EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS ELLIOTT ABRAMS, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs, Department of State RICHARD N. PERLE, Assistant Secretary of Defense, International Planning, The Pentagon R. SPENCER OLIVER, Staff Director (III) CONTENTS Charles Fairbanks, Jr., Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights Harold Visotsky, M.D., chairman, Committee on International Abuse of Psy- chiatry and Psychiatrists, American Psychiatric Association, and director, Institute of Psychiatry, Northwestern University.. Walter Reich, M.D., research psychiatrist and program director, Staff College of the National Institute of Mental Health; member, the American Psychi- atric Association's Task Force on Human Rights, and former fellow of the Kennan Institute for Russian studies at the Woodrow Wilson International Boris Zoubok, M.D., member of the staff of Four Winds Hospital, instructor of psychiatry at Columbia University, and a former Soviet psychiatrist. Peter Reddaway, fellow at the Kennan Institute of Advanced Russian Studies, Woodrow Wilson Center, and senior lecturer in the London School of Eco- Page MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD Prepared statement of Hon. Dante B. Fascell, a Representative in Congress Letter dated June 23, 1983, from Dr. George Tarjan, president, American Document entitled "Political Abuse of Psychiatry in the U.S.S.R." by Am- nesty International, dated March 1983.... Document entitled "Additional Cases of the Political Abuse of Psychiatry in the U.S.S.R.," prepared by Amnesty International, September 1983 ... APPENDIXES 1. Article by Walter Reich entitled "Grigorenko Gets a Second Opinion," published in the New York Times magazine, May 13, 1979. 2. Remarks by Max Kampelman, chairman of the U.S. delegation_to_the plenary session of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, in Madrid, entitled "Psychiatric Abuse in the Soviet Union," February 24, (V) ABUSE OF PSYCHIATRY IN THE SOVIET UNION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1983 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AF- Washington, D.C. The subcommittee met at 2:27 p.m., in room 2200, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Gus Yatron (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Mr. YATRON. Today, the Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Organizations and the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe meet in joint session to receive testimony from a highly distinguished group of witnesses on the abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union. Our hearing today is in direct response to a request from the American Psychiatric Association which wanted an opportunity to present testimony on this important subject. As the former chairman of this subcommittee, Don Fraser, said in 1976, The use of psychiatry by governments against political dissidents is certainly one of the most horrifying assaults in the dignity of the individual made possible by a modern science. It strikes me that this particular form of human rights abuse appears particularly heinous since it involves the active cooperation of highly educated medical professionals who have presumably dedicated their lives toward improving the health and welfare of those entrusted to their care. Mr. Lantos, do you have an opening statement that you would like to make or any comments that you would like to share with us at this time? Mr. LANTOS. Just one, Mr. Chairman. First, I want to commend you for holding these hearings. Since you have assumed the chairmanship of this subcommittee, you have focused on a series of human rights violations around the globe with a degree of determination and intelligence and perception that I think has brought to you the admiration of all of your colleagues. I want you to know how proud I am to serve on your subcommittee. Mr. YATRON. Thank you very much. : Mr. LANTOS. Last January, I led a congressional delegation to the Soviet Union. We again had firsthand opportunity to talk to a group of Soviet citizens in connection with the abuse of psychiatry as a weapon of punishment meted out to Soviet citizens. (1) |