THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE
CZECHOSLOVAK SOCIETY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
CONVENED IN WASHINGTON. DC, ON OCTOBER 8, 1985

approved the following statement for presentation to the delegations attending
the Cultural Forum in Budapest, October 15 - November 15, 1985

Human institutions are imperfect and fallible. No societal practice has thus far provided definite answers to the problems of human existence. Yet - notwithstanding the variety of proposed solutions - it is freedom that has to be recognized as the essential and indispensable prerequisite for achieving excellence while keeping faith with one's conscience.

Admittedly, great artistic, scholarly and scientific works may occasionally spring from soils to which the brittle flowers of freedom may not be allowed to bloom. However, they are often suppressed in a dictatorship where they originated, and become part of the evolving civilization only because they were made public in countries where freedom prevails.

Yet just as the multiple needs, desires, and interests of people cannot be recognized and served unless freely articulated within the body politic, so is the genuine expression of creativity dependent unfettered access to the totality of our cultural heritage.

If freedom of scholarly pursuit and creativity were impeded and state censorship were to be inflicted on the entire world, the evolution of civilization would stop and mankind would scientifically and culturally stagnate or decline.

Freedom is the very foundation of peaceful relations among interdependent societies, in which mutual understanding and help is needed by individuals, families, and nations.

The Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences, whose worldwide membership includes artists, writers, scholars, journalists, and scientists with roots in Czechoslovakia, and those with Central European and Czechoslovak expertise, appeals to the governments, signatories of the Final Act of Helsinki:

- to develop and implement policies and programs protecting those whose views may not agree with official cultural policies of their governments;
- to strive toward the removal of all barriers to the pursuit of artistic creativity and of scientific research, including those limiting public display or publication of resulting works;
- to insist that persecution and discrimination against artists and scientists on the basis of their non-conformity to existing ideological tenets be stopped;
- to allow the broadest development of the limitless possibilities and talents of all people so that each human being can find opportunity for self-fulfillment and satisfy his yearning for respect and human dignity.

On behalf of the Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences:

Milos K. Kucera                             Jiri Nehnevajsa
Secretary General                         President

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