jgnat had an interesting post that I glossed over:
Didn't the old USSR allow dissidents to leave but they had to leave their families behind? That's surely breaking a human right; severing natural familial bonds.
Assuming the USSR did this (let's assume for the sake of the argument), then I would agree there was a rights violation. But I don't think it is comparable to the WT. It seems like it is on the surface because to walk away from the WT is like walking away from your family. However, the difference here is that the USSR is forcing the family to stay within the country. In the case of the WT, the family chooses to stay. In the example above, the USSR would not be violating the dissident's right to association, rather it is the rest of the family's right to association that is being violoated.
MMM