Dear friends, dear colleagues of anti-war and human rights movement, fellow citizens!

Despite propagandist assurances of the Kremlin about planned "withdrawal of troops" from Chechnya, senseless and criminal war on the Caucasus continues. Almost 50 thousand peaceful civilians were killed during two Chechen wars, almost 30 thousand Russian soldiers and officers were killed and wounded only during the second war, and each day brings new victims. Recently found mass burial places of civilians who disappeared earlier during mopping-ups, throw light on monstrous war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russian military in Chechnya: kidnappings, tortures, humiliations, summary arbitrary executions. For the last time Europe saw such things in former Yugoslavia, and before that, it was in the territories occupied by hitlerites during the Second World War.

The silence and thus, virtual complicity in these crimes of the governments of the western democratic countries discourages. But the indifference of the majority of our fellow citizens is really killing. We are convinced: our duty is to do our utmost in order to awake public opinion in Russia, to promote mobilization of disunited and not so numerous opponents of the Chechen war in our country. Our duty is not to allow our fellow citizens to forget that every day, every hour in our country the war contunues, new crimes are committed. We should remind of that every day, every hour, every minute. Day and night, on week-days and on holidays. Including - at Easter-time, on the bright holiday of Revival of Christ, because today he is crucified on Chechen soil.

For this reason we, radicals-antimilitarists and the Union of committees of soldier's mothers of Russia launch today a new initiative: to carry out on the night from 14 to 15 of April an interregional or even All-Russia action - "Easter vigil against the Chechen war and militarism" following the tradition which appeared in the 1970th in western countries - to carry out mass anti-war and antimilitarist Easter marches.

In Moscow we, several tens or even hundreds persons, are going to come to one of the squares (the place is not fixed finally yet), and after a short anti-war meeting to celebrate the Easter Sunday: in silence, holding lit candles in memory of all victims of the Chechen war.

We address to you with the appeal to organize similar actions in your city. It doesn't matter if there will be few people this time. Even several persons, literally three or four anti-war activists, who would come in the evening, on Easter-eve, to the main square of your city, or to the building of municipal (regional) administration, or to the cathedral with anti-war posters and lit candles, even such symbolical action will be of great importance.

The strength of this action of ours, a real civil nonviolent action in spirit of Gandi, is that it will pass at the same time, according to local time in different cities of Russia. The wave of anti-war protest will move across the country from the East to the West, from Sakhalin and Primorski Krai to the Baltic coast of Kaliningrad, anticipating the approach of Easter Sunday.

If you decided to support our initiative and to organize in your city "Easter vigil against the Chechen war and militarism", please inform us without delay about your decision, specifying where and when the anti-war Easter vigil will be carried out in your city, who personally or what organization is the initiator of this action in your city. You can address us:

e-mail: ara@ara.ru (entitle your letter "Easter vigil");

fax: 095-208.18.05;

tel.: 095-208.18.05 (headquarters of the RP and the ARA);

095-233.42.02 (Anna Zaytseva, the treasurer of the ARA);

902-116.53.76 (Andrey Rodionov, deputy secretary of the ARA).

All the information about the preparation and realization of the "Easter vigil 2001 against the Chechen war and militarism" will be placed in the Internet on the website of the Antimilitarist Radical Association www.ara.ru, on special page: www.ara.ru/eastervigil.

Let's together organize and carry out the first in our country easter anti-war All-Russia action!

Transnational Radical Party

www.radicalparty.org

Antimilitarist Radical Association

www.ara.ru

The Union of Committees of Soldier's Mothers of Russia

www.hro.org/ngo/usm