NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DAILY

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005630177
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: June 24, 2015
• Document Release Date: July 26, 2011
• Case Number: F-2010-00530
• Publication Date: April 9, 1980

+~"`~~ Duector of
Central
\~j Intelligence
APPROVED FOR RELEASE^
DATE: 07-20-2011
(b)(1)
(b)(3)
National Intelligence Daily
Wednesday
9 Apri l 1980
 USSR: Suppression of Dissidents
harassment, including repeated house searches and close surveillance.
As relations betr~een the US and USSR have become more strained,
Moscow has intensified its campaign against the Soviet dissident
movement. The authorities have detained more than 40 dissidents
since the craekdoLrn began in October 1979, concentrating particularly
on human rights activists such as members of the Helsinki Act
Monitoring Group. The activists have been sub~jeeted to continual
The greatest blow to the dissidents was the exile
in January of Andrey Sakharov to Gorkiy, which removed
the human rights movement's most prominent spokesman.
He is now isolated from contact with all but family
by arrests:
In the past, Sakharov's remarks automatically com-
manded the .attention of Western correspondents in Moscow
and shaped world opinion against Soviet tactics toward
dissent. Without Sakharov, the members of the Moscow
Helsinki group believe that they are being ignored by
Western media at a time when the group is being decimated
shortly.
There was little publicity in the West when Malva
Landa, one of the most prominent members of the Moscow
group, recently was sentenced to three years of internal
exile for "slandering the Soviet state." Trials of sev-
eral other human rights activists in custody should follow
The Soviets had been expected to remove likely
troublemakers before the Olympics, but the severity of
this latest campaign appears aimed at paralyzing all
forms of dissent. Following Sakharov's exile, a number
--continued
9 April 1980
 off" the ..movement within a couple of months.
of dissident activists reportedly were warned by Soviet
officials that the action taken against Sakharov demon-
strated that the authorities are prepared to take measures
against any member of the dissident movement. Some re-
portedly were told that the authorities expect to "finish
Dissidents Discouraged
most dissidents believe
the human rights movement as ost muc
o' its sense of purpose andnd is bbeing forced-into a period
base than does dissent over human rights.
In addition, the current climate of cynicism and
apathy among students has resulted in fewer young people
being drawn to the dissidents. Those who do become
activists are attracted by the nationalist and religious
dissident movements, which apparently have a broader
focusing on the main problems in the USSR.
that the Soviet human rights movement will survive the
crackdown, while others are less optimistic that it will
be able to continue in its present form. The Soviet
intelligentsia has allegedly become disenchanted with
the movement, partly because the dissidents are preoc-
cupied with the arrests of their colleagues rather than
of relative inactivity.
Restrictions on Jewish Emigration
Although not directly linked with the crackdown on
dissidents, new restrictions on Jewish emigration report-
edly were introduced about the same time. A reduction
in the number of visas became evident last November when
the total dropped to 3,600 from the year's monthly average
of 4,200. A slow decline has continued through March,
lowering the total for the first quarter of 1980 by more
than 25 ercent as compared with the same period last
year.
The reduction is caused primarily by a severe
cutback in emigration from the Ukraine, a~result of
strict enforcement of a regulation limiting sponsorship
of emigrants to immediate family members living in Israel.
Top Seei.=et_
9 April 1980
 Considerable variation, in emigration practices is still
apparent among the Soviet republics, however, with the
majority showing a slight increase in the number of
emigrants this year.
9 April 1980