Yuri Orlov
The internationally distinguished high energy physicist Yuri Orlov held top research and honorary posts in the Soviet scientific world until authorities took note of his growing leadership role in the human rights movement.In retaliation for founding the Moscow chapter of Amnesty International in 1973, Orlov was dismissed from his post at Moscow’s Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism. Undaunted, in 1976 he proceeded to help found and to chair the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group, which was dedicated to promoting Soviet compliance with the human rights provisions of the Helsinki accords. This led to his arrest in 1997 and trial after 15 months’ incommunicado detention on a charge of “anti-soviet agitation and propaganda.” He received the maximum sentence for his “crime” — seven years at hard labor followed by five years of internal exile. While in the strict regime labor camp, Orlov was repeatedly singled out for harsh treatment, spending nearly half of his term in special punishment cells and solitary confinement. On completing his sentence he was remanded to internal exile in Siberia, where he endured untold hardship.
Throughout his long ordeal CCS advocated for him in diverse ways. We wrote letters, dispatched cables, issued press releases and action alerts, and circulated petitions at scientific meetings — all designed to build pressure on Soviet officialdom for his release. We also rallied some of his American colleagues to “adopt” him, by writing to him. During his two and a half years in Siberia, we helped subsidize his membership in the American Physical Society and subscriptions to its journals.
Yuri Orlov came to the United States in 1986 and took a position as senior scientist at the Newman Laboratory of Nuclear Studies of Cornell University. Not surprisingly, this veteran activist devotes much time to promoting human rights by writing articles and books on the subject, by serving on human rights committees, and by addressing scientific colleagues at various forums.