(Radical Party member)

Day by day the number of conscientious objectors in the Soviet Union is increasing. This movement was launched only recently and its continuous development has clashed with the law which punishes conscientious objectors with up to five years imprisonment.

The Work Commission on the problems of conscientious objection in the Soviet Union, composed of Radical militants, possesses information concerning 43 "peace prisoners" - people who are persecuted for their refusal to do military service, for deserting their service station or for their involvement in pacifist activities.

Many of them are "Jehova's Witnesses", whose conscientious objection is motivated by religious reasons. But the main problem is that most of them are unknown by civil society and the authorities deny any information concerning them.

According to official sources, 6,000 people throughout the U,S.S.R. have refused military service. This movement is growing particularly fast on the fringe of the Soviet empire - in those "Soviet Socialist Republics" where movements for national independance have a strong hold: Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia and Azerbajdan. In these places, youth refuse to wear the uniform of the Soviet army because it would be considered like belonging to the army which has occupied their own land.

For example, in the Radical Party's Moscow office, we have six kilos of military documentation available concerning inhabitants of Georgia who refused to serve in the occupying Soviet army.

Recently, the Fondo di Aiuto ai Prigionieri di Pace decided not only to help prisoners in work camps but also their relations who have so frequently lost the breadwinner of the family..

Those who want to contact the "Fondo di aiuti" or who would like to contribute to this initiative are asked to get in touch with the Radical Party's Office in Moscow.