Turning the pages back... February 19, 1978 (02/13/00)

Turning the pages back...

February 19, 1978

Twenty-two years ago on February 19 The Ukrainian Weekly reported that 11 congressional members of the U.S. Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe had nominated all of the Public Groups to Promote the Implementation of the Helsinki Accords in the U.S. for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Using the example of 15 members of the monitoring groups who have been arrested - including Ukrainians Mykola Rudenko, Oleksii Tykhy, Myroslav Marynovych, Mykola Matusevych and Lev Lukianenko - the U.S. Helsinki Commission wrote that, in order to document violations in the USSR, they "sacrifice their ease, security and often their freedom to advance the cause of peace, a peace founded on nations' respect for the dignity of every citizen."

In their letter to the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, dated January 30, 1978, the U.S. lawmakers cited the Helsinki watchers as "men and women of great moral courage," adding that "they have put their lives at the service of peace and decency in the conduct of nations."

The legislators noted: "In their courageous activity, they have expressed the view held by the late Nobel Peace laureate, Martin Luther King, that 'injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.'... Their dedication and their sacrifice have earned them the acknowledgment the Nobel Institute, most especially, can give."

Source: "U.S. legislators nominate Helsinki groups for 1978 Nobel Peace Prize," The Ukrainian Weekly, February 19, 1978, Vol. LXXXV, No. 39.

| Home Page |