[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 54 (Thursday, March 23, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E669]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                PROMINENT CIS SCIENTISTS PROTEST CHECHNYA

                                 ______


                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 22, 1995
  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, as I noted yesterday, Russia 
has now passed the hundredth day of its armed intervention in Chechnya. 
The brutality continues. Moscow gives soothing words about a cease-
fire, but the shelling and the bombing continue unabated.
  With this in mind, I would call attention to an open letter that I 
recently received, courtesy of the American Foreign Policy Council. 
This letter was written by three of the most prominent scientists 
currently living in the former Soviet Union. In this letter, A. 
Belavin, a physicist, and two mathematicians, V. Drinfeld and B. 
Feigin, characterize Moscow's actions as ``genocide and crimes against 
humanity'' and say, as I have maintained all along, that ``these 
actions cannot be considered merely an internal affair of Russia.'' I 
urge President Clinton and others in his administration to keep in mind 
the powerful message in this letter, and hope that it would be included 
in the President's briefing book for his upcoming trip to Moscow.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that the full text of this letter be inserted in 
the Record at this time.

       Dear Friend: We are compelled to write to you from the 
     feeling that terrible crimes committed by Russian authorities 
     and armed forces in Chechnya are not accidental, and that we 
     are all responsible for them. These crimes, according to the 
     testimony of journalists, human rights defenders, and mothers 
     of the soldiers fighting there, include not only the bombing 
     of towns and villages inhabited by civilians, but also the 
     capturing of hostages, robberies, [and] the organization of 
     filtration camps where people, incarcerated on the basis of 
     their race, and cruelly beaten, tortured, maimed and 
     murdered.
       All these actions should be characterized as GENOCIDE and 
     crimes against humanity. They cannot be considered merely an 
     internal affair of Russia.
       The Chechen crisis is not accidental. It reveals the 
     criminal essence of the political regime that is being formed 
     in Russia. The most dangerous aspect of the present situation 
     is the absence of a clear appreciation of this fact.
       Instead, in the public opinion, especially in the West, 
     there still exists the myth that Russia is moving toward 
     democracy and reforms and, unless Yeltsin is supported, 
     fascists of the type of Zhirinovsky will take over.
       We consider this opinion as deeply erroneous. Supporting 
     democracy and human rights by words, the regime is 
     persecuting them in a cynical and brutal way [sic]. Many 
     facts give evidence for this, such as beatings and killings 
     of honest journalists and human rights defenders who get and 
     publish information dangerous for the regime, the criminal 
     and corrupted methods of privatization, and many other 
     things. Now there is an attempt of annihilation of a whole 
     nation.
       Acting by fascist methods, the regime uses Zhirinovsky and 
     the threat of fascism for manipulating public opinion.
       Russia is not moving by the path of democracy and human 
     rights. A new regime, unusual in its cruelty and falsehood, 
     is being born. Whether the criminal regime or democracy with 
     a human face will take over in Russia, will, in the first 
     place, depend on people in Russia, our ability to understand 
     the danger and take responsibility, [and] our courage and 
     will to stand against evil.
       However, the realization by people in the West of the true 
     state of affairs of Russia and the support of democracy, not 
     Yeltsin, are also crucial.
       We ask your help in spreading our letter.
     A. Belavin,
     V. Drinfeld,
     B. Feigin.
     

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