Speech #990120506

By late 1982. the Helsinki monitors movement. created in the wake of the Soviet signing of the Helsinki Final Act. had been effectively destroyed. Leading human rights activists such as Dr. Andrei Sakharov. Anatoly Shcharansky. and Yuri Orlov have been imprisoned or forced into internal exile. Soviet authorities continue to repress religious believers and cultural minorities. The ascendance of Mikhail Gorbachev has not resulted In greater respect for human rights. Jewish emigration remains at its lowest level since the 1960s. The new Soviet leadership clearly continues a hard line of internal dissent. There is abundant evidence of the low regard Soviet officials have for fundamental human rights. in spite of their signature to the Helsinki Final Act.