The Soviet Union, it is still hoped here will fulfill its undertakings made to an Australian trade union leader last month on the release of Jewish “Prisoners of Conscience” and the relaxation of restrictions on the right of refusniks to emigrate.
This view was expressed today by is Leibler, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, who was commenting on reports from Moscow which cast doubts on the undertakings which were made to Robert Hawke, president of the Australian Council of trade Unions, during meetings held in Moscow in the week ending May 25.
After Hawke’s meetings with senior Soviet officials, three leading Jewish activists issued a statement saying they had been told the Soviet leadership had agreed to release 12 prisoners, allow all refusniks who had waited for longer than five years to emigrate, and to ensure there would not be a waiting period of longer than five years in the future.
Late last week, reports from Moscow quoted Gen. Vladimir Borisenkov of the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs as denying any knowledge of the promises made to Hawke. Hawke had met with the chairman of the Soviet Central Council of Trade Unions, Alexei Shibayev.
Commenting on these reports, Leibler said that Hawke, now in Geneva, had encountered certain problems since the undertakings were given. He had been told that final authorization still required clarification at a senior level. Leibler added that he shared the views of refusnik leaders in Moscow with whom he had met last August and again in December that at this crucial period in relations between Washington and Moscow, the Soviets were unlikely to renege on their pledges concerning Jewish emigration.
Leibler met with Hawke in Rome at the World Presidium on Soviet Jewry after the Australian trade union leader arrived from Moscow. He described Hawke’s mission as “a profoundly humanitarian initiative by Australia’s most distinguished non-governmental international statesman.” The Australian Jewish leader noted that Hawke’s activities on behalf of Soviet Jewry had received the full support of Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and Foreign Minister Andrew Peacock. Both Peacock and Fraser are members of the governing Liberal Party, while Hawke is a member of the Labor Party.
Hawke’s activities in Moscow have received front-page coverage in the Australian media and have attracted widespread comment. The trade union leader has a long record of support for Israel and of outspoken commitment to a variety of humanitarian causes. Leibler said that if Hawke was not satisfied that the promises made to him were being implemented, he was planning to return for further discussions in Moscow early in July. This would be at the conclusion of the meetings which Hawke is attending in Geneva. The governing board of the international Labor Organization.
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.
