International Law Violation Charged : Soviet Emigration Policy Assailed by Jewish Group

WASHINGTON â€”  The Soviet Union is violating international law by denying emigration to thousands of citizens on the grounds that they possess “state secrets,â€� a Jewish organization said Tuesday in a report prepared for Secretary of State George P. Shultz.

“The Soviet Union is alone among major developed states in routinely concluding that ordinary citizens possess ‘state secrets’ so as to justify preventing their leaving the country,� said the report, released by the National Conference on Soviet Jewry.

National Conference Chairman Morris B. Abraham said he hopes that Shultz will cite the report’s conclusions when he meets next week in Moscow with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze to discuss a number of issues, including human rights.

Shultz Concerned

Mark B. Levin, Washington representative for the conference, said that he presented the report to Shultz and quoted the secretary as saying that he was “very concerned with trying to improve the process so that we’re not just dealing with individual cases.�

In recent weeks, the Soviet Union has granted exit visas to several prominent refuseniks and has increased Jewish emigration to more than 800 a month, compared to an average of 75 a month last year. Overall, however, Jewish emigration remains well below its peak in 1979, when Jews were allowed to leave the Soviet Union at a rate of more than 4,250 a month.

Abraham contended that the Soviets have long used the state-secrets excuse as an arbitrary barrier for most of the 11,000 Jews who have been denied emigration.

‘Disinformation Campaign’

“Up to now, glasnost does not apply to Jews,� Abraham said of Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s policy of openness. “This is a kind of disinformation campaign prior to the summit while they pursue a policy which, in the long run, can only stifle Jewish emigration and perhaps stifle Jewish life in the Soviet Union.� Gorbachev is expected to meet with President Reagan before the end of the year.

Conference officials maintained that the Soviets are in violation of international laws, including the 1975 Helsinki accords.

The report was prepared by a group of attorneys from the New York law firm of White & Case. The State Department legal adviser’s office will review the report to determine its potential relevance for Shultz during his two days’ stay in the Soviet Union next week.