To the Editors:

Alicja Wesolowska, a thirty-five-year-old United Nations staff member, was arrested in Warsaw, Poland on August 10, 1979. A doctoral candidate at the Hunter College Graduate Program in English and Comparative Literature, Ms. Wesolowska has been charged with “espionage” for an undisclosed foreign intelligence service, a charge which is often brought against Polish nationals who return home after extended periods abroad. The unusual aspect of this case is the fact that Ms. Wesolowska was en route to a new UN assignment in Outer Mongolia.

The action of the Polish Government is in violation of the International Convention on Immunities and Privileges which is intended to protect international civil servants in the employ of the United Nations.

We are appealing to those concerned with freedom of political conscience to make their views known regarding Ms. Wesolowska’s plight. Her real crime appears to have been her deep and abiding commitment to the notion of the unity of the human family and her activity on behalf of a stronger and more autonomous UN. Her broad array of friends and her writings reflect this universalistic world view. Her ability to gain UN employment through her own means rather than appointment by Poland created great hardship for her here.

Her hardship is even greater now. Not a single individual has been allowed to see her in almost three months.

Appeals for her release should be directed to:

Edward Gierek

Party Secretary

Communist Party

Warsaw, Poland

Appeals to the Secretary-General of the UN regarding action on the International Convention cited above should be directed to:

Kurt Waldheim

United Nations, NY 10017

Gordon Feller

Committee for the Release

of Alicja Wesolowska

35 Claremont Avenue (9S)

New York, NY 10027

This Issue

February 7, 1980