The prostitution of forensic psychiatry in the Soviet Union.

As Forensic Psychiatrists we are deeply bound by the medical oaths we took as physicians never to harm our patients. If it is brought to our attention that our colleagues are involved in an unethical practice of our profession, it is our responsibility not only to bring it to their attention but also to do whatever is necessary to correct the situation. In the U. S. S. R. diagnoses are made to order for the state security organs, according to Alexander Podrabinek, a young medical worker in Moscow, who wrote Punitive Medicine, a 265-page monograph on political abuses of psychiatry in the U. S. S. R. He has appealed to psychiatrists and jurists throughout the world and to international human rights organizations to fight against political abuse of psychiatry in the U.S.S.R. One such international human rights organization is Amnesty Internationa~ a worldwide human rights movement which works impartially for the release of prisoners of conscience: men and women detained anywhere for their beliefs, color, ethnic origin, sex, religion, or language; provided they have neither used nor advocated violence. Amnesty International without reservation opposes torture and the death penalty in all cases, and advocates fair and prompt trials for all political prisoners. Amnesty International is independent of all governments, political factions, ideologies, economic interests and religious creeds. It has consultative status with the United Nations, UNESCO, and the Council of Europe; has cooperative relations with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights of the Organization of American States, and has observer status with the Organization of African Unity. Amnesty International was the recipient of the 1977 Nobel Prize for Peace. World-wide violations of human rights create an urgent need for effective international protection of human rights. The increasing imprisonment of large numbers of political prisoners, escalating use of torture, disappearances, and executions are only too well documented. The fundamental goal of Amnesty International is to establish a force of awakened world opinion which can become a potent instrument of international intervention in human rights crises. Work is based on detailed research into specific cases of individual prisoners as well as mass violations of human rights. Through the network of members and