World Psychiatric Assn. Votes to Conditionally Readmit Soviets

The World Psychiatric Assn. voted early today to readmit the Soviet Union after a six-year absence, subject to suspension if the Soviets have not ended the misuse of psychiatry against dissidents.

A motion for conditional readmission of the official Soviet All-Union Society of Psychiatrists and Narcologists passed 291 votes to 45, with 19 abstentions. The United States voted in favor.

The Soviet Union left the association in 1983 to avoid expulsion because of allegations that dissidents were being certified as insane.

Under terms of the approved motion, a delegation of the World Psychiatric Assn. would visit the Soviet Union within a year to determine whether the political use of psychiatry had ended.

If the answer is no, a special general assembly will be called to consider suspending the Soviet membership.

“I think . . . the conditions will allow us to assess whether or not there has been an amelioration in the political use of psychiatry in the Soviet Union,” said Dr. Melvin Sabshin, medical director of the American Psychiatric Assn.

The move to admit the Soviet Union came after Peter Morozov, the Soviet representative and chief of international relations of the group, acknowledged the existence of the political use of psychiatry in the Soviet Union.

“The (Soviet All-Union Society) publicly acknowledges that previous political conditions created an environment in which psychiatric abuse occurred, including political,” Morozov told the general assembly before his delegation left the hall for the vote.

It was the first time the Soviet Union publicly admitted the political abuse of psychiatry.

The Soviet group agreed to submit to the on-site review by the World Psychiatric Assn., underlining that it supports changes in Soviet law aimed to define professional abuse and give patients more rights.

An official U.S. delegation of psychiatrists led by a State Department official visited the Soviet Union in February to investigate claims that psychiatry was no longer being abused, in particular on Soviet dissidents.

The group noted in a report that despite some progress, more legal safeguards were needed.