I would like to bring to the attention of my colleagues a recent article which reminds us of the closed and antilegal character of Soviet society. Certainly we would all agree that the right of choice of country of residence proclaimed by article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a basic freedom which cannot be sacrificed at any cost. Yet the Soviet Union. while not admitting to do so in principle. is in practice making a mockery of this basic right by placing groundless and lawless limitations on those Soviet citizens wishing to emigrate. In an editorial which appeared in the New York Times of June 26. Telford Taylor. chief prosecutor of the Nuremberg war crimes trials. tells of the flagrant violations of the Soviet criminal codes and of the shocking abuses in Soviet prison conditions he discovered while attempting to obtain relief for some 20 Soviet Jews and 2 Gentiles who had fallen afoul of Soviet criminal law during their efforts to emigrate to Israel. This awful oppression is especially acute in the question of Jewish emigration from the U.S.S.R. to Israel which is so important in both historical and personal terms for all who want to leave. The constant groundless refusals of exit visas. the harassments. intimidations. provocations. and trials are terrible human misfortunes. We cannot condone the repressive and fearful atmosphere prevailing in the Soviet Union. There is nothing more important than personal liberty and we must stand by those who have the courage to fight these oppressive Soviet forces.
Keywords matched
emigrate emigration visas