. Grigorenko's Soviet 51 Citizenship Document No. 42 On the Revocation of M. Rostropovich and G. 52 Vishnevskaya's Soviet Citizenship Document No. 43 Discrimination Against the Crimean Tatars and 53 Mustafa Dzhemilev Document No. 45 Persecution of Adventists 56 Document No. 46 Deprivation of the Right to Employment and 59 Housing on Political Grounds Document No. 47 The Abuse of Labor Legislation 65 Document No. 48 Ten Years of 'The Chronicle of Current Events' 69 Document No. 49 On Violations of the Right of Kolkhozniks to 70 Emigrate and to Leave the Kolkhoz Document No. 50 The Trial of Professor Yuri Orlov 73 Document No. 51 On the Arrest of Aleksandr Podrabinek 75 Document No. 52 The Arrest of Vladimir Slepak and the Institu- 77 tion of Criminal Proceedings Against Maria Slepak and Ida Nudel Document No. 53 Additional Information on the Orlov Trial 79 Document No. 54 -- On the Trials of Vladimir Slepak and Ida Nudel 89 Document No. 55 -- To the International Olympic Committee Presi- 90 dent, Lord M. Killanin Document No. 56 -- On the Trials of Anatoly Shcharansky, Aleksandr 92 Ginzburg and Viktoras Petkus III Joint Statements of the Moscow and Ukrainian Helsinki Groups: A Pre-Belgrade Summary 97 Supplement to Professor Yuri Orlov's Proposal for an International 109 Conference on Declassification of Information The Rudenko-Tykhy Trial 110 New Repressions and a New Stage in the Human Rights Movement in 114 the USSR IV Documents of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group: Memorandum No. 2 -- Concerning the Participation of Ukraine in the 130 Belgrade Conference, 1977 Statement on the Fate of Bohdan Chuiko 134 To the Belgrade Conference to Review Implementation of the 138 Helsinki Accords Information Bulletin No. 1 141 An Open Letter on Mykola Rudenko 150 A Letter to the Executive of the Socialist International and to 152 all Socialists Throughout the World on Levko Lukyanenko Statement on the Trials of Helsinki Monitors 156 V Documents of the Lithuanian Helsinki Group: Document No. 3 -- In Defense of Mart Niklus 158 Document No. 4 -- The Jurgutis and Anvoldaite-Belapetravichiene 159 Family Reunification Cases Document No. 5 -- The Arrest of Henrikas Jaskunas 160 Document No. 6 -- On Discrimination Against the Volga Germans in 161 the USSR Document No. 7 -- On Erik Udam and KGB Attempts to Enlist Him as a 162 'Dissident' Document No. 8 -- Persecution of the Vasilev Family, Russian Pen- 163 tecostals Living in Vilnius, Lithuania Document No. 9 -- On the Situation of Lithuanian Former Political 165 Prisoners Document No. 10-- On the Arrest of Balys Gajauskas 167 Document No. 11 -- On the Persecution of Enn Tarto 168 Document No. 12 -- On the Psychiatric Imprisonment of Algirdas Zipre 169 Statement on the Situation of the Roman Catholic Church and of 170 Other Believers in Lithuania VI Documents of the Armenian Helsinki Group: To the Delegates of the Belgrade Conference and Armenian Fellow 177 Countrymen--Supplement Statement of Armenian Helsinki Group Member Robert Nazaryan with a 178 Request for Acceptance into the Helsinki Agree- ment Implementation Group An Appeal to the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian 179 SSR An Appeal to Armenians Abroad 181 A Collection to Aid Political Prisoners and Their Families--A 182 Supplement i. INTRODUCTION This volume is the third compilation of selected documents emerging from the Helsinki accord monitoring groups in the Soviet Union published by the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. In a sampling of reports written between late 1976 and the summer of 1978, it is intended, as in the previous compilations, to illustrate the broad range of human rights concerns of the various monitoring groups whose common goal is the furthering of Final Act implementation in their own country. Efforts to promote CSCE compliance in the Soviet Union began in May of 1976 when 11 human rights activists in Moscow, led by Yuri Orlov, formed the first Public Group to Promote Observance of the Helsinki Agreements. Inspired by its example, other Helsinki groups were formed in Kiev, Vilnius, Yerevan and Tbilisi. Additional independent organizations with more narrowly defined focus, such as the Christian Committee for the Defense of Believers' Rights and the Working Commission on the Abuse of Psychiatry for Political Purposes, also emerged. Today, more than 50 group members, repre- senting a broad spectrum of religious, ethnic and professional affiliations, are actively documenting human rights violations and engaged in promoting implementation of the Helsinki accord. While maintaining their individual identities, Soviet monitoring groups have frequently collaborated in their efforts to promote human rights. When the Lithuanian and Ukrainian groups were formed, for example, the Moscow group sponsored a joint news conference to publicize their creation. The Christian Committee, composed of four members of the Russian Orthodox Church, has written appeals on behalf of Adventists, Jews and Baptists. On occasion, two or more groups have issued joint declarations and other documents. Ordinary Soviet citizens, learning of the Helsinki groups via Western radio broadcasts, have traveled thousands of miles from remote regions in order to present documented evidence on human rights violations. Similarly, monitoring group members have journeyed great distances to conduct interviews and related research. Representatives of the Moscow group, for example, were sent to the northern Caucasus and to distant Nakhodka to visit Pentecostal communities desiring to emigrate. The representative documents of the Soviet Helsinki monitoring groups reproduced here address a wide range of human rights concerns: repressions of group members, violations of the rights of ethnic minorities, difficulties of emigration from the USSR, problems of religious believers and difficulties of current and former political prisoners. Economic concerns are also treated in several documents in the compilation. The Soviet monitoring groups carry out their work in an extremely repressive environment. Although 20 members of these organizations have been arrested and imprisoned, many new members have joined. Frequently, documents have been confiscated by the KGB. During a search of Orlov's apart- ment in Moscow, for example, material documenting persecution of parents advocating religious practices for their children was removed. In another case, Aleksandr Ginzburg's residence was searched and information on the health of seriously ill political prisoners was seized. ii. The documents of the Soviet Helsinki monitors are truly a testament to their strength, courage and dedication. Their long-range goal -- the achieve- ment of a humane society based on respect for law -- has yet to be realized. But already they have attained a moral victory in gaining the attention and respect of private and governmental groups throughout the world. (The Commission is grateful to Khronika Press of New York, ELTA News Service, the Committee for the Defense of Soviet Political Prisoners, Radio Liberty Research and Smoloskyp for assistance with some of the translations published in this collection). Materials on the Soviet Helsinki Groups published by the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe: 1. Reports of Helsinki Accord Monitors in the Soviet Union; Documents of the Public Groups to Promote Observance of the Helsinki Agreements in the USSR (February 24 and June 3, 1977) 2. Basket III: Implementation of the Helsinki Accords: Hearings before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; Volume IV: Soviet Helsinki Watch, Reports on Repressions (June 6, 1977) 3. The Right to Know, the Right to Act; Documents of Helsinki Dissent from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (May 1978) 4. Profiles: The Helsinki Monitors (June 6, 1978) 5. Basket Three: Implementation of the Helsinki Accords: Hearings before the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe; Volume VI: Soviet Law and the Helsinki Monitors (June 6, 1978) In the interest of providing information about the continuing activity of the Soviet Helsinki Groups, the staff of the Commission on Security and Coopera- tion in Europe has prepared this compilation. The views expressed in these materials are those of the Soviet Helsinki Groups. iii. Information on the 20 Imprisoned Members of the Soviet Helsinki Groups: Moscow Aleksandr Ginzburg - arrested February 3, 1977; charged with anti- Soviet agitation and propaganda (Article 70 RSFSR CC).