UNITED STATES MISSION TO THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGAN IZATION (USNATO) ~~-.------------~Brussls REG, P. A. USNATO/POL/OUT/NS/82-l3 COpy NO.~ Mr. Glnn R. Clla Cha±rman, Political Committ North Atlantic Traty Organization Brussls Dar Glnn: January 25, 1982 In conjunction with th Political Committ xchang proposd by th Canadian dlgation last wk, my authoritis hav providd th nclosd contribution on th prsnt situation in Poland and on th qustion of g-auging movmnt towards mting th thr objctivs outlind in th Allianc Dclaration of January Il. l am snding a copy of this lttr, togthr with its nclosur,to th othr mmbrs of th Political Committ. THIS DOCUMENT CONSISTS OF 5 PAGES Enclosur: "Assssing Polish Govrnmnt Actions" cc: Mmbrs, Political Committ Sincrly, -~." "l. "; _.._~...-...:~. - ~ John H. Haws Dputy Political Advisor! l'
U.S. Dlgation January 25, 1982 SUBJECT: Assssing Polish Govrnmnt Actions SITUATION IN POLAND Thr ar sorn in th Wst who s th rcnt modifications in martial law in Poland as a sign that th Warsaw rgim is moving away from rprssion. Jaruzlski's January 25 spch, which w bliv may includ an announcmnt of furthr cosmtic changs in martial law rgulations, could add to this imprssion. In rality, dspit such minor modifications, most notably in th ara of communications and transportation, martial law rstrictions continu in forc, and in many aras polic rprssion has actually worsnd. Lch Walsa rmains a prisonr isolatd from his compatriots in Solidarity. Thr ar mor than 5,000 political prisonrs in Poland. Many hav bn hld for mor than a month without chargs. Thr ar rports that whil th govrnrnnt may rlas sorn -- th last "d,ângrous" and wll-known -- th othrs will rmain in custody or prhaps b xild. Conditions in sorn dtntion cntrs apparntly ar bcoming harshr Military courts ar in full opration, sntncing strikrs to prison trms of up to svn yars for organizing or participating in strik actions. W hav no official figurs, but Solidarity sourcs rport that mor than 400 such sntncs had bn mtd out as of on wk ago. Thr ar no indications that th govrnrnnt is sriously intrstd in maningful ngotiations with th Church and Solidarity. Th rgim rfuss to prmit Walsa to mt with his prsidium and snior advisors. Govrnrnnt statmnts that it has had talks with Solidarity rprsntativs ar a slf-srving distortion of rality. Ral ngotiations obviously ar impossibl wh n on sid is in a prison cll Th rgim continus to giv lip srvic to th ida that thr is a plac in Poland for an indpndnt and slfgovrning trad union. But thr is growing rason to doubt that Solidarity will b prmittd to continu to xist Both polish and Sovit sourcs ar now indicating that this tn million mmbr organization may d facto bcom illgal. Dspit GOP*claims that discussions ar taking plac with th Church, Chur ch officiais tll us that th only discussions currntly undr way concrn th status of political *Govrnrnnt of Poland,.' -
2 prisonrs. Archbishop Glm's mting with Jaruzlski was a disappointmnt. Jaruzlski gav no sign of a willingnss to mov forward toward opning a maningful dialogu on poland' s futur. \ Strict cnsorship of th Polish mdia continus. In addition, a purg of journalists and ditorial staffs of ail publications is undr way. Thos found to hav any sympathy with Solidarity ar bing fird. Political control ovr Polish univrsitis is bing stiffnd. Compulsory study of Marxism-Lninism has bn rintroducd and th rforms of th pr-dcmbr 13 priod, which grantd th univrsitis considrabl autonomy, hav bn abolishd. A full scal purg of univrsity faculty rportdly may b undrtakn in th nar futur. Political "purification" is not li~itd to intllctuals and th mdia. Common workrs who rfus to sign pldgs dnouncing Solidarity ar bing fird. Both th Pop and th Primat hav calld such actions immoral and unthical. Govrnmnt rstrictions on communications by Wstrn corrspondnts with thir hadquartrs has asd but thir travl is still strictly limitd. Svr rstrictions continu to b imposd on th travl of Wstrn diplomati and consular prsonnl. Polish scurity organs ar working systmatically to ut off Embassy contacts with ordinary Pols. In short, Poland today appars to b rturning to th dark days of th arly 1950's. Manwhil th conomic situation continus to worsn. Th food situation in th country cou Id bcom critical in coming months. Jaruzlski has succdd in stablishing ordr. But undr th surfac th situation bcoms volatil. Thr ar vn sorn important and informd Pols who bliv that th situation could soon dtriorat into violnc. On on sid, thr ar rgim hardlinrs who would lik to provok violnc in ordr to justify an vn toughr crackdown. On th othr, sorn of th mor radical lmnts in Solidarity, who apparntly hav gon undrground, may thmslvs mov toward violnc in an ffort to bring down th martial law rgim. REAL VERSUS ILLUSORY IMPROVEMENT This thn is th situation as it is today. It may of cours chang. It is important for us to b alrt to ral chang for th bttr, but to b wary of th illusion of progrss As Scrtary Haig said January Il:
3 Th rlas of prisonrs and dtains mans thir frdomi. i t dos not man promiss of good intntion, or moving thm to bttr facilitisi Lifting martial law mans th gnuin cssation of rprssiv conditions, not an administrativ ac.t which givs a nw nam to th sam conditionsi Initiating rconciliation mans a rstoration of fundamntal rights and a rsumption of th procss of rform and libralizationi Bginning of ngotiations mans agnuin giv and tak among partis whos rights ar protctd. W agr with thos who xprss concrn that GOP movs toward purly cosmtic rstoration of human rights may b sizd on by thos in th Wst who want to rturn to "businss as usual" in daling with th Polish Govrnmnt. First and formost, w must avoid bing takn in by govrnmnt claims of progrss at a tim whn th situation is not only not improving, but th rgim is clamping down, and moving th country back toward th arly 1950's. It will not b asy to dtrmin whn ral progrss has bn mad. W must tak progrss toward th rinstitution of intrnationally rcognizd human rights as dfind in th Hlsinki Final Act as our primary critrion for dfining positiv movmnt in Poland Thr is a grat liklihood that th situation will not b clar uti that sorn but not ail prisonrs will b rlasd, or that ngotiations will b bgun without any intntion on th part of th govrnmnt to conduct thm in good faith. W would b inclind to rspond to partial fulfillmnt of our conditions with partial lifting of masurs. W might start by prmitting rsumption of limitd air srvic, for xampl. Howvr, a rmoval of ail masurs wou Id b dpndnt on full complianc with th thr conditions outlind in th NATO dclaration. W must avoid th tmptation to rly on statmnts by Polish Church and Solidarity officiais that progrss is bing mad to guid our actions vis-a-vis Poland. Both th Church and Solidarity ar undr trmndous prssur, and w cannot b sur thy ar always fr actors. J' At th sam tim it is vry important that w continu to mphasiz our radinss to hlp Pol and out of its disastrous conomic situation as soon as such progrss occurs.
.. 4 Th conomic situation in poland is continuing to dtriorati stability has not bn achivd, and Jaruzlski appars to b undr attack from hardlin sourcs. By holding th lin and focusing public attntion on th intrnai Polish situation, whil at th sarn tim holding out th carrot of major Wstrn conomic assistanc, w will maximiz our chancs of having a major impact on th cours of intrnai Polish politics.