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Forced Labor in the Soviet Union Hero

Forced Labor in the Soviet Union

Members

Hon. Edward Markey

Congressman

State of Massachusetts

Hon. Earnest Landy

Consultant

U.S. Department of Labor

Hon. Dante Fascell

Chairman

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe

Witnesses

Tom Kahn

Assistant to the President

AFL-CIO

Amy Young

Executive Director

International Human Rights Law Group

Eileen Padukov

Executive Director

U.S. Section, International Society for Human Rights

Georgy Davydov

Former Political Prisoner

Soviet Union

Hon. John Walker

Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Enforcement and Operations

Department of the Treasury

Hon. William von Raab

Commissioner

U.S. Customs Service

Mark Palmer

Deputy Assistant Secretary

Department of State-Bureau of European Affairs

The subject of our hearing is forced labor in the Soviet Union. We have long been interested in the subject at the Commission, as many others have. The Commission issued staff reports on the subject as early as August 1980.

There is no exact statistics exist in the West on the central question of the total number of Soviets engaged in various types of forced labor. The generally accepted minimum number is 3 or 4 million people-including about 10 000 political prisoners-performing forced labor in places of imprisonment and on penal labor brigades.

The robust discussion provided by experts will make clear the vast extent of Soviet reliance on forced labor.

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Statements

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Publications

Helsinki Commission Digital Digest: April 2021

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