The Prisoners of Conscience

Russians learned for the first time last week that Physicist Andrei Sakharov's application to visit Oslo to receive his Nobel Prize for Peace had been refused. An article in the Literary Gazette explained that he possessed "important state and military secrets." In fact, the father of Russia's H-bomb has not worked on classified military projects for nearly seven years.

Sakharov has charged that the denial of a visa is a "flagrant violation" of the principles of last August's European Security Conference accord at Helsinki, where the U.S.S.R. agreed to "facilitate wider travel" for its citizens. Still, Sakharov was characteristically far more concerned with dissenters in prison than with his own plight. At the same tune, some brave Russians put themselves in jeopardy by supporting Sakharov with a petition denouncing the authorities for refusing to let him attend the Oslo award ceremony. It was signed by 72 people -and not all of them were known dissidents. According to a study published last week by Amnesty International, there are at least 10,000 "prisoners of conscience" in the U.S.S.R. -men and women who have been arrested for their political or religious beliefs. Not one dissenter who has been charged is known to have been acquitted. Amnesty, a London-based organization that issues occasional reports on political prisoners throughout the world, made its conclusions from smuggled testimony by present and past inmates. According to the study, torture by hunger is widespread, involving low-calorie punishment diets. Food is often rotten and infested with maggots and cockroaches. Medical facilities are grossly inadequate to treat the diseases attendant upon hunger and hard labor.

Police Asylum. Even worse than the camps are the prison psychiatric institutions. Dissenters are regularly dispatched to these asylums without trial, for indefinite periods and with no possibility of appeal. A typical case is that of Leonid Plyushch, a cyberneticist whose aspirations for Ukranian cultural freedom led to charges of "creeping schizophrenia." He has been given massive doses of depressant drugs. After two years in one of the U.S.S.R.'s seven police-run lunatic asylums, the noted scientist has been driven to a state of mental and physical collapse.

The Soviets have also cracked down on Jews seeking to emigrate to Israel. While 3,000 Jews a month were allowed to leave the U.S.S.R. hi 1973, the number has gradually been reduced to an average of 1,000 a month this year. Those who apply for exit permits are subject to increasing harassment. An applicant can expect immediate discharge from his job, while facing a probable turndown or, at best, many months of delay before leaving. These people depend heavily on donations from relatives and friends abroad to survive. Gifts of money are already subject to an exorbitant 65% tax. But on Jan. 1, a new regulation will end completely the transfer of the dollar gift vouchers that have been redeemable in food and clothing.

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