HUMAN RIGHTS INFORMATION AGENCY "EXPRESS-CHRONICLE"

ENGLISH WEEKLY NEWS DIGEST

27 May 1997

MOSCOW (ARA) Nikolai Khramov, secretary of the Anti-Militarist Radical Association (ARA), expressed satisfaction with the announcement on 22 May of the resignation of Russian Defence Minister Igor Rodionov. According to Khramov, Rodionov's resignation marks a step forward on the path of advancing military reform.

'Totally deservedly, Rodionov became an odious symbol of resistance to military reform thanks to his public and repeated statements that "the adoption of a law on alternative [civilian] service would signify the death of the Armed Forces" and that a professional army is needed only by "new Russians"', declared Khramov. The ARA chairman also emphasised the necessity of a 'drastic reduction of military expenditures, which take funds away from health, education and science,' 'a reduction of the term of conscription,' and a 'transition to the voluntary principle of manning the army in the immediate future.'