00:00:00.000 - 00:00:15.480

The question of arms control has certainly gotten the most press during the buildup to the Geneva summit next week, but there are several other issues that President Reagan has promised he will pursue at next week's session. This morning we continue our series on the summit agenda with a look at human rights.

00:00:15.480 - 00:00:35.880

Specifically, Mr. Reagan is expected to raise concerns about the estimated 10,000 Soviet political prisoners, including Anatoly Sharansky and Andrei Sakharov. About the Soviet Jews waiting for exit visas, Israel says they number some 380,000. And about those tens of thousands of Soviet Christians persecuted for practicing their

00:00:35.880 - 00:00:48.720

religion. Our Washington correspondent Terrence Smith has this look at the state of human rights in the USSR. During detente, the internal controls on Soviet citizens ease considerably.

00:00:48.720 - 00:01:14.640

But in the late 1970s, a general crackdown on dissent began that is the worst in 20 years. sent away to labor camps or psychiatric institutions and all kinds of harsh treatment. It's unbelievable. Nor has the situation improved under the new Gorbachev regime. It has to do with the perceptions of Gorbachev, his

00:01:14.640 - 00:01:36.000

demonstrated need, desire, and determination to exert exert absolute control in the Soviet Union. In addition to the well publicized cases involving Jews wishing to immigrate, Soviet Christians are persecuted for practicing their religion. Yet they continue to worship, with clandestine services often held outdoors. Outside the

00:01:36.000 - 00:01:50.680

Soviet Union, American Christian groups are praying that the summit will lead to an easier life for their brethren behind the Iron Curtain. We pray for freedom from persecution for them so that they can live their lives to please you.

00:01:50.680 - 00:02:06.080

There are at least 560 documented cases of so-called prisoners of conscience, Russians persecuted for their beliefs. The State Department believes there are probably thousands more. Among them, a woman considered so dangerous to the state that she was given the harshest

00:02:06.080 - 00:02:22.160

possible sentence for her crime, seven years at hard labor plus five years of internal exile. Her name is Irina Ratushinskaya. for crime, demonstrating for human rights, Christian activism, and writing poetry.

00:02:22.160 - 00:02:43.480

I live through this, survive, and they'll ask me how they beat my head on the prison cot, how it froze during the nights. Her treatment has been brutal. Six months in an isolation cell, her hair shaved close to her head.

00:02:43.480 - 00:03:05.320

She has a husband. She was 28 when she was in prison. Can you imagine what kind of crime a person is supposed to commit to be punished in such a way? And there is no way to survive. Several international human rights groups have taken up Irina's case.

00:03:05.320 - 00:03:26.940

A petition and a book of poems like this has been presented to Mrs. Reagan, asking her to make a direct personal appeal to Mrs. Gorbachev at Geneva. And Marcella Tomlinson makes her own plea to President Reagan. I will beg him not to be afraid and not to be ashamed as Mr. Gorbachev about human rights

00:03:26.940 - 00:03:53.580

and personally about Irina Ratushenskaya faith. if he cannot help and if he doesn't want to help by some political or any other reasons, this means that there is no justice in the world. Perhaps it is easier to understand how a young poet could be dangerous to the Soviet state

00:03:53.580 - 00:04:12.560

if you look at her drawings and listen to her words. You will dream of me, Russia, in the curse of your triumphs. Fling blame at the murdered, deny it, weasel out with lies. All the same, I'll come before you.

00:04:12.560 - 00:04:26.760

Look straight in your eyes." How will the human rights question be handled at the summit between Mr. Reagan and Mr. Gorbachev? What can we expect to come out of there? Let's look at that when we talk in just a moment with former United Nations ambassador

00:04:26.760 - 00:04:50.040

Gene Kirkpatrick. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO]