Foreign Relations of the United States, 1981–1988, Volume X, Eastern Europe

416. Telegram From the Embassy in Bulgaria to the Department of State¹

538/Depto 10039.

Sofia, February 5, 1987, 2223Z

SUBJECT

• Deputy Secretary Whitehead’s Meeting With Charter 77 and Other Human Rights Activists and Visit to Old Jewish Quarter.

1. Confidential—Entire text.

2. Summary: Deputy Secretary Whitehead met on February 3 with seven Czechoslovak human-rights activists, including signers of Charter 77. Police prevented dramatist Vaclav Havel and several others from attending the meeting. The Deputy Secretary expressed admiration for Chartists’ personal courage, reiterated American interest and support for the charter, and encouraged continued perseverance in the struggle for human rights. The Chartists responded to the Deputy Secretary’s questions regarding the Czechoslovak human rights situation, noted the importance of international interest and attention to the Charter’s survival, and expressed appreciation to Mr. Whitehead for taking the time to listen to them and show support for their cause.

3. Before departing Prague on February 3, Mr. Whitehead also visited the old Jewish quarter and later met with the former President of the Council of Jewish Communities in Bohemia and Moravia, Dr. Desider Galsky. Dr. Galsky discussed the current situation in the Jewish community and attempts that some persons have recently undertaken to limit his role. End summary.

The Meeting

4. Seven Czechoslovak citizens, including five Charter 77 signatories, attended a February 3 breakfast at home of EconOff with the Deputy Secretary, the Ambassador, NSC Director for East European Affairs Dobriansky, EUR/EEY Director Wenick, and D Executive Assistant Grossman. Among those present were 1987 Charter spokesperson Janlitomisky and Libuse Silhanova, 1986 spokesperson Anna Sabatova, 1982 spokesperson Radim Palous, and Charter signatory Zdenek Urbanek. Non-signatories Rita Klimova and Ivan Havel were also present. Police prevented current spokesperson Josef Vohryzek and former spokespersons Vaclav Havel, Vaclav Benda, and Martin Palous from attending the breakfast. After talking informally with each of the guests, the Deputy Secretary convened a group discussion which he opened by contrasting the evident suppression in Czechoslovakia with the circumstances he had observed in Poland. There, he noted, he had been able to meet relatively freely with Lech Walesa.

The Deputy Secretary’s Remarks

5. Mr. Whitehead prefaced the discussion by:

— expressing admiration for the Chartists’ personal courage;

— reiterating American interest and support for the Charter; and

— encouraging continued perseverance in the struggle for human rights.

He then briefly described his meetings with GOC officials. He reported that he had raised the subject of the Charter, the Jazz Section, and the general human rights climate in Czechoslovakia. Mr. Whitehead explained that he had told his interlocutors that bilateral relations could not improve unless, and until, the GOC “corrected its human rights abuses.” The Deputy Secretary noted that he had thereby offered the Czechoslovak leadership a challenge which, on the whole, received a better response than expected, except perhaps with Party Secretary Bilak. Promising continued close USG contact with the Charter, Mr. Whitehead stressed the importance of human rights monitoring so that the U.S. can speak out against injustices and acknowledge improvements when and if it is appropriate to do so. The Deputy Secretary then requested specific information regarding the Czechoslovak human-rights situation.

The Charter’s Response

6. Although careful to express appreciation for Mr. Whitehead’s remarks and gratitude for the opportunity to meet with him, several speakers encouraged the U.S. to adopt a more “official” stance vis-a-vis the GOC regarding contacts with dissidents. The U.S. might, for example, make access to Chartists—perhaps even specific persons—a precondition for a visit. USG visitors might also attend Charter-hosted meetings, they suggested. When the Deputy Secretary recalled that Senator Pressler had attempted to do these last July and failed, one observer remarked that the Charter survives because it has refused to accept failure. Other themes discussed included:

— The importance of international attention to illegal imprisonment and abuses of the legal code. One participant noted that in November 1985, at least eight persons were in jail for political offenses; in November 1986, that number had risen to 38. In this connection, Chartists raised the specific cases of Petr Pospichal, Erwin Mott, Jiri Bohac, and Jan Dus, all facing prosecution—or the victims of prosecution—on the charge of “subversion” for doing little more than discussing VOA broadcasts or expressing a personal opinion at variance with state policy;

— poor prison conditions: unhealthy circumstances, unreasonably high prison-labor production standards, and brutal treatment. One individual observed that the demands of new “intensification” economic policies will likely have an adverse impact on conditions;

— the press and the lack of editorial freedom; and

— religion—Chartists discussed the lack of religious freedom and drew attention to the prosecution of individuals trying to exercise their religious rights. They noted the lack of religious literature and continued staff supervision of churches and religious communities.

The Jewish Quarter

7. Embassy had scheduled a February 3 visit to Prague’s former Jewish Quarter for the Deputy Secretary and his party and had arranged for former Jewish communities president, Dr. Desider Galsky, to accompany the group on the visit as a guide. Unfortunately, however, on the morning of February 3 Dr. Galsky, who has recently been the object of the current community leadership’s efforts to isolate him from international visitors, informed the Embassy that he could not act as a guide for the group. He said he had received an anonymous telephone call from an individual identifying himself as a “friend” who suggested he not undertake this activity. However, he was able to meet the Deputy Secretary at a nearby restaurant. There, Dr. Galsky discussed the current situation in the Jewish community and efforts to limit his influence in it. He expressed the view that visitors to Prague should “boycott” the current community leadership and also said he hoped the general political climate in the country might change and thereby improve, if not restore, his position.

8. Comment: As was the case with its handling of the Charter’s tenth anniversary last month, the GOC’s actions regarding our efforts to arrange a meeting with human rights activists are hard to fathom. Almost simultaneously with the Deputy Secretary’s and U.K. State Secretary Renton’s arrival, the leading lights of the Czechoslovak dissident community came under virtual house arrest. Fearing the GOC might try to prevent any meeting whatever (especially after a one-on-one meeting scheduled for Sunday² with a member of the Deputy Secretary’s party did not take place), U.S. officials explained forcefully to MFA Sixth Department Director Jakubik the importance of allowing a meeting to occur. The Embassy also cast its net wider and extended additional invitations. In that process, notwithstanding police cars and/or policemen on doorsteps, PolOff was allowed to enter buildings to deliver invitations without even submitting to an identity check—certainly unusual, if not unprecedented. On the night of February 2, State Secretary Renton succeeded in holding a meeting with Chartists and Jazz Section members that he had told the MFA he would hold, although some invitees did not show up. Still, police prevented attendance at our event by many leading Charter personalities—although we understand none was held longer than 2–3 hours. On February 3, the police cars remained in front of the homes of significant Charter figures, even after the departure of the Deputy Secretary and Renton. Czechoslovakia’s security apparatus, typically, did enough that was objectionable to prevent the GOC from getting any credit for what may have been a high-level decision to allow the meetings with human rights activists to occur.

Levitsky

1. Source: Department of State, Official Correspondence of Deputy Secretary of State John C. Whitehead, July 1982–January 1989, Lot 89 D 139, JCW’s Eastern Europe Trip 1/27–2/7/87 Memcons. Confidential; Immediate. Sent for information to Eastern European posts and Vienna.
2. February 1.