Mr. President,

We, the undersigned, former participants of the Soviet human rights ("dissident") movement and supporters of its ideas, petition again the European Parliament to award this year's Andrei Sakharov Prize to our colleague Dr. Alexander Yessenin-Volpin, who is widely regarded among us as a spiritual father of our movement. The year 2005 marks the fortieth anniversary of the 1965 demonstration at Pushkin Square, an event most historians consider the first public appearance of the Soviet dissident movement, and one which was the direct result of his political ideas and actions.

A son of a famous Russian poet and a poet in his own right, as well as an outstanding mathematician (now retired from Boston University), Alexander Yessenin-Volpin was repeatedly imprisoned, exiled and committed to mental institutions under Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev for his advocacy of intellectual freedom.

In the early 1960s, he developed the main philosophical concept and legal strategy of fighting for civil liberties under a totalitarian regime, which subsequently inspired hundreds of people to launch a campaign for human rights, and which, in its turn, ultimately evolved into a movement known in the West as "dissident". Together with his friends, he organized, in 1965, the first (since 1927) peaceful demonstration in Moscow in support of political prisoners and in defense of our constitutional rights. Even today, almost 40 years after that event, the place and the date of this first demonstration remains a traditional annual rallying point for Russian democrats and human rights activists. Since then, his ideas of challenging an undemocratic government in ways that are strictly in accordance to its own laws, has been widely used by movements fighting for human rights, all over the world.

In 1973, after a public campaign in the West on his behalf, he was forced to emigrate to the United States where he continued his professional work at the Boston University. Meanwhile, many generations of human rights activists in the Soviet Union, as well as in Eastern Europe and other communist countries continued to adhere to the concept of explicit non-violence and strict legality, although most of them would not even know its real author. And when the communist system has finally collapsed, it was not just a triumph for all of the freedom-loving people across the world, it was an ultimate triumph of the ideas once developed by Alexander Yessenin-Volpin.

Mr. President,

Although the prize in question bears the name of our famous countryman and colleague, we understand that it should be international and not exclusively meant for Russians or East Europeans. We understand that the European Parliament is entitled to have its own priorities and political preferences. This is why we have never felt justified to get involved in the process of its awarding. And this is why, despite the Parliament's decision not to award him the Prize last year, we feel obliged to petition you on his behalf, again, for the ideas created by Dr. Yessenin-Volpin had truly international consequences and were crucial in the struggle of mankind against totalitarianism. After all, Andrei Sakharov, who knew Dr. Yessenin-Volpin personally and greatly respected him, (they worked together at the Committee for Human Rights from its very beginning in 1970 till Dr.Yessenin-Volpin's exile), was also influenced by his ideas and, in a sense, could be regarded as one of his followers. It will be an act of historical justice, for Alexander Yessenin-Volpin to be awarded the Andrei Sakharov prize.

Please accept our respect for you and the institution you preside over.

Former participants of the Soviet human rights movement and supporters of its ideas:

Signatures              

  

To add your support to the Petition to the European Parliament, please click here

To learn more about Alexander Yessenin-Volpin, his struggle and his achievements, please click here