Speech #1010065114

The statement was made in reference to commitments undertaken by the Soviet Union at the January 1989 adoption of the Vienna concluding document. This document. a followup to the 1975 Helsinki accords. stated that signatory States would "take the necessary steps to find solutions as expeditiously as possible. but in any case within 6 months. to allemigrationapplications * * * outstanding at the conclusion of the Vienna followup meeting." We welcome Soviet acknowledgment of its international obligations in the area of human rightsin the past. the West has had to struggle for even this preliminary step from the Soviets. Furthermore. in the last few years we have witnessed not only increased emigration. but improvement in other human rights areas as well. As chairman of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe. I have had the opportunity to meet with the Soviets to discuss these issues and to observe these important changes as they are taking place. The new Soviet approach to human rights issues has not. however. eliminated our concerns. July 19. 1989. marked the 6 month anniversary of the conclusion of the Vienna meeting. The statement issued by the Soviets last week refers to the large number of refuseniks granted exit permission. but adds to that an admission that 299 others have been denied emigration permission because they. at some point. had access to state secrets or had unspecified other problems. These Soviet figures are inconsistent with those in the West. the United States Government list of refuseniks numbers over 600. More importantly. any arbitrary refusals signal to us that praise for Soviet reforms cannot be without reservation. Among the unresolved secrecy cases enumerated by the Soviets is that of Leonid and Natalia Stonov. who first applied to emigrate in 1978. Their work at the AllUnion Scientific Institute of the Chemical Means of Crop Production. even if it was classified. ended at least 12 years ago. Gorbachev has himself in the past set an upper limit of 10 years on such secrecy restrictionsand that in only the most extreme cases. One of the most recent replies the Stonovs received to their continued pleas to join relatives in Israel was that their request for exit visas could not even be considered until 1992. Last week. Leonid Stonov received a letter from the Chief of Administration of Internal Affairs dated July 17. 1989. It read: In accordance with obligations in the Final Document of the Vienna meeting of representatives of the states participating in the CSCE. your request for permission to go to Israel for permanent residence has been reviewed again. However. at the present time the request cannot be answered positively based on the knowledge of state secrets. In addressing the Vienna 6month deadline with the publication of emigration statistics. the Soviets are acknowledging their international obligations. But they are not fulfilling them. The Vienna concluding document. as well as many other international treaties and covenants undertaken by the Soviet Union. states that "Everyone shall be free to leave any country. including his own." The Soviets have recently granted unprecedented numbers of exit visas. and so they are correct in citing a relatively small number of refusals. This progress. however. must not allay our concern for the many still denied the freedom to leave their country. The Stonov family still sits in unJustified refusal.