Speech #990175216

Speaker. I respectfully request that the entire statement by Anatoly Shcharansky as reported in The New York Times on April 13 appear in the RECORD immediately following my remarks. The overriding humanitarian theme for the United States at the Bern meeting is the expansion of peopletopeople contacts across EastWest borders. on an individual basis or by groups. whether for the purpose of emigration. family reunification. repatriation. or travel for personal or professional purposes. The U.S. Helsinki Commission has urged the U.S. delegation to begin from the premise that Europe is unnaturally divided by force. Artificial barriers to the free flow of people having extensive common ties and interests have been erected. Physical barriers. such as the Berlin wall. have been built. In addition. legal. procedural. and financial obstacles are imposed and methods of intimidation are applied by East bloc governments in order to dissuade wouldbe emigrants or travelers. In the decade since the accords were signed. the West has chronicled some steps forward as well as a litany of Eastern human rights violations. In the human contacts field. for example. there have been some welcome easements in the emigration and travel policies and practices of some East bloc countries and a net increase has been registered in EastWest travel. Yet. despite their Helsinki commitments. a number of the participating states continue to maintain policies stringently limiting and controlling the movement of their citizens. Helsinki monitors. human rights activists. religious believers. unofficial peace group members. and free trade unionists continue to be prosecuted for their efforts to maintain independent contacts with Eastern and Western counterparts.