Speech #910292884

Y. Soloviov was the judge at the socalled trial of economic crimes which focused largely on Soviet citizens of the Jewish faith. and it was Soloviov who. for their alleged "economic crimes." sentenced three of the Jewish defendants to death. In principle the U.S.S.R. confirms the concept of emigration. a basic human right acknowledged in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. article XIII. which the Soviets support. It avows "a mans right to leave any country including his own." In addition. Premier Alexis Kosygin stated on December 3. 1966. in Paris. that "there will be no problemconcerning Jewish emigration. The doors will be open." Three years after Premier Kosygins statement. on December 13. 1969. the New York Times published a story which said: The (Soviet) government newspaper Izvestia said today that Soviet Jews with relatives abroad could leave. Nevertheless. despite these optimistic pronouncements. only a trickle of the tens of thousands who have had the courage to apply were in fact allowed to emigrate. In addition. requests for emigration were increasingly becoming causes for prosecution and persecution by Soviet Government agencies. I am informed that just an application for a permit is often followed by demotion. loss of job or worse. To date. 32 Jewish petitioners for emigration have gone not to Israel. but to a Soviet jail. In some cases for the Soviet citizen who has made application to emigrate. simply waiting for a reply from his government is agony enough. For example. I am advised that no one receives a written denial of his emigration request. Instead. a postcard arrives in the mail which tells him to call a certain number. Then. on the telephone. he is curtly informed that his petition has been rejectedno reasons. no details. nothing. This is apparently done so that the rejections will be unrecorded and the petitioning Jews will not be able to send copies of the official rejections abroad where they further embarrass Soviet authorities. Occasionally the petitioners are told to come to the office of the OVIRthe National Immigration Bureau of the U.S.S.R. Last December a Jewish citizen of Moscow. Dr.