U.S. Nobel Laureates, Artists, Writers, Protest Syria’s Treatment of Pows, Demand Release of List

Fifteen American Nobel Laureates and other academicians and prominent figures in the world of arts and letters sent statements of concern today to the International Conference for the Liberation of Israeli Prisoners of War in Syria which opened today in Brussels. The conference, initiated by the International Committee of Concern, is being held at the Hilton Hotel in Brussels. (See separate story Page 3.)

Statements were sent to Brussels by actors Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton; author-playwright Arthur Miller; and authors James Michener and William Styron. The statements by the academicians and Nobel Prize winners declared:

"We protest against the actions of the government of Syria in regard to the Israeli prisoners of war under its custody. More than three months after the Middle East cease-fire Syria continues to violate both international law and international morality by withholding the list of Israeli prisoners of war in Syrian captivity and not allowing Red Cross representatives to visit them.

"We call upon the government of Syria to remove this obstacle on the road to a possible peaceful settlement of the Middle East conflict. We join the millions of men and women of good will throughout the world in requesting the Syrian government to submit a list of its Israeli prisoners of war and to allow representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit these prisoners."

The 15 Nobel Laureates were: Kenneth Arrow. Konrad Bloch, Simon Kuznets and Wassily W. Leontief, all of Harvard University; Julius Axelrod and Marshall W. Nirenberg of the National Institutes of Health; Carl F. Cori and Paul Samuelson of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Hans A. Bethe, Cornell University; Max Delbruck, California Institute of Technology; Robert W. Holley, Salk Institute for Biological Studies; Arthur Kornberg, Stanford University; Emilio G. Segre, University of California, Berkeley; Harold C. Urey, University of California. La Jolla; and Eugene W. Lamb, Yale University. The statement was also signed by Henry Rosovsky. Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Harvard University; and Jerome Wiesner, president of MIT.

PRACTICES REMINISCENT OF THE BARBARIC

The Burtons’ statement said: "We are deeply concerned over the Syrian government’s refusal to provide a list of the Israeli prisoners of war which it is holding and its denial of Red Cross requests to visit these prisoners….Syria’s attempt to use these prisoners as ‘political hostages’ is a cruel and inhuman violation of their internationally accepted rights and should be deplored by all men and women who believe in human ideals, regardless of their political viewpoint."

Arthur Miller noted: "For at least 300 years and in the Roman period as well, the treatment of war prisoners has been taken as a measure of a nation’s degree of civilization. A reversion to practices reminiscent of the barbaric cannot be justified either by ideological claims or strategic ones. Whatever his or her political position, everyone laying claim to a human ideal must stand appalled at the Syrian government’s refusal."

James Michener observed: "A splendid first step" toward resolution of the Middle East conflict "could be a declaration by Syria stating the number, names and condition of all prisoners held by her. The nations of the world would applaud such a gesture. All people would hail this as an honorable act. The way would then be open for the negotiation of other crucial questions, and peace would be closer. I pray that the leaders of Syria will take this step, for in common humanity they can do no less."

The statement sent to Brussels by William Styron said: "Many of us consider ourselves dispassionate observers of the Middle East conflict in which it has been possible for certain political and ideological aspirations of the Arab nations to make a legitimate claim on our sympathy. These outrageous acts on the part of Syria do far worse than seriously erode that sympathy. They stand in themselves as a manifestation of barbarism that must be utterly condemned by all people."