1985: A LOOK BACK: Political activities (12/29/85)

1985: A LOOK BACK

Political activities

It was the year of the first U.S. Soviet summit meeting since 1979, and the historic event did not pass by unnoticed by the Ukrainian American community.

In New York City, the Plast sororities of Pershi Stezhi and Verhkovynky initiated a fund-drive to raise money for a full-page advertisement in The New York Times on the eve of the summit. The ad called on President Ronald Reagan to remember persecuted Ukrainian human-rights activists in his talks with General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. The ad, which cost $27,000, appeared in the November 10 issue of the paper's Sunday edition, which has a circulation of 1.6 million

In Philadelphia, the Ukrainian Human Rights Committee raised $2,700 for a full-page ad in The Washington Times. The advertisement was published in the November 20 issue of the newspaper, that is, on the second day of the U.S. Soviet summit meeting. It urged President Reagan to demand the release of Ukrainian human-rights activists and noted that the Kremlin is pursuing a policy of genocide directed against the Ukrainian people.

In Chicago, one week before the summit meeting, a former Soviet political prisoner, Victor Borovsky, and a soldier who deserted the Soviet Army in Afghanistan, Mykola Movchan, appealed on behalf of the Ukrainian and Afghan people. They directed their appeal through letters to two first ladies, Nancy Reagan and Raisa Gorbachev. The two men spoke at a press conference on November 12 sponsored by the Ukrainian American Justice Committee and the Illinois chapter of Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, in Washington, on the day President Reagan left for Geneva, Ukrainian Americans gathered outside the south gate of the White House to urge the president to raise the case of would-be defector Myroslav Medvid. A large placard reading "Remember Medvid" was laid out on the ellipse so that it would be visible from the president's helicopter which took him to Andrews Air Force Base. The rally was organized by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and The Washington Group.

1985 was also the year during which the first secretary of the Communist Party of the Ukrainian SSR, Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, headed a high-level Soviet delegation on a trip to the United States. Ukrainian American groups urged members of Congress to raise human-rights issues with Mr. Shcherbytsky, and several groups picketed the party secretary during his stay in Washington on March 4-7.

On March 4, during a Capitol Hill reception, Rep. Mary Rose Oakar presented a letter protesting Soviet human-rights violations to Mr. Shcherbytsky. As she handed him the letter, Rep. Oakar said that it was human-rights abuses like the ones outlined in the letter that made improvement in East-West relations difficult. The letter was the same as the one sent to all members of Congress by Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine. A senior aide to the congresswoman, Ukrainian Andrew Fedynsky, also had a chance to speak with Mr. Shcherbytsky for some five minutes. Among the topics raised by Mr. Fedynsky was Russification.

In New York City, 16 Ukrainians were arrested on March 8 while protesting the U.S. visit of Mr. Shcherbytsky. The group had attempted to stage a sitdown demonstration in front of the Soviet Mission to the United Nations.

Later in the year, on September 27, Ukrainian and other East European protesters "greeted" Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze with a rally in front of the White House, where the Soviet functionary was to meet with President Reagan. The demonstration was organized by a group sarcastically calling itself the Committee to Welcome Eduard Shevardnadze to Washington, a venture co-sponsored by the Washington offices of the Joint Baltic American National Committee and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.

During 1985, members of Congress sent at least three letters expressing their concern about Ukrainian political prisoners to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. On April 17, 135 representatives and one senator urged that Yuriy Shukhevych, the "eternal prisoner," be released from internal exile and be allowed to travel to the West for much-needed medical treatment.

On August 5, 132 members of the House of Representatives sent a letter asking for the release of octogenarian Oksana Meshko from her term of exile in the remote Ayan area of the USSR.

Then, on November 1, 151 congressmen asked Mr. Gorbachev to release Ukrainian Catholic activist Yosyp Terelia, who had been sentenced to a 12-year term for "anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda."

All three congressional letters were the result of lobbying efforts by Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine.

During the year, several appointments were made by the Congress and the executive branch of members to the U.S. Commission on the Ukraine Famine. On February 12, President Reagan named Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, Department of Health and Human Services, Gary L. Bauer, Department of Education, and Howard Eugene Douglas, Department of State, as the three executive branch members of the commission.

On March 28, the House speaker appointed the two Democratic House members to the commission: Dan Mica of Florida and Dennis M. Hertel of Michigan. Rep. Mica was named the commission chairman. Republicans William S. Broomfield of Michigan and Benjamin Gilman of New York were named on May 15.

Republican Sen. Robert Kasten of Wisconsin and Democratic Sen. Dennis DeConcini were selected as the two Senate members of the commission. The announcement came on June 20.

The six public members of the commission have yet to be named.

Meanwhile, the Congress and President Reagan in December approved $400,000 in funding for the famine commission. The funds will be available until expended.