1 IMPLEMENTATION OF THE HELSINKI ACCORDS HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMIUSSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE NINETY-NINTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION RESTRICTIONS ON ARTISTIC FREEDOM IN THE SOVIET UNION, OCTO- BER 29, 1985; AND THE BUDAPEST CULTURAL FORUM, DECEMBER 11, 1985 Printed for the use of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 57-213 0 WASHINGTON 1986 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE ALFONSE M. D'AMATO, New York, Chairman STENY H. HOYER, Maryland, Cochairman JOHN HEINZ, Pennsylvania DANTE B. FASCELL, Florida JAMES A. McCLURE, Idaho SIDNEY R. YATES, Illinois MALCOLM WALLOP, Wyoming TIMOTHY E. WIRTH, Colorado GORDON J. HUMPHREY, New Hampshire EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts CLAIBORNE PELL, Rhode Island DON RITTER, Pennsylvania PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey RUSSELL B. LONG, Louisiana JACK F. KEMP, New York DENNIS DECONCINI, Arizona JOHN EDWARD PORTER, Illinois EXECUTIVE BRANCH Hon. RICHARD NORMAN PERLE, Department of Defense Vacancy, Department of Commerce Vacancy, Department of State MICHAEL R. HATHAWAY, Staff Director MARY SUE HAFNER, General Counsel ROBERT HAND, Coordinator (ID) CONTENTS WITNESSES OCTOBER 29, 1985 Page Scammell, Mr. Michael, writer on Soviet censorship, Woodrow Wilson Center. 13 Vidov, Mr. Oleg, Soviet film actor and director ......................................................... 24 Shostakovich, Mr. Maxim, Soviet conductor and pianist ......................................... 33 Aksyonov, Mr. Vasily, Soviet novelist and screenwriter .......................................... 35 Jacobs, Mr. George, expert on radio jamming ............................................................ 38 DECEMBER 11, 1985 Stoessel, Ambassador Walter J., Jr., head of delegation to the Budapest Cul- tural Forum................................................................................................................... 63 Taylor, Mr. Billy, eminent jazz composer and pianist, cultural figure to U.S. delegation to Budapest Cultural Forum ............................................................ 87 Ives, Mr. David O., vice-chairman of WGBH (Boston), cultural figure to U.S. delegation to Budapest Cultural Forum ............................................................. 91 Fleischman, Ms. Janet, assistant to the executive director, Helsinki Watch Committee..................................................................................................................... 98 APPENDIXES Appendix 1-Statement submitted by the World Congress of Free Ukrainians on Artistic Freedom in the. Soviet Union ............................................................ 117 Appendix 2-Statement submitted by Leonard Terlitsky, architect, on artistic freedom in the Soviet Union ............................................................ 128 Appendix 3-Questions submitted to hearing witnesses by Cochairman Hoyer. 131 Appendix 4-Speeches made by U.S. delegation at Budapest Cultural Forum... 149 Appendix 5-Western draft final document tabled at Budapest Cultural Forum.. ...................... ...............................................I............................... 160 Appendix 6-List of U.S. cultural personalities attending the Budapest Cul- tural Forum................................................................................................................... 168 (III) PUBLIC HEARING ON RESTRICTIONS ON ARTISTIC FREEDOM IN THE SOVIET UNION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 1985 COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE, Washington, DC The Commission met, pursuant to notice, in room 210, Cannon House Office Building, at 10 a.m., Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato, chairman, and Representative Steny H. Hoyer, cochairman, presid- ing. In attendance: Commissioners and Senators John Heinz, Gordon J. Humphrey, and Dennis DeConcini; Commissioners and Repre- sentatives Dante B. Fascell, Don Ritter, and Christopher H. Smith. Also in attendance: Michael R. Hathaway, staff director, and Mary Sue Hafner, general counsel of the Commission. OPENING STATEMENT OF COCHAIRMAN HOYER Cochairman HOYER. Ladies and gentlemen, I want to welcome you to this hearing on restrictions on creative freedom in the Soviet Union. We have several distinguished visitors with us who will be testi- fying, and I want to welcome them and thank each one of them for participating in this hearing. Senator D'Amato, chairman of the Commission, is at another hearing, presently, and, therefore, will be late. To my left is the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and formerly chairman of the Helsinki Commission, Representative Dante Fas- cell, who has provided outstanding leadership over the years in the cause of human rights. To my right is Senator Gordon Humphrey, a new member of the Commission, but who is giving the Commission new vitality, and we very much appreciate working with him. The Commission is fortunate to have such an eminent group of witnesses before it today. This hearing has been called to receive testimony on restrictions on creative freedom in the Soviet Union. There is no doubt that there are major impediments to free artistic expression in the Soviet Union. The artist has little, if any, scope to operate inde- pendently. He or she struggles constantly day after day, some for years, others for a lifetime to create and get that work to the public. It is for them a constant state of despair. We are going to hear comments about that. We are indeed honored to have three very (1) 2 prominent artists with us today. Their presence here in the United States is an artistic gain for us, and has contributed substantially to the arts in the United States, but also, of course, represents a great and poignant loss to the peoples of the Soviet Union. While we are here receiving testimony on restrictions on creative freedom in the Soviet Union, a cultural forum is currently being held in Budapest, Hungary, as I am sure all of you know. This forum is one of six specialized meetings called for in the Madrid Concluding Document by the 35 participating states of the CSCE. Since the inception of the Helsinki process, the United States and its allies have consistently asserted the view that promoting respect for fundamental human rights is an essential part of the process of obtaining peace, cooperation, and security in Europe. We have insisted that progress toward implementing the human rights provisions of the Final Act is as important to obtaining progress as the security or trade-related provisions of the Final Act. Human rights is an integral aspect of the Budapest Cultural Forum as well. Chairman Fascell, Chairman D'Amato, and myself, as well as other members of the Commission have made that point clearly with the U.S. representatives in Budapest. At this moment cultural figures from all 35 participating states are meeting in working groups to express their views on conditions that foster or hinder artistic creativity. The Commission has called this hearing to coincide with the Bu- dapest Cultural Forum so to contribute to the discussions taking place there. It is our hope, also, to expand public understanding of the nature of the restrictions on creative freedom in the Soviet Union and what those restrictions mean to the individual. The Soviet Government through fear, intimidation, force, and in- carceration in labor camps, prisons, and psychiatric hospitals is en- gaged in cultural strangulation in an attempt to break the human spirit. We believe that the right to create is a human right. The Com- mission believes that it is important to bring to the attention of the Congress, to the people of the United States and, indeed, the peo- ples of the world the commitments undertaken by 35 states at Hel- sinki in August 1975, for those undertakings speak to the highest and best values that we, in the West, rely upon as the very basis of our societies. I want to add that in an effort to focus attention on the issues being raised in Budapest, the Commission did a mass mailing to jailed cultural activists, as well as religious teachers, writers, and other cultural figures in both the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, informing them of the Budapest Cultural Forum and of its mandate. It is the Commission's intent through such efforts as this hearing and the mass mailing to keep alive the promises that underline the commitment undertaken by the 35 states at Helsinki. At this time, I would like to yield to my colleague, the Senator from New Hampshire, Senator Gordon Humphrey. Senator Humphrey. 3 STATEMENT OF SENATOR GORDON J. HUMPHREY, NEW HAMPSHIRE Mr. HUMPHREY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Again, I commend you for this latest in a series of hearings to probe the working of the Helsinki process, so-called. Mr. Chairman, 2 weeks ago in Hungary, the Budapest Cultural Forum began, the first Helsinki CSCE gathering, held behind the Iron Curtain. The meeting was anticipated with great hope and fanfare. It seemed the Hungarians would follow through on their promise of a free and open conference. As is customary, among the Soviet bloc countries, the Hungarian Government ultimately re- neged on its promise to allow nongovernmental human rights orga- nizations to meet publicly, once again making a total mockery of the Helsinki process. Did this surprise us? Of course not. After 10 years of making con- cessions to the Soviet bloc, and hoping that our good will would be returned