STATEMENT OF SENATOR GORDON J. HUMPHREY BEFORE THE SENATE PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS

OCTOBER 8, 1987

MR. CHAIRMAN, THESE HEARINGS ARE LONG OVERDUE. A RECENT PRESS RELEASE QUOTES YOU, MR. CHAIRMAN, AS STATING: "WE MUST LEARN TO BETTER ASSIST AND UTILIZE THE GENUINE DEFECTOR, WHO USUALLY ARRIVES AT OUR DOORSTEP IN HIS FLIGHT FOR FREEDOM WITH NOTHING MORE THAN THE SHIRT ON HIS BACK." I AGREE COMPLETELY. OUR GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE DOING MUCH MORE TO FACILITATE ROUTINE DEFECTIONS FROM THE SOVIET BLOC.

THAT WE ARE NOT DOING ENOUGH WAS NEVER MORE EVIDENT THAN IN THE CASE OF MIROSLAV MEDVID. TWO YEARS AGO THIS MONTH, MR. MEDVID--A SOVIET SAILOR--TWICE JUMPED INTO THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, SEEKING ASYLUM IN THE UNITED STATES.

FOLLOWING THE MEDVID INCIDENT, MORE THAN 60 SENATORS COSPONSORED LEGISLATION WHICH LED TO AN INTENSIVE TWELVE MONTH INVESTIGATION OF THE EXECUTIVE'S HANDLING OF THE MEDVID CASE. THE FINAL REPORT OF THAT INVESTIGATION STATED THAT LAWS WERE VIOLATED AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT. I COMMEND THE REPORT OF THE HELSINKI COMMISSION ON THE MEDVID INCIDENT TO THIS SUBCOMMITTEE.

FURTHER EVIDENCE OF FAILURE IN THIS REGARD MAY BE FOUND IN CONNECTION WITH AFGHANISTAN.

THE ADMINISTRATION'S POLICY ON AFGHANISTAN WAS OUTLINED IN THE STATE DEPARTMENT'S LATEST ANNUAL ASSESMENT OF THE SITUATION IN AFGHANISTAN, TO WIT: "IT IS CLEAR THAT ONLY STEADILY INCREASING PRESSURE ON ALL FRONTS MILITARY, POLITICAL, DIPLOMATIC WILL INDUCE THE SOVIETS TO MAKE THE POLITICAL DECISION TO NEGOTIATE THE WITHDRAWAL OF THEIR FORCES."

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SURELY, A POWERFUL WAY TO BRING PRESSURE TO BEAR ON THE SOVIET UNION IS THROUGH AN ACTIVE PROGRAM TO ACCOMODATE DEFECTORS FROM THE SOVIET ARMY IN AFGHANISTAN. WE HAVE FAILED MISERABLY IN THIS REGARD.

LET ME OUTLINE THREE MAJOR REASONS WHY WE SHOULD INCREASE OUR EFFORTS:

FIRST, IT IS AN ISSUE OF HUMANITARIAN IMPORTANCE. THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN HAS BROUGHT UNTOLD SUFFERING TO THE PEOPLE OF THAT COUNTRY. THE WAR HAS ALSO BEEN A TRAGEDY FOR THOSE YOUNG MEN WHO ARE SENT TO AFGHANISTAN. HOW DEEPLY DISTURBING IT MUST BE FOR YOUNG SOVIET SOLDIERS TO BE FORCED BY THEIR GOVERNMENT TO WAGE A BRUTAL-- INDEED, GENOCIDAL-- WAR AGAINST

AN INNOCENT CIVILIAN POPULATION. AN ESTIMATED SEVERAL HUNDRED SUCH SOVIETS SOLDIERS HAVE JOINED THE AFGHAN RESISTANCE. MANY HAVE REQUESTED ASYLUM IN THE WEST, YET ONLY A HANDFUL HAVE BEEN ACCOMODATED.

SECONDLY, SUCH A POLICY COULD SIGNIFICANTLY UNDERMINE THE MORALE OF THE SOVIET ARMY AND HASTEN THE DAY WHEN THE SOVIETS WILL BE TRULY WILLING TO WITHDRAW UNDER CONDITIONS OF A JUST PEACE. THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT THE SOVIETS ARE STARTING TO TAKE A BEATING IN AFGHANISTAN. TWO YEARS AGO, THE AFGHAN RESISTANCE WAS IN SERIOUS JEOPARDY. TODAY, THE MILITARY SITUATION IS DRAMATICALLY IMPROVED. THE SOVIETS NO LONGER ENJOY THE AIR SUPERIORITY THAT ONCE PERMITTED THEM TO DEVASTATE RESISTANCE BASES AND SUPPLY LINES. THIS PAST SUMMER, THE RESISTANCE SCORED A SERIES OF IMPRESSIVE MILITARY VICTORIES. THE COST TO THE SOVIETS IN LIVES AND RUBLES FOR THEIR OCCUPATION OF AFGHANISTAN HAS SOARED.

WE HAVE HEARD REPORTS FOR YEARS THAT MORALE AMONG SOVIET SOLDIERS IN AFGHANISTAN IS LOW, AND THAT MANY OF THE SOLDIERS RESORT TO DRUGS. IMAGINE THE EFFECT, IF SOVIET SOLDIERS LEARNED THEY SIMPLY HAD TO "CROSS OVER" IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE POLITICAL ASYLUM IN THE WEST.

THIRDLY, SUCH A POLICY COULD GREATLY INCREASE INTERNATIONAL AWARENESS OF A WAR THAT FOR THE MOST PART HAS BEEN HIDDEN FROM THE WORLD. THE FEW SOVIET DEFECTORS THAT HAVE LEFT AFGHANISTAN HAVE PROVIDED INVALUABLE INFORMATION ABOUT SOVIET POLICIES AND TACTICS IN THIS WAR. VOICE OF AMERICA, RADIO FREE AFGHANISTAN, AND RADIO LIBERTY COULD ALL CARRY ROUTINE INTERVIEWS WITH SOVIET DEFECTORS. YESTERDAY, NIKOLAY MOVCHAN, A SOVIET SOLDIER WHO JOINED THE AFGHAN RESISTANCE AND WAS GRANTED ASYLUM IN THE UNITED STATES, TESTIFIED BEFORE THE CONGRESSIONAL TASK FORCE ON AFGHANISTAN. HIS TESTIMONY PROVIDED IMPORTANT INSIGHT INTO THE STRAIN SOVIET BARBARITIES AGAINST AFGHAN CIVILIANS HAS PLACED ON THE CONSCIENCE OF THE INDIVIDUAL SOVIET SOLDIER.

MR. CHAIRMAN, AN EXTRAORDINARY WOMAN NAMED LUDMILLA THORNE OF FREEDOM HOUSE IN NEW YORK, HAS SINGLE-HANDEDLY LED THE WAY ON THE ISSUE OF ASYLUM FOR SOVIET SOLDIERS DEFECTING IN AFGHANISTAN. SHE HAS TRAVELED INSIDE AFGHANISTAN ON FOUR SEPARATE OCCASIONS AND HAS INTERVIEWED 22 SOVIET PRISONERS OF WAR. NINE OF THE SOVIET DEFECTORS THAT HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO THE WEST, OWE THEIR FREEDOM TO THE DEDICATION AND PERSEVERANCE OF MS. THORNE. WERE IT NOT FOR LUDMILLA THORNE, WE WOULD HAVE NO INFORMATION ABOUT SOVIET SOLDIERS WANTING TO COME TO THE WEST.

IN MAY OF 1986, I PERSONALLY VISITED WITH PRESIDENT REAGAN, AND DISCUSSED THIS ISSUE. DURING THE MEETING, I HANDED THE PRESIDENT FIVE LETTERS ADDRESSED TO HIM FROM SOVIET SOLDIERS SEEKING ASYLUM IN THE WEST.

MR. CHAIRMAN, DESPITE THE PRESSING HUMANITARIAN NEED, DESPITE THE VALUABLE STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITY TO SHORTEN THE WAR, THE ADMINISTRATION HAS NO PROGRAM TO ACCOMODATE SOVIET DEFECTORS FROM THE AFGHAN WAR. THE FEW EFFORTS THAT HAVE

BEEN MADE HAVE BEEN AD HOC AND SPORADIC, RESULTING FROM EXTRAORDINARY STIMULAE, SUCH AS THE MEETING I HAD WITH PRESIDENT REAGAN. WERE IT NOT FOR DETERMINED ACTIVISTS LIKE LUDMILLA THORNE, THIS ISSUE WOULD HAVE BEEN ENTIRELY IGNORED BY THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH. THERE IS NO ONE IN CHARGE OF THIS MATTER WITHIN OUR GOVERNMENT, AND NO AGENCY OR DEPARTMENT HAS THE LEAD.

I URGE THE SUBCOMMITTEE TO EXAMINE THE TRAGIC FAILURE OF THE ADMINISTRATON IN THE IMPORTANT AREA OF SOVIET DEFECTORS IN AFGHANISTAN. I URGE THE COMMITTEE TO RECOMMEND THE ADMINISTRATION PLACE SOMEONE IN CHARGE AND TO DEVELOP AN AGRESSIVE PROGRAM TO ACCOMODATE DEFECTIONS FROM SOVIET FORCES

IN AFGHANISTAN.