Mr. BONKER. The subcommittee has been conducting a series of hearings on the question of religious persecution as a violation of human rights. This subcommittee over the past two sessions of Congress has sponsored a series of hearings on various aspects of human rights violations.

In the last session we conducted hearings on the problem of disappearances and it resulted in a resolution that created the working group on disappearances at the U.N. Commission on Human Rights. This subcommittee also passed a law that placed disappearances into our statutory description of what constitutes a human rights violation.

This session the subcommittee has been looking at the question of religious persecution. We have held two sets of hearings on the general overview of religious persecution. We have found that this is a very serious violation of human rights which exists almost in every part of the globe.

Today we are going to take up specifically the case of the Pente costals in Moscow-better known as the "Siberian Seven," but more generally we will be hearing testimony on the status of the Christian Church in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

Four years have passed now and the Pentecostals still remain in our Embassy in Moscow and the Soviet authorities still refuse to grant them exit visas. Lidia Vashchenko, who went on a hunger strike and was hospitalized, now resides in Siberia awaiting exit visas for herself and others in the Embassy. I have an eloquent quote from her which will be placed in the record and I won't consume subcommittee time at the moment.

[The information follows:]

Many of you have been tirelessly and persistantly supporting us in the right of emigration which my family has been trying to obtain for the past 22 years. We have made many different attempts to get permission from the Soviet Government to leave the U.S.S.R. but the Soviets continue to keep us here. . . . We think that both governments, the Soviets and American, have handled our case carelessly. One constantly deceives, the other does not take any serious action to pressure the Soviets and make them tell the truth and act accordingly. . . . We are turning to you all to please ask the American Government to talk with the Soviets about permission for us to emigrate much more seriously and ask them to work together with the Soviets in order to find a positive solution for all, us and both governments so that we could leave the Soviet Union safely and soon.

Mr. BONKER. The Soviet Union, after 65 years, no matter where you look across the length and breadth of the Iron Curtain, the situation is the same-people are being persecuted because of their religious faith. It does not matter whether you are of the Pentecostal faith in the Soviet Union or of the Pentecostal faith in Romania, persecution exists. It does not matter whether you are a member of the Catholic Church in the Ukraine or in Baltic States, persecution exists. It doesn't matter whether you are a Baptist or a member of the Orthodox Church, all Christians, no matter to which denomination they belong are subject to constant harassment and persecution.

[Mr. Bonker's opening prepared statement follows:]

OPENING PREPARED STATEMENT OF HON. DON BONKER, CHAIRMAN, SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

Today's hearing is the fourth of the series on religious persecution as a violation of human rights. Specifically, we are considering the case of the Pentecostals in Moscow-better known as the "Siberian Seven", but more generally we will be hearing testimony on the status of the Christian Church in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

Four years have passed and the Pentecostals still remain in our Embassy in Moscow and the Soviet Union refuses to grant them exit visas. Lidia Vashchenko who went on a hunger strike to dramatize their request to emigrate, was hospitalized last Jaunary and now resides in Siberia awaiting exist visas for herself and the others at the embassy.

Recently, one of the Pentecostals at the embassy wrote an open letter to the people in the West. She said,

"Many of you have been tirelessly and persistantly supporting us in the right of emigration which my family has been trying to obtain for the past 22 years. We have made many different attempts to get permission from the Soviet Government to leave the U.S.S.R. but the Soviets continue to keep us here. . . . We think that both governments, the Soviet and American, have handled our case carelessly. One constantly deceives, the other does not take any serious action to pressure the Soviets and make them tell the truth and act accordingly. . . . We are turning to you all to please ask the American Government to talk with the Soviets about permission for us to emigrate much more seriously and ask them to work together with the Soviets in order to find a positive solution for all, us and both governments so that we could leave the Soviet Union safely and soon."

The Soviet Union observes the 65th anniversary of its revolution in October. After 65 years, no matter where you look across the length and breadth of the Iron Curtain, the situation is the same people are being persecuted because of their religious faith. It does not matter whether you are of the Pentecostal faith in the Soviet Union or of the Pentecostal Faith in Romania, you are persecuted. It does not matter whether you are a member of the Catholic Church in the Ukraine of in the Baltic states, you are persecuted. It does not matter whether you are a Baptist or a member of the Orthodox Church, all Christians, no matter which denomination they belong to, are subject to constant harassment and persecution.

We are very fortunate to have with us several expert witnesses who will provide us with testimony concerning the plight of the Pentecostals at our embassy in Moscow and the persecution of the Christian Church in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

Mr. BONKER. The subcommittee is fortunate to have a distinguished group of witnesses that will be testifying today. We have decided to break the witnesses up into three panels. The first panel will be our colleagues, one from the Senate and the other from the House. Both have long been involved in the struggle to liberate those who are being held involuntarily in the Soviet Union, and both have testified on previous occasions before this subcommittee. I would like to first call upon our colleague in the Senate, Carl Levin, who is a Senator from the great State of Michigan. As I understand it, he has been to the Soviet Union and visited the family in question. So we will begin first with Senator Levin and then we will hear from our colleague Barney Frank, who is a Representative from the State of Massachusetts.

Senator.

STATEMENT OF HON. CARL LEVIN, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF MICHIGAN

Senator LEVIN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thanks to all the members of the subcommittee for inviting me to speak about religious persecution of Pentecostals in the Soviet Union.

I, along with many others, applaud the work of this subcommittee, which has done so much to promote public awareness of the

lack of religious freedom in the Soviet Union and in many other parts of the world.

Congressman Frank has introduced, with the support of many others, similar legislation in the House.

Mr. Chairman, the Government of the Soviet Union has always persecuted its religious communities, the Christians, the Jews, and the Muslims. The Pentecostals are no exception. The Soviets have written a very dark and grim role for them to play in Russian life by making it nearly impossible for them to practice their faith.

Consider these problems: Pentecostal doctrine tells parents to educate their young according to their faith and to have them participate in church activities, but this is forbidden by Soviet law. Pentecostal doctrine encourages proselytyzing, again forbidden by the state. Most Pentecostal leaders have served prison terms because their religion had been outlawed for 50 years, and Soviet law forbids ex-prisoners to be church leaders.

In 1975 the Pentecostals were heartened when the Soviet Union promised the world it would respect freedom of religion and freedom to emigrate when it signed the Helsinki Final Act. But today, 7 years later, their lot in life has not improved. Seeing no diminution in religious persecution, they sought to emigrate with renewed vigor, but there wasn't a change in the repressive Soviet emigration policy either. Only about a dozen Pentecostal families have been able to leave while over 30,000 Pentecostals have filed emigration applications. The Pentecostals are confronted with a brutal dilemma; they aren't free to practice their faith nor are they free to emigrate to a place where religious freedom is respected.

If there is a bright side to this dismal, tragic story, it is in the determination of individual Pentecostals to hold fast to their beliefs and to do whatever necessary to live, work, and pray as their religion prescribes.

In 1979, Senator Boren and I visited seven Pentecostal members of the Vashchenko and Chmykhalov families, who were living in the basement of the American Embassy in Moscow, because the Soviets had persistently denied them religious freedom. We were struck by their resoluteness in pursuing their emigration despite the inordinate obstacles thrown in their path.

The story of these seven individuals, the "Siberian Seven," and their families tells us not only about the absence of religious freedom in the Soviet Union but also about the determination, courage, and spirit that motivates the persecuted to seek a life where human rights are respected.

When I returned from the visit, I introduced legislation on their behalf to grant them permanent resident status in the United States. Congressman Frank has introduced, with the support of many others, similar legislation in the House. I am happy to say that the bill was approved by the full Senate just a few weeks ago. Companion legislation in the House, H.R. 2873, is now awaiting action in the Immigration Subcommittee. I am hopeful that it will also be approved this session.

While the bill won't get the families out of the Soviet Union, it will grant them protection under the U.S. Constitution. In so doing, the families will be assured of the deep and abiding concern of this

country, and the Soviets will be reminded that congressional interest in this case of human rights violations is mounting.

The Siberian Seven's story can be traced back to 1962 when the Vashchenkos and Chmykalovs decided to chart their lives in a new direction-out of persecution in the Soviet Union and into the freedom of the United States. Explicitly following the Soviet law, the families pursued their emigration course. Years and years of repeated applications and journeys to emigration offices did not win the cherished exit visas, rather they were countered with steppedup harassment and brutality.

Family members have been subjected to constant persecution, harassment, deprivation, and confinement in psychiatric hospitals, labor camps, and state "re-education" schools. Sixteen years later, in 1978, eight members of the two families traveled to the American Embassy in Moscow at the invitation of Embassy officials. They went seeking emigration advice, not asylum. But because a young boy in their party was dragged away and severely beaten by Soviet guards before ever entering the Embassy, the others decided they must remain there for their own safety.

The Soviets have refused to allow the Vashchenkos and Chmykhalovs to emigrate, insisting they must first return to their hometown, Chernogorsk, and file yet another series of applications. To protest Soviet refusal to allow them to emigrate, Lidia and Augustina Vashchenko went on a hunger strike in late December 1981. Lidia grew so weak that she was removed to Moscow's Botkin Hospital. Upon her recovery, Lidia did indeed return to Chernogorsk and joined her brothers and sisters in filing again countless applications and paying numerous processing fees.

Lidia met the Soviets' demand by returning to Chernogorsk, but they have not fulfilled their commitment. We had not expected that a nation which has not honored commitments made in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Helsinki Final Act would honor a commitment to an individual, but we had hoped it might.

Since Lidia's return to Chernogorsk, all hopes for an immediate resolution to this problem have been stymied by the Soviets. After several months of offering them empty promises and false information, the Soviets officially denied them their exit visas. Their situation grows bleaker daily; they have been subjected to increasing police harassment and brutality, the family members are not allowed to work, and they have been reduced to picking over garbage to feed themselves.

On June 27 of this year, 4 years after the seven entered the embassy, two Vashchenkos began another hunger strike. A few days later, two more family members joined them.

Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, the Vashchenkos and Chmykhalovs are paying dearly for holding steadfastly to their desire to live, work, and pray freely in a nation that respects human rights. They have expended every ounce of energy to that end and we ought to stand stalwartly by their side. At what may be the nadir of a tortuous emigration journey, it is important that we remain committed to helping them in every possible say. By focusing our attention on cases of human rights violations like this one, we advance the cause of religious freedom everywhere.

Again I want to thank the subcommittee and commend the subcommittee for the work that it is doing.

Mr. BONKER. Thank you, Senator.

I want to thank you for your commitment to this issue and being here with us today.

Mr. Frank, do you think you can complete your statement?
Mr. FRANK. I will come back.

Mr. BONKER. For the benefit of the audience, we have a scheduled vote on the House floor and we will recess for approximately 10 minutes and the subcommittee will reconvene promptly at 5 after 3.

[Recess.]

Mr. BONKER. The subcommittee will reconvene and we will now hear from our colleague from Massachusetts, Barney Frank.

STATEMENT OF HON. BARNEY FRANK, A REPRESENTATIVE FROM THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS

Mr. FRANK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and to you and the members of this subcommittee, I again want to express my thanks for the leadership you have taken in this regard.

I have a statement I will submit for the record.

Let me ask you, Mr. Chairman-you quoted in your statement from the opening letter we got from the Vashchenko family-is that whole letter in the record?

Mr. BONKER. Not the entire thing.

Mr. FRANK. I would like to offer the whole letter for the record if I could.

Mr. BONKER. That is appropriate. Without objection, it is so ordered.

[The letter follows:]

OPEN LETTER TO PEOPLE IN THE WEST

JUNE 10, 1982.

On the occasion of another anniversary, the fourth one, of our stay in the American Embassy in Moscow, please allow me, in the name of my whole family, to thank all those in the West, both individuals and Governments, who have been trying to get permission for us to leave this country.

We are especially grateful to those of the American government who introduced and support Resolution 100 in the House of Representatives and Bill 312 in Senate that would grant us residence here and allow us to apply for American citizenship 5 years from the date we first came to the Embassy. We consider the Resolution and the Bill as an assurance of the American government that they accept my family for permanent residence in their country which the Soviets wanted us to have when they sent us to the Embassy in 1975.

We thank God and those who early this year made, through the article in Parade magazine, our story and desire to leave the Soviet Union widely known, those readers of Parade who sent letters of protest to the Soviet and American governments on our behalf, and those who sent telegrams, letters and cards to us during the time of crisis when my sister, Lida, and my mother, Augustina, went on a hunger strike, and those who helped us during Lida's hospitalization last January.

Many of you have been tirelessly and persistently supporting us in the right of emigration which my family has been trying to obtain for the past 22 years. We have made many different attempts to get permission from the Soviet government to leave the USSR but the Soviets continue to keep us here and tell the children in Chernogorsk that our parents must come to them first.

Does not the fact that Lida has returned to Chernogorsk and her request to allow her emigrate has still been refused by the Soviets, tell the American government that it is not possible to trust the Soviets? All along they have said to them that if we go back to Chernogorsk, our applications for emigration would be considered.