Peter Gowan Archive | ETOL Main Page
London Focus on Eastern Europe, Vol. 1 No. 2, May–June 1977, p. 23.
Transcribed Einde O’ Callaghan for the Encyclopaedia of Trotskyism On-Line (ETOL).
Last year more than 100 letters sent by the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation to various oppositionists in the USSR were seized by the Soviet authorities. All these letters were registered and under the regulations of the Universal Postal Union the country of origin – in this case the British Post Office – is bound to pay compensation to the sender of the letter and claim reimbursement from the offending post office later. After paying out a total of nearly £500 for Russell Foundation letters seized by the Soviet authorities, the British Post Office refused to pay any further compensation. Under Soviet law the seizure of mail is illegal except in certain legally defined cases and under authorisation from an official procurator. When the British Post Office refused to challenge the actions of the Soviet Post Office in Soviet courts, the Russell Foundation responded by appealing on 9 March 1977 to the European Commission of Human Rights on the grounds that the British Government has not done enough to protect the right of British citizens to correspond with anyone they choose.
The case has now been taken up in a long article by J.N. Peck in the 31 March issue of The Post, the official journal of the Union of Post Office Workers. Under the heading On the Need for the Free Exchange of International Mail the article outlines the facts of the case and appeals for union pressure on the Soviet authorities:
“A refusal to act on an issue such as this means we are complicit in the denial of rights in a field which provides us all with our livelihood. In defence of elementary human rights and the professional service which we provide, our union should raise its voice. Psychiatrists outraged at the abuse of their profession have played a big part in securing the release of dissidents and the voice of our powerful union representing a large part of the British labour movement can strike a powerful blow for the restoration of democratic rights in the USSR.”
The article ends by proposing that the UPW should “advise the Soviet postal trade union of the position we have adopted and offer to establish a joint committee to investigate all charges of interference in private correspondence”.
Interestingly enough many of the letters sent by the Russell Foundation to Soviet oppositionists and seized by the Soviet authorities contained articles from the Morning Star mentioning a film shown in Western Europe that showed conditions in Soviet labour camps.
Peter Gowan Archive | ETOL Main Page
Last updated: 15 February 2023