U.S. Action Against Kurt Waldheim
The Justice Department, as a result of “research” by its Office of Special Investigations, barred Kurt Waldheim from entering the United States because he “assisted or otherwise participated in the persecution of persons because of race, religion, national origin or political opinion.”
One assumes it will also place General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev on its undesirable “watch list” for the same reasons.
As leader of the Soviet Union, he “assists” in the persecution of people for their religion, i.e., Lithuanian and Ukrainian Catholics, Baptists, Pentecostals, Jews, and others. He persecutes Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Tatars, Armenians, and Ukrainians for their nationalism; peace activists, trade unionists, and countless others for their political opinions.
He has released only a fraction of those imprisoned for expressing their beliefs and views. He allowed recent arrests for religious and political reasons. He ordered the use of prisoners of conscience, including Catholic priests, and, against their will, people from the Baltic nations, in the Chernobyl cleanup.
TAMARA HORODYSKY
Berkeley
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