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>>> ALTERNATIVE CIVILIAN SERVICE DRAFT LAW: WE CANNOT ALLOW THE DUMA TO VIOLATE THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF CITIZENS. EXTRAORDINARY ACTIONS OF THE RADICAL ANTIMILITARISTS. OPEN MEETING OF THE MEMBERS AND ADHERENTS OF THE RP AND OF THE ARA WILL TAKE PLACE ON SATURDAY, APRIL 15, IN THE SAKHAROV CENTER.
Moscow, April 21. Next week the Public Associations and Religious Organizations Committee of the State Duma, responsible for the preparation of the Alternative Civilian Service draft law, will meet and, probably, take a decision on submitting the draft law for the plenary session of the Duma that will examine it in the second reading.
However, during the preparation of the draft law a new Article was inserted (Article 36 - "Transitional provisions"): "In the period till January 1, 2000, up to 50 per cent of citizens who apply for and get the permission for the alternative civilian service, may be sent to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation <....> as civilian personnel".
If these regulations remain in the final text of the law, they will insipid the Alternative Civilian Service draft law. They also contradict the Russian Constitution that guarantees to every citizen the right to conscientious objection and to the alternative civilian service. In fact, we come across the attempt to provide "legal" foundations for depriving a half of Russian conscripts of this constitutional right.
Deputies of the State Duma Borschev, Gruschak, Golov and Vorob'ev proposed an amendment to this Article. According to it, these conscripts may be sent to the Armed Forces as civilian personnel only on a voluntary basis. However, both the Chairman of the Committee Viktor Zerkal'tsev (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) and the majority of the work group are against this amendment. So, it is most probable that in the guise of the Alternative Civilian Service draft law the Duma may adopt a contrary document that, in fact, will reduce to zero the constitutional rights of conscientious objectors.
In the last few days by the initiative of the ARA 163 citizens appealed to the Chairman and the members of the Committee to adopt the amendment of Borschev-Gruschak-Vorob'ev and not to allow the constitutional rights of the conscripts to be violated. Every day the RP and ARA headquarters get information about conscripts who join our appeal.
On Saturday, April 25, an extraordinary meeting of RP and ARA members and adherents form Moscow will take place in the Sakharov CENTER and Museum. There is only one point on the agenda: a plan of extraordinary actions to defend the constitutional rights of conscripts in view of the discussion of the Alternative Civilian Service draft law by the State Duma. The deputies who presented this amendment will also take part in the meeting. The meeting begins at 4 p.m. Sakharov CENTER: Zemljanoj val, 57-6 (Kurskaja or Chkalovskaja metro stations).
>>> THE APPEAL TO THE PUBLIC ASSOCIATIONS AND RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS COMMITTEE OF THE STATE DUMA
To the Chairman of the Public Associations and Religious Organizations Committee;
To the members of the Committee
We, the undersigned citizens, welcome the decision to pass to the competence of your Committee the Alternative Civilian Service draft law and hope that the Parliament will adopt it as soon as possible.
At the same time we think that introducing in the draft law the regulations that allow during the transitional period (till 2000) to sent up to 50% of citizens who apply for the alternative civilian service instead of the military service to the Armed Forces as civilian personnel, distorts the sense of the draft law. The adoption of such a law will violate the constitutional right of citizens to substitute the military service for the alternative civilian service and the international legal obligations of Russia.
Hence, we ask you to adopt the amendment presented by Deputies V. Borschev, E. Vorob'ev, S. Gruschak and A. Golov, according to which it is possible to send the conscientious objectors to the Armed Forces as civilian personnel only on a voluntary basis.
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Please, sent this appeal to the Chairman of the Public Associations and Religious Organizations Committee V. Zorkal'tsev by fax (095) 292-5312 (please, sent a copy to the ARA ara@glasnet.ru) or just mail it to us: ara@glasnet.tu and then we will deliver it to the Duma.
>>> "GIVING UP" OPERATION: ONLY THOSE WHO HAVE NO LAW CONSCIOUSNESS CAN BLAME THE MOTHERS OF SOLDIERS FOR COLLABORATION WITH THE MILITARY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE. HOWEVER, THERE IS A "BUT" IN IT...
Moscow, April 4, 1998.
Declaration of the ARA Secretary Nikolay Khramov
Since the beginning of the "Giving up" operation (a month ago in Moscow and a week ago all around Russia), carried out by the Chief Prosecutor's Office together with the Committee of the mothers of soldiers of Russia, one could hear every kind of charge of the leaders of the Committee at various meetings of those who fight for the civil rights or read these charges in the newspapers. However, only those who have absolutely no law consciousness can blame the Committee of the mothers of soldiers for "collaboration" with the military prosecutor's office. For these people the Law and the Legality have the same meaning as they do for the "Prishibeev" of the Russian Army - for those who "defend the deserters form the mothers' of soldiers" they are at the same time opponents and a universal bugaboo and (let's note in brackets) a justification of their own inaction.
Really, is there any other legal, lawful way to solve the problem of the soldiers who save their life and escape form the army barracks - from famine, tortures and, possibly, even from death? They can only "give up" and in official terms "examine all the circumstances of the case" and - in the majority of cases - instituting proceedings against those who make the soldiers escape from the barracks. This is what the Chief Prosecutor's Office does. By the way, we cannot wink at the efforts of the new Chief military public procurator Jurij Demin. He does much more than his predecessors to put an end to what we denote with shy euphemism "dedovschina" and that, in fact, is a systematic large-scale use of tortures in the Army.
There is only a "but" in it... According to the international legal regulations, those who are in the army also have the right to conscientious objection. The Russian Constitution gives the right to the alternative civilian service to all citizens - both to those who are in overcoat and not. The fact that the Prosecutor's office "does not remember" (or, probably, really have no idea of ) these regulations, is easily explainable. I wonder, however, if the activists of the Committee of the mothers of soldiers know, how many fugitives prefer not to be transferred to a "quite units", but, if they have information, would defend their legal right not to go to the army?
>>> CIVIL OBEDIENCE CAMPAIGN - LAST AUTUMN MORE THAN 1000 CONSCRIPTS JOINED US
Moscow, April 7. The Armed Forces Staff of the Russian Federation answered the parliamentary inquiry of deputy Valerij Borschev. The letter, signed by the vice-chief of the General Staff colonel-general V. Putilin, communicates: "according to the information from the headquarters of the military districts, during the conscription campaign Autumn '97 1061 draftees apply for the alternative civilian service and, therefore, were not sent for the military service". In Spring '97 there were 675 conscientious objectors.
>>> THE VICE-PRIME MINISTER NEMTSOV ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT DECLARES REAL SABOTAGE OF THE PRESIDENTIAL DECREE ABOUT THE TRANSITION TO THE PROFESSIONAL ARMY BY 2000.
Moscow, April 11. ARA Chairman Valerii Borschev has received an official answer to his parliamentary inquiry sent last month to the Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. The letter is signed by the First vice-Prime-minister Boris Nemtsov.
At the beginning of the letter Mr. Nemtsov assures that: "the Armed Forces and other troops of the Russian Federation continue the realization of the Presidential Decree N 722 of May 16, 1996". However, the vice prime-minister says: "According to the Design of the military construction in the Russian Federation for the period till 2005, the government has determined a complex of measures aimed at improving the efficiency of the military organization of the state <...> In his period the main measures of the military construction in the Russian Federation provide the remaining of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and of other troops on mixed basis (both conscription and contract)."
The Presidential decree N 722 of May 16, 1998 is not a decree about the transition to the professional army. It is a decree about a COMPLETE transition to the professional army by JANUARY 1, 2000. In his letter the vice-prime minister Nemtsov recognizes that the Government of the Russian Federation is sabotaging Presidential Decree N 722. The Antimilitarist Radical Association is going to direct the attention of the President, the heads of the Parliamentary factions and of the public opinion to the position of the Russian Government.
>>> MEETING OF THE MOSCOW RADICALS
Moscow, April 11. The General open meeting of members and friends of the Radical Party/ARA/CORA from Moscow (The first in 1998 after a 5-month interval) took place today in the Public CENTER and Museum Sakharov. Nearly 40 activists took part in the meeting - those who participate in various initiatives of the party and of its associations (first of all, antimilitarist and antiprohibitionist activity), including ARA Secretary Nikolay Khramov, Secretary of the Chamber for Human Rights Lev Levinson, psychologist and the author of the book "The culture of madness" Stepan Petrosjan, Sergej Sorokin, Sergej Vorontsov, Il'ja Malkov, Ljudmila Vakhnina, Susanna Zaturjan, Igor' Genkin, Lilija Malkova and others.
The radicals concentrated on discussing new Russian initiatives, first of all - the adoption of a liberal alternative civilian service law and the struggle against the new prohibitionist drug legislation.
>>> "STICKER IN THE METRO" OPERATION GOES ON
Moscow, April 20. The operation "Sticker in the metro" goes on. ARA activists distribute in the coaches of the Moscow underground stickers with the slogan "Call to military service? No, thank you!", the article 59.3. of the Russian Constitution and ARA telephone number. ARA informs conscripts about the seminars for those who are going to exercise their constitutional right to conscientious objection.
By April 20, we have already distributed 7.064 stickers, mostly on Serpukhovskaja-Timirjazevskaja (1.636), Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaja (1.552) and Zamoskvoretskaja (1.168) lines. In the first 20 days of April we have distributed 3.180 stickers (in March 3.056, in February 828). Usually there are 8 sticker per a coach, so we have distributed stickers in 924 coaches.
Thanks to the "Sticker in the metro" operation more people come to our weekly seminars for conscientious objectors. In this year 427 people visited our seminars. 155 of them came in April (3 seminars), 103 in March, 114 in February and 55 in January.
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