The emphasis of the delegation was on the political abuse of psychiatry. The repression of dissidents is only the most visible manifestation of a system of psychiatric control that has been, and continues to be, profoundly insensitive to human rights. Although some tentative steps have been taken to subject coercive psychiatry to the rule of law, these limited initiatives have not yet become operational. Legal reforms recommended by the delegation include tolerance for dissent, increased professional independence, and respect for the rule of law. Implementation of these legal reforms would help to reduce the likelihood that the pattern of psychiatric repression will reemerge. But the proposed reforms have a larger purpose -- to assure that the practice of psychiatry in the Soviet Union is properly respectful of fundamental human rights, whether or not the patients have engaged in political or religious dissent. 78 notes