SOVIET INTERNATIONAL FRONTS: SPOTLIGHT ON THE "PEACE" CAMPAIGN

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06760566
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RIPPUB
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U
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15
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December 28, 2022
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August 30, 2018
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F-2018-00812
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April 1, 1983
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Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Directorate of intelligence Sccrct Soviet International Fronts: Spotlight on the "Peace" Campaign (u) A Research Paper ecre GI 83-10064 April 1983 Copy ri Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Warning Notice Intelligence Sources or Methods Involved (WNINTEL) National Security Unauthorized Disclosure Information Subject to Criminal Sanctions Dissemination Control Abbreviations NOFORN (NF) Not releasable to foreign nationals NOCONTRACT (NC) Not releasable to contractors or contractor/consultants PROPIN (PR) Caution�proprietary information involved ORCON (OC) Dissemination and extraction of information controlled by originator REL... FGI This information has been authorized for release to... Foreign government information WN WNINTEL�Intelligence sources or methods involved A microfiche copy of this docu- ment is available from OCR/ DLL( printed copies from CPAS/IMC Regular receipt of DDI reports in either microfiche or printed form can also be arranged through CPAS/IMC. All material on this page is Unclassified. Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Directorate of Intelligence Soviet International Fronts: Spotlight on the "Peace" Campaign (u) A Research Paper Informatibn available as of March 1983 was used in this report. This paper was prepared b3 Office of Global Issues. Comments and queries are welcome and may be directed to the Chief, OGI, or (u) This paper was coordinated with the Directorate of Operations. (u) �Secret-- -Seeret� GI 83-10064 April 1983 Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Soviet International Fronts: Spotlight on the "Peace" Campaign (u) Soviet International Front Organizations Soviet international front organizations are a key element in the implementation of Moscow's foreign policy. Among the 10 major fronts, the best known are the World Peace Council (WPC) and the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). First formed in the 1950s, the fronts have proliferated, adding region- al and national affiliates. There are several hundred minor fronts controlled, some covertly, by Communist (b)(3) interests. (b)(3) (b)(3) Soviet front organizations are directed and controlled by the International Department (ID) of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, according to reliable sources and press reports. The ID, responsible for conducting CPSU foreign relations, directs the activities of the fronts to mold Western and nonaligned public opinion on high- profile international political issues. The fronts are giving priority in their 1983 programs to Soviei disarmament initiatives. The World Peace Council, the leading front and the coordinator of a large share of all front activities, has published the following agenda for 1983: � Oppose deployment of Pershing II and cruise mis- siles to Western Europe. � Accuse the United States of making preparations for a protracted nuclear war through a massive arms buildup of the MX, Trident, And other weapon systems. � Support and encourage the nuclear freeze move- ment in the United States. � Obtain support for Soviet disarmament proposals through participation in UN deliberations on world disarmament. � Promote nuclear-free zones for the Balkans, the Baltic region, and the Indian Ocean. Other major Soviet fronts have targeted selected professions and are organized to attract and influence lawyers, journalists, scientific workers, trade union members, women, and youth. All these groups have similar peace movement agendas in 1983. The 1983 "Peace" Campaign Reports from reliable sources indicate that Soviet international front organizations and their affiliates in Western Europe are well advanced in preparing for mass demonstrations and propaganda in 1983 to oppose US deployment of intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF). The Soviets sponsored two conferences in January�one in Moscow, the other in Vienna�to rally support for Soviet peace and disarmament initia- tives. The Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, which has cooperated in the past with the World Peace Council, held a demonstration in Brussels in iMarch to protest deployment of Pershing II and cruise missiles. The WPC itself is giving priority to preparations for the World Peace Assem- bly scheduleefor Prague in June. The CPSU Central Committee has instructed its departments and Soviet embassies to collect informa- tion to be used in the current propaganda battle over INF. In the West European countries where INF missiles are to be based, Soviet front affiliates have been secondary factors in the peace movement, but the Soviets continue to urge them toward greater. activity. There is a genuine grass-roots concern among local populations on INF deployments, and many of these concerns can be exploited by the front groups. One of Moscow's principal aims is to discredit the positions of Western peace movements. The Soviet Peace Committee�an arm of the International Department of the CPSU�has requested the front organizations to initiate a campaign against the Brussels-based European Nuclear Disarmament (END) movement. END is, critical of the defense postures of both the Warsaw Pact and NATO, op- poses the current regime in Poland, and wants to reopen the East-West pacts of the 1970s recognizing the division of Germany. Yuri Zhukov, Soviet Peace Committee chairman, recently sent a letter (which has since been published in the West European press) to leading personalities in other West European peace movements in a direct attempt to discredit END. He asserted that END includes Eastern Bloc emigres who seek to denigrate Soviet domestic and foreign policies. Zhukov's tactics have been ineffective, however, and, in boosting END's reputation for independence, may enhance the organization's prestige. The global scope of Moscow's anti-INF campaign is apparent in the WPC's preparations for conferences outside Europe. The World Peace Council and its local affiliates in Mexico and Nicaragua held confer- ences in those two countries during March and April. These conferences not only promoted Soviet political objectives in Central America but also publicized Soviet disarmament initiatives in Europe. The two meetings were part of the events leading up to the WPC's top-priority project for 1983, the Prague World Peace Assembly. The rhetoric and resolutions emanating from Mexico City and Managua included emphasis on the danger of nuclear war resulting from US deployment of Pershing II and cruise missiles in Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Europe. The WPC probably is hoping to engage in a worldwide effort similar to its campaign in 1977-78 to ban the neutron bomb. In countries where there is no pronounced indigenous peace movement and where a nonruling Communist party is not strenuously promoting Soviet disarma- ment initiatives, Soviet fronts tend to be ineffective. For instance, the peace movement in Italy, an INF- basing country, is in disarray at the moment. The Italian Communist Party is avoiding a close associa- tion with the peace fronts in order to maintain broad voter appeal. The Communist Party of France, ac- cording to a generally reliable source, will give moral support to the French peace movement but will not divert resources from local election efforts. Soviet Control Moscow exercises administrative and financial control of the fronts through Soviet personnel at front head- quarters and Soviet affiliates within the front mem- berships. According to several reliable sources, Alek- sandr Lebedev administered the World Peace Council and controlled its finances during his term in the late 1970s as a member of the WPC Secretariat. We believe that Tair Tairov, his successor, now performs these functions. Tairov's superior is Oleg Khalkhar- din, first deputy chairman of the Soviet Peace Com- mittee in Moscow and general secretary of the Inter- national Liaison Forum of Peace Forces. Kharkhardin is in the ID and presumably is subordinate to ID Deputy Chief Vitaly Shaposhnikov and Section Chief Yuri Kharmalov, the two officials responsible for the WPC. Romesh Chandra of India, currently President of the WPC, is apparently a protege of Kharkbardin. The Soviet Peace Committee has on occasion criti- cized the WPC for neglecting grass-roots work with national affiliates and peace movements, the mass base which the Soviets regard as the source of the WPC's influence. It has complained that the WPC schedules international conclaves in rapid succession, leaving little time for adequate preparation or follow- up. Chandra has been criticized for his "one-man shows" and underutilizing his 26 vice presidents. Soviet affiliates of the major fronts serve as channels for ID direction and control. In the case of the WFTU, currently headed by Hungarian Sandor Gaspar, reliable sources relate_ that the ID provides policy direction and the Soviet All Union Central Council of Trade Unions (AUCCTU) exercises de- tailed control. The AUCCTU is directly involved in WFTU regional and national operations, its training schools, and its publications. AUCCTU personnel sit on the WFTU general council, executive bureau, and secretariat. According to a defector, the Soviet Afro- Asian Solidarity Committee is a clearinghouse for funds going to the Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organization (AAPSO), and works directly with the ID Third World departments in bringing officials of front groups and national liberation movements to Moscow. We estimate, on the basis of partial budgets and reliable sources, that the major fronts cost the Soviets $60-70 million in hard currency annually. The WPC receives at least half of these funds. Money is dis- bursed from the Soviet Peace Fund to the WPC directly. The WPC's principal expenditures go to sponsoring conferences, assemblies, and seminars to promote its action program. Soviet fronts are relatively well-heeled organizations by "socialist" standards. The WPC plans at least eight conferences in 1983 as well as attendance at United Nations meetings and trips to the Soviet Union by WPC officials. Aeroflot airfare and accom- odations at front conferences are provided to delega- tions, an attractive inducement for participation. Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Romesh Chandra (India), President of the World Peace Council. A master at political maneuvering and lobbying, he has promoted Soviet global political objectives through the WPC. He cooperates closely with the Soviets, and has survived several periods of apparent disfavor. Chandra, 63, is a journalist by training. His wife, Perin, is general secretary of the All India Peace and Solidarity Organization, an affiliate of AAPSO, also a Soviet front. Vitaly Sergeyevieh Shaposhnikov (USSR), a Deputy Chief of the International Department of the CPSU Central Committee. He has primary responsibilities for CPSU relations with Communist par- ties of Scandinavia, and appears to have a secondary area of responsibility for Latin America and Southern Europe. Shaposhni- kov is a member, of the World Peace Council's Presidential Committee. He plays a major role in Soviet interaction with the West European peace movement. Sandor Gaspar (Hungary), President of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU). Member of the Hungarian Socialist Work- ers (Communist) Party Politburo and General Secretary of the Hungarian National Trade Union Council. He is also a member of the Presidential Council of Hungary, a ceremonial state body. In 1977 he was awarded a medal of the Soviet Order of the October Revolution. Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Major Soviet Soviet Front Organizations World Peace Council Headquarters: Helsinki. President: Romesh Chandra of India. Over 135 affiliates; publishes New Perspectives and Peace Courier; leads the other fronts and coordinates peace agendas among them. World Federation of Trade Unions Headquarters: Prague. President: Sandor Gaspar of Hungary. 90 affiliates; publishes World Trade Union Movement; has training schools in the USSR, Bulgaria, East Germany, Guinea, and Cuba; con- sists of 11 Trade Union Internationals organized along craft or trade lines. Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organization Headquarters: Cairo. President: Abdel Rahman Al-Sharkawi of Egypt. Affiliated with 90 solidarity committees and liberation movements; publishes Solidarity; has an Afro-Asian Development Center in Baghdad and information centers in Geneva, Nicosia, and Hanoi. World Federation of Democratic Youth Headquarters: Budapest. President: Walid Masri of Lebanon. 210 affiliates; publishes World Youth and WFDY News. International Union of Students Headquarters: Prague. President: Miroslav Stepan of Czechoslovakia. 118 affiliates; publishes World Student News. Women's International Democratic Federation Headquarters: East Berlin. President: Frieda Brown of Australia. 129 affiliates; publishes Women of the Whole World; has 11 training centers for women in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. International Organization of Journalists Headquarters: Prague. President: Kaarle Nordenstreng of Finland. 114 affiliates; publishes Democratic Journalists. Christian Peace Conference Headquarters: Prague. President: Karoly Toth of Hungary. 86 affiliates; publishes Christian Peace Conference; has regional affiliates for Asia, Africa, and Latin America. World Federation of Scientific Workers Headquarters: London and Lyon. President: Pierre Biquard of France. Publishes Scientific World; regional centers in Algiers, New Delhi, and East Berlin. International Association of Democratic Lawyers Headquarters: Brussels. President: Joe Nordmann of France. 64 affiliates; publishes Review of Contemporary Law. Most of these fronts have single-issue subsidiary commissions and committees. Nearly all are represented on the Presidential Committee of the World Peace Council. The Afro-Asian Women's Organization, the Arab People's Congress, the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace, the Berlin Conference of European Catholics, and the International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions also have representatives on the Presidential Committee. Unclassified V GI 83-10064 April 1983 Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Soviet International Fr( Spotlight On The "Pea Moscow control Soviet affiliates Ten major fronts Soviet Komsomol International Union of Students, Prague 118 Affiliates Publishes World Student News, IUS News Service $0.9 million annual budget All-African Students Union Central and Latin American Organization of Students World Fe Youth, 210 Affilia Publishes $1.575 m Pan AfricJ Council o Youth d Framewo and Stil Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 :ronts: ;ace" Campaign tit Federation of Democratic oak Budapest )Affiliates Plifies World Youth, WFDY News 475million annual budget Youth Movement of European National Committees ork for All-European Youth Student Cooperation International Information Department (IID) � Committee for State Security (KGB): Service A�active measures, disinformation Internatic Of CPSU Moscow Responsil � Nonrulir � Revoluti E2=1 E=3 � Left So( � Nationa � Internat � Friendsl Soviet All-Union Soviet Women's Committee Central Council of Trade Unions World Federation of Trade Unions, Prague 90 Affiliates Publishes World Trade Union Movement, Flashes From the Trade Unions $8.5 million annual budget Training schools in Moscow, Sofia, East Germany, Guinea, Cuba WFTU International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions Joint Committee International Trade Union Committee for Solidarity With Women's Internalonal Democratic Federation, East Berlin 129 Affiliates Publishes Women of The Whole World $0.4-0.8 million annual budget 11 training centers for women in Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Asia Pan African Women's Organization All-Arab Women's Federation World Pe 135 Affili; Publishe Courier $50 millio Permanen New Yo Paris Internatie Europe Cooper' Internatio for A Jo East pproved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Dna' I Department (ID) Central Committee, bl for CPSU relations with: ngl Communist Parties ionary Democratic Parties cialists ii Liberation Movements :iohal Fronts hiP Societies Soviet Committee For Defense of immils Peace, Moscow Soviet Peace Fund Novosti Press Agency una NNE TASS lzvestia Aeroflot Soviet Life (Published in Washington, D.C.) New Times World Marxist Review: � Sponsors Problems of Peace and Democratic Organizations Commission Soviet Committee for Solidarity USSR Union with Asian and African Countries...min Science WI Ice Council, Helsinki Christian Peace Conference, tes Prague Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organization, Cairo World Federal Workers, La New Perspectives, Peace 86 Affiliates 33 Affiliates Publishes Christian Peace 91 Affiliates, Solidarity Committees Publishes Soil fl annual budget Conference and Liberation Movements Regional Off ici t,Representatives at UN, Regional Offices for Middle East, Publishes Solidarity Berlin, New rk and Geneva; UNESCO, Africa, Latin America $1.25 million annual budget Development center in Baghdad Information centers in Geneva, Nicosia, Hanoi hal Committee for an Security and ation, Brussels pal Campaign Committee st Peace in The Middle Conference of European Churches All-African Church Conference Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace Asian Christian Peace Conference Afro-Asian, Latin American Solidarity People's Oganization (Non pproved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 lion of Education and :e Workers deration of Scientific rs, London and Lyon es ; Scientific World Offices in Algiers, East New Delhi (None Identified) State and Law Institute USSR Academy of Science USSR Union of Journalists sames International Association of Democratic Lawyers, Brussels 64 Affiliates Publishes Review of Contemporary Law $0.1 million annual budget Permanent Representative at UN, New York Arab Lawyers Union International Organization of Journalists, Prague 114 Affiliates Publishes Democratic Journalists, 10J Newsletter $0.5-1.0 million annual budget Branch offices in Paris, Budapest Latin American Federation of Journalists Afro-Asian Writers Association West African Press Syndicate pproved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Regional organizations Czechoslovakia Puerto Rico India Romania Iraq Ireland Cuba El Salvador Soviet Union (2)8 Namibia Lebanon Argentina I Chile (2) Vietnam India National affiliates represented Senegal Ghana North Korea Hungary Sudan (2) North Korc with officers on front executive committees and Poland Somalia Chile Cyprus Panama East Germany Soviet Link Cuba Hungary secretariats Vietnam Sierra Lea Colombia ( South Yen' Italy Iraq Fronts of fronts; subsidiary organizations b a Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of representatives to the front executive committees and secretariats. bDotted line indicates indirect relationship or control. National Union of Ghana Students, Accra African Youth Command, Accra General Union of Palestinian Students, Beirut Union of P Internation Friendsh Internation Exchang Internation Children Moveme Youth Wor Intern atior. Commit' Leisure Internation Solidarit Workers Internation Commiti People g Internation Commit1 Disarma 589058 3-83 Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 pproved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 Organization of African Trade Union Unity Permanent Congress for Trade Union Unity of Latin American Workers East Germany Hungary Indonesia Australia Romania a (2) Portugal India (3) Iraq Finland Mexico Venezuela Czechoslovakia (3) North Korea India (2) Iraq Dominican Benin (2) Lebanon Algeria West Germany Republic Uruguay Madagascar Cuba Argentina Romania Sudan Mongolia Japan Chile rea Finland Soviet Union East Germany Soviet Union (2) Bulgaria 'lion Czechoslovia Poland (2) Romania Vietnam Poland Congo Chile Sri Lanka France Hungary Bulgaria France (4) Syria East Germany (2) ,one Poland Argentina Venezuela (2) United States Australia Vietnam men South Africa Brazil Angola Somalia Bulgaria Congo West Germany Cyprus Japan Colombia South Yemen Cuba Laos Pioneers of Belgium anal Voluntary Service for ship and Solidarity of Youth anal Bureau of Tourism and ages of Youth anal Committee of In's and Adolescents' lents (The French Cimea) arkers Commission nal Trade Union ttee for Social Tourism and nal Trade Union for ty With People and s of Korea nal Trade Union tee for Solidarity With and Workers of Palestine la! Trade Union tee for Peace and iment Trade Union Internationals 1) Agriculture, Forestry, and Plantation Workers TUI, Prague 2) Building, Wood and Building Materials Industries TUI, Helsinki 3) Chemical, Oil and Allied Workers TUI, Budapest 4) Commercial, Office and Bank Workers TUI, Prague '5) Food, Tobacco, Hotel and Allied Industries TUI, Sofia 6) Metal and Engineering Industries TUI, Moscow 7) Miners TUI, Warsaw 8) Public and Allied Employees TUI, East Berlin 9) World Federation of Teachers Unions East Berlin 10) Textile, Clothing, Leather and Fur Workers TUI, Prague 11) Transport, Port and Fishery Workers 11_11, Budapest Women's International League for Peace and Freedom International Federation of Women in Legal Careers International Federation for Human Rights International Committee for UN Decade for Women Women for World Disarmament Women for Peace Confederation of Latin American Educators Arab Federation of Food Workers Arab Transport Workers Federation Federation of Arab Teachers Arab Federation of Oil, Mining and Chemical Workers World Anti-monoply Committee (Oil Workers) Internatio Solidan and The Palest in Internatio Souther!, Movement Sovereig Havana India (3) Cuba (2) Malagasy Vietnam Syria Australia (2 Poland (2) Guinea France Ethiopia Portugal Palestine ( United King Angola Egypt (2) Zimbabwe African Nat Congress Internationl Vienna interriation ' Committee Forces, Movemer InternationSolidarit Internationi Rights Commissio Informati Commissio for Peace Conimissio Race and Comrnissio the New Interriationc Resistanc Internation* Solidarity People Anti-imperi� Committ Committee I Apartheid Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 pproved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 A � �-� national Committee of With the Arab People DI Thai! Central Cause� lestine, Tripoli national Committee on uthern Africa !moult` for The Peace and vereignty of The Peoples, ulna (3) (2) 3asy am alia (2) id (2) .../1 )ia gal tine (sic) Kingdom (2) ia : (2) abwe (2) in National gress!: Panama (2) Lebanon Bulgaria (2) Iraq (2) Italy Argentina Soviet Union (3) United States (2) East Germany (2) Finland Jordan Hungary Czechoslovakia Chile Madagascar Mali iational Institute for Peace, nna tational Liaison Forum of Peace ces, littee on the Nonaligned mment ational Committee for darity With Cyprus ational Commission on Human its iission on Mass Media and rmation lission on Scientific Research Peace lission on Ending the Arms e and Disarmament iissiop on Development and New international Order ational Federation of istanCe Fighters ational Committee for darit9 With the Palestinian pie nperialist Coordinating lmittee, Brussels iitte&,Against Colonialism and rtheid, Brussels Hungary (2) Madagascar Cuba East Germany Romania United States India Czechoslovakia (2) Vietnam Sri Lanka (2) Soviet Union Pax Christi International Berlin Conference of European Catholic Christians Ii Fl World Conference of Churches, Geneva Th International Commission of Inquiry Into Israeli Crimes Against Lebanese and Palestinian Peoples Joint Committee With AAPSO for SolidarltS, With Front-Line States Commission of Trade Unionists Egypt (4) Iraq (3) Sri Lanka (2) Vietnam (2) Soviet Union (3) Cyprus PLO African National Congress Zambia (2) East Germany (2) Palestine (sic) (2) Syria (2) Afghanistan Algeria (2) Angola (2) Benin North Korea Mozambique Namibia (2) Uganda South Yemen India Congo South Africa Sudan International Committee Against Apartheid, Racism, and Colonialism in Southern Africa International Commission of Enquiry into Crimes of the Racist Regimes in Southern Africa France (2 United Ki Soviet Ur Committe Committe Disarm Committe Generals for Peace International Cooperative Alliance, London International Commission on Disarmament and Security Issues, Stockholm International Peace Bureau, Geneva World Association of World Federalists, Copenhagen Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566 ee on Science Policy ee on Peace and lament ee on Socio-Economics France (2) Algeria Soviet Union Egypt Romania Japan Chile Hungary Italy Venezuela Vietnam Argentina East Germany West Germany Finnish Democratic Lawyers International Committee of Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights in South Korea, Paris France Finland Czechoslovakia Bulgaria Cuba Poland Romania Peru Soviet Union East Germany Colombia Hungary Social Commission Professional Commission Commission for Journalists' Training International Committee for Defense of Journalists' Rights International Club of Agricultural Journalists Center for Professional Education of Journalists, Budapest International School of Journalism and Agency Techniques, Prague International School of Solidarity for Journalists, Havana Latin American Information Center, Lima International Club of Science and Technology Approved for Release: 2018/08/28 C06760566