Speech #990184848

In 1979. 51.333 Jews were permitted to leave the Soviet Union. In 1980. that number had decreased to 21.472. and by 1981. the number had fallen further to 9.448. Last year. only 1.140 Soviet Jews were allowed to emigrate. Similarly. only 460 Soviet Germans were given permission to emigrate West in 1985. down from the 1976 peak of 9.704. and a mere 50 Armenians received exit visas in 1985. well below the 6.103 who departed in 1980. Clearly. the Soviet Union has become considerably more restrictive about granting Jews and other minorities permission to emigrate. By conservative estimatesand I believe these estimates to be very conservativeover 700.000 Soviets have shown an interest in emigrating and the number of refuseniks grows annually. They remain despite a multitude of human rights conventions to which the Soviet Union supposedly adheres. The universal declaration of human rights. adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948.that is 38 years agoexpressly guarantees that: "Everyone has the right to leave any country including his own. and return to his country." They are a party to that agreement. The Helsinki accords. signed by the Soviet Union in 1975. stresses that the parties are to "expedite" and "facilitate" the "reunion of families" and that those applying for exit visas should not be deprived of their rights. The Helsinki accords also mandate that individuals will not be deprived of their right to worship. Principle seven of the Helsinki Final Act states: In those States in which ethnic. religious or linguistic minorities exist. persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right. in community with other members of their group. to enjoy their own culture. to profess and practice their own religion. or use their own language. The reality of the situation. as we all know. is far different. This is why concerned Members of this Senate must continually draw attention to the plight of Soviet Jews and other minority groups and our efforts must continue as long as all religious and national minorities are held hostage to an increasingly restrictive Soviet emigration policy. I would say to the Soviet Union. there are many of us who believe that the negotiations with respect to nuclear disarmament should move forward. We feel. and have said publicly. that we support that proposition.