Urge Boycott of Moscow Congress

A distinguished group of American geneticists today joined the Committee of Concerned Scientists in urging Westernscientists not to attend the International Congress of Genetics to be held Aug. 21-30 in Moscow. The statement by the Committee and its supporters comes in response to the recent trials of refusenik and dissident scientists in the Soviet Union, according to a Committee announcement.

Signatories to the statement, which will appear as a letter in an upcoming issue of Science magazine, include two scientists who were awarded Nobel Prizes for work in genetics, Alfred D. Hershey and Howard Temin; four past presidents of the Genetics Society of America; a present officer of the Society; and the co-chairmen of the Committee of Concerned Scientists. The Committee is an independent, national organization of 4000 scientists concerned with the advancement of scientific and human rights for colleagues through out the world.

Citing the recent trials and convictions of Anatoly Shcharansky, Yuri Orlov, Iosif Begun and Grigory Goldstein, the letter charges that the USSR has “unleashed an unremitting attack against our Soviet colleagues.” Particular concern was expressed over the use of science “as a weapon” by Shcharansky’s prosecutors. The 30-year-old computer scientist, who was sentenced to 13 years in a labor camp and prison last month, was accused of having arranged for the transmission to Western intelligence agencies of “secret information pertaining to Soviet research in genetic engineering.”

The letter notes, though, that some geneticists will decide to attend the Moscow meeting for various reasons. It is being recommended that they express their concern both by discussing the recent trials with Soviet participants in the Congress and by “visiting with the ostracized refusenik and dissident scientists.”