Mr. Speaker. I am honored to be a part of the 1986 Congressional Call to Conscience Vigil for Soviet Jews. which points out the plight of Prisoners of Conscience and refuseniks who wish to emigrate from the Soviet Union. The current summit process between the United States and the Soviet Union marks the first direct talks between the heads of state in 6 years. In order for human rights issues to become a high priority during these talks. the current lack of emigration of refuseniks and prisoners of conscience must be brought to the attention of the respective heads of state. "Refusenik" has become an international word. It describes a Soviet Jew who. having been consistently refused permission to emigrate to Israel. is harassed by the KGB. usually is dismissed from his or her place of work. and lives in fear of arrest and trumpedup charges which could. and often times do. result in imprisonment. One such refusenik is Leonid Kelbert. Leonid. a film producer. is the only Jew to go through the Moscow Film Institute since the Six Day War in 1976. In 1975. he won at least three prizes at the Cuban Film Festival for "The Catastrophe Will Not Happen." At the Czech Film Festival of 1976. he won the grand prize. gold medal. and first place for "Ideas for Academician T. Selikov." Leonid applied for an exit visa due to state control of the cinema. Screenwriters. he says. are a type of Mafia that control and censor the content of the various films. Leonid lost his job in the film industry because of his emigration application. He is also an active participant in the group of young Leningrad Jews who are studying their religion and culture in weekly seminars. which have been under attack by the KGB. Leonid gave six such cultural lectures during 1981.
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emigrate emigration visa