NEWS AND VIEWS: The case of Elian Gonzalez (01/30/00)

NEWS AND VIEWS

The case of Elian Gonzalez

by Walter Bodnar

The question of whether 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez, who was picked up off the coast of Florida clinging to an inner tube, should be permitted to stay in the United States or be sent back to Cuba has created a tug-of-war between the two countries. Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (AHRU) has joined the fray through letters to U.S. government officials and agencies, expressing the opinion that Elian Gonzalez be granted permanent asylum in the United States. AHRU recalled similarities to the case of 14-year-old Walter Polovchak, who 19 years ago refused to return to Soviet Ukraine with his parents and opted to stay in this country.

The question now, as it was then, is whether parental rights carry more weight than the rights of children. The Immigration and Naturalization Service has ruled that Elian be returned to his father who lives in Cuba. (The case is being appealed.) The opinion of a majority of people polled is that you cannot deny a father his parental rights.

AHRU argues that there are no parental rights in dictatorial Communist countries, which regard children as vassals of the state, and that those who oppose this view face dire consequences.

According to Jorg Mas of the Cuban American National Foundation, the Constitution of Cuba states that children are the property of the state. Thus, the state assumes the role of the father, and the child must do its bidding. In other words, the father of Elian Gonzalez is powerless and cannot do anything without approval from the Cuban government.

AHRU, which has been working in defense of human rights for the past 20 years, wrote 85 letters to members of all branches of the U.S. government supporting the granting of asylum in the U.S. for Elian. AHRU argued against returning the boy to Cuba, stating, "We know from recent past experience that a Communist regime is dangerous to the health and spirit of people under its control. This information has been very ably researched and described by Stephane Courtois and others in the book 'The Black Book of Communism.' In it Curtois states that 100 million people were killed by planned, logical and 'politically correct' mass slaughter by Communists."

AHRU also noted that arguments for returning Elian to Cuba are used in anti-American propaganda by Castro, including appeals by Elian's two grandmothers.

In the case of Walter Polovchak, dubbed by the media as the "littlest defector," the youth, upon turning 18 in October 1985, applied for his U.S. citizenship and received it in a matter of days. His birthday and citizenship ceremonies were widely publicized by the mass media and were warmly received by the American public. This date ended a four-year-long legal battle to keep Mr. Polovchak in the United States against the wishes of his father who returned to Soviet Ukraine and stated that the reason for his return to Ukraine was his dissatisfaction with life in America.

In Washington celebrations of Walter's birthday that were sponsored by American groups and members of the U.S. Congress were shown on national TV. Members of AHRU also were present. During the protracted effort to keep Walter in the United States, AHRU was involved in the United States congressional actions supporting the granting of asylum through letters, petitions and fund-raising for his legal defense.

Approximately $10,000 was raised by AHRU and given to Julian Kulas, Walter's attorney from Chicago. Mr. Kulas worked on the defense of Walter pro bono and, due to the lack of sufficient funds, he personally covered many out-of-pocket expenses. A Brooklyn law professor and other attorneys worked with him on issues concerning the rights of children. The Polovchak case aroused an awareness in human rights and children's rights.

A major supporter of Walter Polovchak was Natalia Solzhenitsyn (Alexander's wife), who testified on his behalf in the U.S. Congress and exposed the reality of the Soviet treatment of children, and the punishment and the consequences Walter would face if he were returned to the "tender mercies" of the Soviets. She graphically and vividly described the horrible fate of children in labor camps or special re-education camps for children, and the grim reality of Soviet state institutions and orphanages which were hardly any better than those camps.

Although there was support from members of the U.S. Congress and a number of American organizations, it was not enough to sway public opinion. Asylum was denied to Walter, but the case continued due to legal appeals. Ultimately it became moot when Walter reached the age of 18 - the status of adulthood.

The majority of Ukrainian American community members believed that Walter belonged with his parents; some even accused him of wanting to remain in the United States for the American life of "good times and blue jeans." As a result, support from the community was weak, which was evident in a reluctance to sign AHRU-sponsored petitions or donate money to cover the many legal costs of the highly visible case.

The overwhelming support and interest that the Gonzalez case is eliciting in the Miami demonstrations in the United States and the apparently staged rallies in Communist Cuba has been awesome in contrast to the Polovchak case of the 1980s with lack of support and interest from government bureaucrats or dissidents in Soviet Ukraine and also in the diaspora.

Even if the Gonzalez situation in Cuba pales in comparison to the horrific events in the Communist states of the former Soviet Union and Cambodia, and in present Red China and North Korea, human rights and freedoms are nowhere to be seen in repressive Communist Cuba.

Walter Bodnar is vice-president of Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine.

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