От "размышлений о мирном сосуществовании..." до борьбы за права человека

Abstract

The article traces the life and activities of Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov, whose main purport was the struggle for human rights and spreading of the idea of human rights, in particular, of respect for human dignity. In his very first article "Reflections on Progress, Peaceful Coexistence and Intellectual Freedom", written as far back as 1968, Sakharov gives priority to the human rights idea and considers the main a im of international policy to be provision for general observance of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. This idea underpins the Nobel Prize lecture "Peace. Progress. Human Rights" as well. Sakharov emphasised: "I defend the thesis of the primary crucial importance of civil and political human rights in shaping the fate of mankind". Sakharov's concern is a person. "Today we must fight for every particular person, against every case of injustices and «Human rights protection is above all other values" — these two theses of his still remain relevant today. Starting with 1970, human rights protection and the protection of the rights of the people who had fallen victims to political persecution, becomes priority with Sakharov and he begins his work in the Human Rights Committee. Andrei Dmitrievich addresses the issues of peace, disarmament, the freedom of contacts and information, the freedom of movement and freedom of conscience and opinion, environment protection and capital unishment, which he opposed. These speeches were followed by active steps for human rights protection. And as a result of this human rights struggle and a tribute of international community recognition, the Sakharov readings were established in Copenhagen, an international seminar which deals with the human rights issues in the former USSR and Eastern European countries. In this connection Sakharov claimed that "human rights protection has become a world ideology, unifying people of all nationalities and various views on humanistic grounds ..." and that "international human rights protection is closely connected with the problem of peace, with establishing trust and understanding between countries, and freedom of opinion, expression and information exchange and freedom of movement is the necessary condition of real accountability of authorities, preventing the abuse of power in domestic and international affairs". Sakharov himself was a prisoner of conscience. "In broad daylight of January 22, 1980 in Moscow I was seized and sent to exile to the city of Gorkiy without investigation and trial. In sight of the country, in sight of the whole world the law was violated openly and cynically. The law was violated not only by the fact of unjudicial reprisals itself. The people exiled b y the court verdict have rights and conditions regulated by law. Andrei Dmitrievich, exiled b y an arbitrary act of the authorities, not b y the court verdict, was deprived of any rights. But Andrei Sakharov, in exile, too, did not betray his inner independence and stayed true to himself". Stripped of all decorations and awards by the USSR Supreme Soviet Decree from January 8, 1980, he continued his activities of a human rights champion and a scientist. He also fought for his human dignity. Three times diaries, manuscripts, academic articles and literary works were stolen. But this brave man continued on his thorny way, which is called the struggle for human rights. He re-created his diaries, manuscripts and articles, spread the idea of human rights and clarified the content and essence of human rights, explained the threat to the world today, suggested specific steps in eliminating the dangers and made efforts to save specific people — those he knew and those the d i d n ' t — from prosecution. "He has become a person to whom people went from all parts of the country in search for his intercession as to the highest authority of Honour and Justice". When he became a member of the Constitution committee in June 1989, A. Sakharov planned to write his own project of the constitution. His friend and teacher I. Ye. Tamm used to say: "To write a constitution, one has to have lived a full life, to have common sense, to respect those it is written for and to have self-respect". These words imply the personality of Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov, whose work was recognized b y the international community, which gave h im a number of awards: the Nobel Prize for Peace (1975), the Joseph International Prize (1977), the Antidiscrimination League Prize, the U S Freedom House Award and Cino del Luca Award. A. Sakharov's last work was the Draft of the Constitution of the Union of Soviet Republics of Europe and Asia (14.12.1989) containing 46 articles, seven of which were devoted to human rights. The Draft presents "Sakharov's concept of the indissoluble link between the human rights and peace in the world, between the mankind's survival and the openness of every society... It is called 'new thinking' now". The idea of human rights, carried b y A. D. Sakharov through all his life, resulted in his constitution — his message to posterity. It will be read and studied b y generations of people striving for the Truth. "His word lives on and n ew people with their unique destinies and hearts contribute n ew life to the idea, to the movement, to the struggle for human rights".