The U.S. Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe that monitors the Helsinki accord has nominated a group of Soviet dissidents for the Nobel Peace Prize. The Commission addressed a letter to the Nobel committee in Stockholm that nominated imprisoned activists Anatoly Shcharansky, Yuri Orlov, Alexander Ginsburg and other dissidents who are members of the Soviet group that monitored the Helsinki agreement.
In a statement about the letter, Rep. Jonathan Bingham (D.NY), one of the signers, said that the “Soviets must know that we shall not forget Shcharansky and his colleagues. They must be released. The Helsinki accord must be honored.”
Rep. Dante Fascell (D.Fla.) and Sen. Claiborne Pell (D.RI) are the leaders of the Commission.
Meanwhile, the National Conference on Soviet Jewry reported that Soviet Jewish Prisoner of Conscience Eduard Kuznetsov has ended a seven-week hunger strike, in which he protested his continued incarceration since the 1970 Leningrad trials. Silva Zalmanson Kuznetsov, now touring the United States, recently petitioned Soviet authorities to allow her to see her husband at least once. To date her appeal has not been answered, the Conference said.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
