Subject: from TRANSNATIONAL - Satyagraha - No 10
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Newsletter of the Radical Party
RUSSIA: CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS TO MILITARY SERVICE
Members of the Radical Party who live and operate in the Russian Federation
have launched an appeal to the State Duma, the Federation Council and the
President for the right to reject military service and against militarism.
The appeal sets several points, to be included in the regulations for
alternative civilian service, among which are: the right to participate in
civilian service as an alternative to military service must be granted as a
full right; civilian service cannot be the result of a concession; the
duration of civilian service must not be longer than military service; the
person must have the right to choose what civilian service he wants to join
and must have the possibility of doing it abroad, in the context of UN.
humanitarian missions; the funds required for organizing civilian service
must be transferred from the defense department's budget to the various
departments connected with the different kinds of service.
The bill currently under discussion in the Duma does not include any of the
principles invoked here. Within the next few months, we intend to gather
thousands of signatures in Russia, before final approval of the bill on
civilian service.
