Soviet Dissidents

More than 30 members of the Faculty have signed a letter addressed to Soviet First Secretary Yurl Andropov expressing concern at the violation of the human rights of Soviet dissidents.

The letter, circulated by the Oppressed Jewry Committee of Harvard-Radcliffe, calls for un "immediate cessation of persecution of our colleagues," and cites the "suppression of scholarly works," and "arrest and imprisonment on fabricated charges" of several prominent Soviet academics, including Anatoly Shcharansky.

A facsimile of the letter will appear in an advertisement in The Crimson on March 15, the sixth anniversary of Shcharansky's imprisonment on charges of spying for the CIA. Copies will be mailed both to Andropov and to Soviet Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Dobrynin.

Judy Stern '85, chairman of the Oppressed Jewry Committee, said that "the letter is one of several significant actions planned for March 15.

Stern said the group would also have people in the dining halls asking students to sign post cards to Andropov and Secretary of State George Schultz. "We're trying to raise people's consciousness, so they don't let this day slip by them," Stern said.

James E. Cohen '83, who drafted the letter for the committee and supervised its distribution among the Faculty, said that while the effects of one letter cannot be measured in exact terms, "when no one outside the USSR speaks up, they feel that they can do whatever they want to their dissidents."