General Council of the Antimilitarist Radical Association

Moscow, May 19, 1998 The State Duma

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE ARA NIKOLAJ KHRAMOV

Dear friends, members and guests of the General Council,

five months have passed since the last meeting of the General Council in September 1997. Less than the interval between the first Congress of the ARA and the first meeting of the General Council, the last one. That is why today our meeting and my report are more "practical" and "compact" than it was last time. Before I tell you about our work since September 1997 and map out the main proposals concerning the activity of our association in the next months, I would like to thank once again our Chairman Valerij Vasil'evich Borschev for the possibility to meet today in this hall inside the State Duma. I mean not only excellent comfortable conditions of our work, but also the political importance of this event that places the ARA at a higher political stage.

1. Review of the ARA activity since the last meeting of the General Council

First of all I would like to point out that in accordance with the decisions of the General Motion adopted at the last meeting of the General Council, in this period we concentrated our work in Moscow, bent every effort to Moscow and ....... to the Internet. In other words, we did it in the fields that do not require significant financing to guarantee our active presence. It should be taken in consideration as well that in conformity with the last General Resolution nearly all man-power resources (and a part of financing) were employed in the election campaign to the Moscow City Duma. The elections took place on December 14, therefore we began an active work for putting into practice the decisions of the General Council only after New Year and Christmas holidays.

1.1. "Civil obedience campaign"

We concentrated our work on the initiatives for informing citizens about their constitutional right to conscientious objection in the limits of the "Civil obedience campaign".

1.1.1. "Sticker in the metro" initiative

The initiative "Sticker in the metro" was and continues to be in the center of this campaign. On the basis of our two-year experience we came to the conclusion that for lack of money to pay advertisement in newspapers and magazines (to say nothing of audio and video advertisement in electronic mass media) and for lack of activists to distribute our leaflets and organize street tables, placing a huge number of stickers in the carriages of the metro is the most effective way of informing people.

It goes without saying that we do mot mean commercial contacts with "Metroreclama" enterprise whose prices (5-35 USD for a sticker in two weeks) make this kind of advertisement one of the most expensive. We mean "illegal sticking". No doubt, formally it is a violation of the Regulations of the of the metro, and our militants may be fined (two minimum salaries - nearly 160 roubles). However, since February, when the initiative began, this did not happen yet. I expect hypothetical "moral and juridical" objections against our formally illegal actions and would like to point out that on the one hand we prevent more serious and dangerous consequences for the society (lack of information about the constitutional rights among young citizens thanks to the misinformation of military commissariats and silence of mass media), on the other hand, if necessary, the ARA is ready to pay the fine. Anyway, the fine will be much less than the "legal" expenses for an official advertising campaign in the metro.

Thus, in the limits of the "Sticker in the metro" initiative, since February 1998 we have placed 7.464 stickers in 975 carriages. The distribution by the lines is as follows:

Serpukhovsko-Timirjazevskaja - 1.716 9 (216 carriages)

Kaluzhsko-Rizhskaja - 1.640 (212 carriages)

Zamoskvoretskaja - 1.192 (158 carriages)

Kol'tsevaja - 1.120 (140 carriages)

Tagansko-Krasnopresnenskaja - 463 (58 carriages)

Kalininskaja - 448 (56 carriages)

Filjovskaja - 432 (54 carriages)

Arbatsko-Pokrovskaja - 228 (42 carriages)

Sokol'nicheskaja - 193 (33 carriages)

Ljublinskaja - 32 (4 carriages)

Distribution of stickers by months:

February - 828 (135 carriages)

March - 3.056 (389 carriages)

April - 3.508 (440 carriages)

May - 72 (9 carriages)

The stickers we mainly distributed by militants paid by the piece (students and pensioners) and also by activists who did it gratis.

1.1.2. Regular consultations for selectees

As it used to be in the past, the ARA holds in Moscow regular weekly consultation seminars for men called up for military service. At the seminars we inform people about their constitutional right to conscientious objection and how to execute it. We provide to selectees detailed information about their right to conscientious objection, guaranteed by Article 59.3. of the Russian Constitution, and explain what should be done in order to realize it:

- make an application for the alternative civilian service addressed to the Chairman of the enlistment commission (in conformity with Article 59.3. of the Russian Constitution and Article 28 of the Military liability and military service law);

- be present at the sitting of the enlistment commission, get the official denial to the application and the decision of the commission to call you up for military service;

- appeal against the anticonstitutional decision of the commission to the Court of first instance;

- appeal (if necessary) of the verdict of the court at Appeal;

- what is to be done if the Procurator's Office brings a criminal action according to Article 328.1. of the Russian Criminal Code ("evading military service").

We tell the participants in the seminars about the Civil obedience campaign and explain why their official applications for the alternative civilian service are so important for the struggle for the soonest adoption of the Alternative civilian service law. We also tell them about the activity of the ARA and of the Radical Party in this field and invite them to join these associations.

In February the Faculty of Psychology of the Pedagogical University that leased us a hall for seminars annulled the contract because of a fire and subsequent capital repairs. Since then we hold seminars in Sakharov Museum that provides us a hall gratis.

In 1998 we held 20 seminars, visited by nearly 560 people. In January we registered 55 participants, in February - about 100, in March - about 100, in April - about 250, in the first two decades of May - about 60 participants. It is quite evident that the growth of the number of participants in April is a direct consequence of distributing a great number of stickers that month. It is also evident that when the "Sticker in the metro" initiative was suspended in May, the number of participants reduced nearly twice.

1.1.3. Distributing information outside Moscow. Internet.

It seems that the information about ARA activity and, in particular, the practical advises for conscientious objectors, published in February 1998 in a special issue of our bulletin "Antimilitarist", continue to spread all around Russia without our efforts. The striking illustration of this is a great number of letters and telephone calls from other cities and regions in our headquarters in Trubnaja.

The Internet plays an important part in the organization of the "Civil obedience campaign" and the distribution of the information about the ARA in amateurish FIDONET. Since March 27 till May 17 the ARA home page, where every visitor may find practical advises concerning conscientious objection, was visited by nearly 1.736 people, that is 35 visitors a day. The messages that the ARA receives via e-mail evidence that many people read our materials distributed by militants in the FIDONET, first of all in the ru.army conference.

1.1.4. Legal and juridical front

The courts are important battle-fields in the struggle for the adoption of the alternative civilian service law. They are the front line of the "Civil obedience campaign". In the final analysis it is in the Courts - in thousands of courts all around Russia - where the destiny of the alternative civilian service law is being decided, in the courts and not in the lobbies of the palace where we meet today.

Appeal to the courts against the decisions of the enlistment commission became a routine procedure. In fact, each of more than 1,500 applications for the alternative civilian service implies the consequent examination of the complaint lodged by the selectee-conscientious objector. We don not take stock of all the cases concerning conscientious objection. Now the ARA controls only 23 cases.

The second, new front that promises an even more dramatic struggle, concerns few criminal cases for evading military service" (now Art. 328 of the Russian Criminal Code, earlier Art. 80 of the Criminal Code). In the last five months that passed after the meeting of the General Council ten criminal actions were brought against the members of the ARA. Two of them finished with the verdict "not guilty" (Vadim Hesse and Aleksandr Serjogin), four cases were closed without trial (Viktor Semjonov, Nikolaj Mozhzhukhin, Vitalij Anikeev, Artjom Onoprienko). Only one case finished with a verdict of "guilty": the Golovinskij Court of Moscow sentenced Aleksand Borodin to a fine and amnestied him immediately. It is a pity that in spite of this evidently anticonstitutional verdict, Borodin did not appeal against it to Appeal. He had all chances that the Moscow City Court would repeal the sentence of the Golovinskij Court, as it were in the case of Aleksandr Serjogin in 1996. However, it should be pointed out that Aleksandr

Borodin joined the ARA and got the information about his right to conscientious objection and how to realize it after the beginning if criminal actions against him.

1.1.5 Intermediate results of the "Civil obedience campaign". Criteria of effectiveness.

Although we ask every selectee who joins our "Civil obedience campaign" to sent to the ARA a copy of his application to the enlistment commission for the alternative civilian service, it is quite evident that the number of copies registered in our database (only 94) cannot be used as an objective criterion to evaluate the efficiency of our efforts and the effectiveness of our campaign.

Obviously, as there are no other data available, we can only use the data of the Ministry of Defence (General Staff) about the number of Russian selectees who formally conscientiously object and apply for the alternative civilian service. According to these data, during the Spring enlistment campaign 1997 there were 675 conscientious objectors, during the Autumn campaign there were 1.0061 conscientious objectors. (In his answer to the parliamentary inquiry of the deputy Valerij Borschev the General Staff affirms that all these people were not called up). Unfortunately we do no know how many of them live in Moscow. Hence, last year nearly 1700 Russian selectees joined the "Civil obedience campaign" (these data are approximate because some of them could have applied for the alternative service several times).

We remember that the General Resolution of the September meeting of the General Council planned to achieve the number of 7000 thousand objectors. Certainly, the results of 1997 are far from the planned number. However, it should be taken into consideration that the data available refer to the beginning of our initiative "Sticker in the metro" and that we will be able to evaluate its effectiveness (together with other initiatives of the ARA in this field) only after the Spring enlistment campaign of this year.

1.2. Initiatives for the ACS law, concentrated at the State Duma

1.2.1. Postal attack on the Duma

Unfortunately, we have to recognise that our Postal attack on the State Duma for the adoption of a liberal alternative civilian service law failed or at least stagnated - now it reminds of the "strange war" of Autumn 1939 on the French-German front.

Still we do not manage to come to the "critical" point of one thousand postcards. By May, 18 only 735 postcards were sent: 281 of them from Moscow and Moscow region, 59 from the region of Kaluga. You may find the table of distribution of postcards by regions in the papers of the Council. Let us examine the evolution of the Postal attack since 1997:

--------------------------------------+-----------------------

1997 | 1998

------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------

30.04 | 29.05 | 26.06 | 17.07 | 22.12 | 30.01 | 30.03 | 18.05

------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------

291 | 429 | 556 | 585 | 653 | 667 | 695 | 735

------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------

In fact, the postcard are distributed only at our weekly seminars for selectees. However, the table shows that even far from all 280 postcard, distributed at 20 seminars this year, were sent to the Duma....

1.2.2. Appeal to the deputies from one-mandate election districts

We did not carry out yet the initiative of collecting signatures under the appeal of electors to their own deputies for the soonest adoption of a liberal ACS law. This initiative covers many Russian regions and, unfortunately, we cannot pay the interregional phone-calls, necessary for the realization of this campaign, for the lack of financing. The attempt to use the free telephones of the Duma failed because even the few telephones available were swamped.

1.2.3. Appeal to the Public associations and religious organizations committee of the State Duma

On April 11, we launched a new initiative - collection of signatures under the appeal to the Public associations and religious organizations committee of the State Duma for the amendment to Article 36 of the ACS draft law, presented by deputies Borschev, Vorob'jov, Golov and Gruschak. Article 36 (transitional period regulations) appeared in the text of the draft law recently and all of a sudden (at least for not members of the work group). According to it, till the year 2000 50 per cent of conscientious objectors may be sent to the Army as civilian personnel. The amendment of the four antimilitarist MPs provides that this can be done only on a voluntary basis.

In a brief space of time we managed to collect in many regions 961 signatures in defence of constitutional rights of conscientious objectors. The appeal is addressed to the Public associations and religious organizations committee of the State Duma. After we insert all information in our computer database, we will analyze the distribution of signatures by regions.

We planned to deliver the signatures to the leaders of the Committee at the meeting on the ACS draft law, in the end of April. However, the discussion is being dragged out. Next meeting of the Committee will take place as early as the beginning of June.

1.3. Contacts with members, participants and adherents; information bulletin

Unfortunately, for the lack of financing we managed to publish only one issue of the "Antimilitarist", the informational bulletin of the ARA, since the September meeting of the General Council - "Antimilitarist N7" that we distributed among the subscribes only in Moscow.

However, instead of a paper bulletin, we began distributing an electronic be-weekly edition "Antimilitarist on-line". We send it by e-mail (211 addresses) and you may also find it at the ARA web-site. What is more, we managed to organize its English edition. You may find some printed copies of the "Antimilitarist on-line" in our office and at all public actions organized by the ARA.

1.4. Street actions

After pickets organized during the election campaign of November-December 1997 till this May the ARA did not hold any street action. In May we organized two manifestations: the first one on May, 7 near the House of Government, against the sabotage of the Presidential Decree N 722 of May, 16 1997 concerning transition to a professional army by January, 1 2000; the second one on May, 15 - the European day of conscientious objectors - the ARA and the Radical Party demonstrated at the State Duma in defence of conscientious objectors in Russia as well as in other countries (in particular, in Turkey, where selectee Osman Murat Ulke was one again sentences to a 7-month imprisonment for his usual "offence" - conscientious objection that he declares every time he receives his call-up papers).

1.5. Initiatives at the UN

I mean the initiative at the UN Commission on Human Rights that gathered in Geneva in March-April. The Transnational Radical Party, NGO with category 1 consultative status at the UN, prepared together with the ARA a 5-page document "Conscientious objection in the Russian Federation". This document was distributed at the Session of the Commission as a official declaration of the TRP, therefore it was an official document of the 54-the session of the Commission on Human Rights. For the first time the UN discussed the situation of conscientious objectors in our country. At the next session of the Commission the RP has to prepare an oral declaration on this issue and also other initiatives - briefings, meetings of NGO's , etc.

1.6. New members and adherents of the ARA

Please, find a table that illustrates the growth of ARA members and adherents. Unfortunately, still very few people join the ARA. Only in the last two weeks we managed to exceed the rate of growth of 1997, two times less than that of 1998. The reason is that in the first semester of 1998 we did not have any means of informing and keeping contacts with ARA members and adherents, including former and potential ARA members and adherents. I mean the lack of the informational bulletin "Antimilitarist" issued last time in November 1997. Another reason is the lack of mass initiatives, regular street tables and piquets, characteristic of the "violently" antimilitarist year of 1996.

In this period regular seminars for conscientious objectors were the only place to find new members and adherents.

In the beginning of this year on the initiative of the acting Treasurer we contacted all former ARA members and adherents. This initiative got good results, but we could have achieved more, if there were a way of informing people about the results of the activity they support with their membership.

2. Proposals for the next months

2.1. "Civil obedience campaign"

Probably the "Civil obedience campaign" remains the main objective of the ARA; we must continue to concentrate our efforts and resources on it until the Duma adopts the ACS law.

It seems to me, that first of all we must try to launch again the "Sticker in the metro" campaign with the objective to place stickers in all carriages. So, we have to distribute at least 15.000 stickers. This should be done very quickly, in a few days or in several weeks, anyway not in several months. Now the technical service of the Moscow metro has already moved away the majority of our stickers. Anyway every sticker "lives" no longer than a month. I suggest that we supplement the "Sticker in the metro" initiative with a distribution of small posters with the information about the ARA. The posters may be placed on the walls and poles, mainly near the metro stations. The distribution of posters may be organized by ARA militants and volunteers (mainly by conscientious objectors). We should also consider the possibility to use some piece-workers.

We will be able to evaluate the effectiveness of this initiative by the number of people who come to our seminars. We plan that it grows two-three times.

At the same time it is necessary to draw the attention of the public opinion to the trials of conscientious objectors. We have to control the dates of trials and inform the mass-media. I mean both a small number criminal cases (this goes without saying) and large number of examinations of complaints lodged by conscientious objectors at civil courts, that are difficult to take stock of.

Now Tushinskij Court of Moscow is going to examine the criminal case of ARA member Vasilij Bazhenov. The first session will take place on June, 3. Valerij Borschev will represent public defence. In the next two weeks we have to do as much as possible to draw the attention of the public opinion to this trial.

2.2. Appeal to the Public associations committee of the State Duma

In the next two weeks we have to work a lot and redouble the numbers of signatures under the appeal for the amendment presented by Borschev, Vorob'jov, Golova, Gruschak and present 2.000 signatures at the session of the Committee in the beginning of June. We should also take into account that the signatures that we insert in our database will help the ARA find new members and adherents - we may send to them ARA materials by post.

I suppose that the most effective way of collecting signatures for the appeal are street tables - piquets, where we may use megaphone and visual materials (posters, placards, etc) Every table that works three - four hours may provide us about 100 signatures and contributions of people.

2.3. Postal attack on the State Duma

We must considerably intensify our "Postal attack on the State Duma" for the adoption of a liberal alternative civilian service law. Our main tool are street tables that I mentioned earlier. The next objective, by the end of May, is to get no less than 1000 postcards. Besides, I propose to discus the possibility to contact once again all our addresses outside Moscow, inviting them to send enclosed postcard to the State Duma. Finally, the postal attack must be supported by an electronic attack: we will place at our web-site an electronic form. Thus, every Internet user will be able to fill it and send his appeal for the soonest adoption of a liberal ACS law to the Duma. We discussed this initiative at the last meeting of the General Council, but only now we have necessary technical facilities.

2.4. Information bulletin. Internet.

We should continue a regular issue of ARA electronic bulletin "Antimilitarist on-line" and use all the possibilities to provide its English edition. This bulletin allows us to inform foreign antimilitarist associations, NGO's, foundations and governmental institutes about the activity of the ARA. Under certain circumstances it may become an effective tool of getting financial aid and contributions for the initiatives of Russian antimilitarists.

We should also modify and improve our home web-site in the Internet, insert there photographs, archives, etc.

As far as printed edition for members, adherents and participants of the ARA is concerned, - alas! - today it cannot be replaced by any electronic edition, because the number of the Internet users in our country is still limited. Therefore, we have to recommence regular edition and distribution of a printed information bulletin, in other words - a mini-newspaper of antimilitarists. Besides, there is another possibility, probably the best one: instead of "Antimilitarist" we may issue similar information bulletin, published not only by the ARA, but by the ARA together with the Radical Party. Therefore, this bulletin will inform people both about antimilitarist initiatives and about all transnational and national initiatives of the Radical Party. On condition that the State Duma allows us to use some of its facilities and the leaders of the Radical Party give us their formal permission, we may launch this initiative in the nearest days.

2.5. Membership campaign

Besides seminars for selectees, that are still the main way of accepting new members and adherents, I propose two initiatives that we could not carry out in the past for the lack of financing.

First, a large-scale distribution of brochure about the ARA and the RP by post (we may use the facilities provided by our deputies in the State Duma). This brochure informs about the initiatives of the ARA and of the Radical Party and invites to join them in 1998 all people who in the last three years supported our initiatives, signed our petitions, sent postcards or joined the ARA. There are more than 10. 000 addresses all-around Russia.

Second, we may send this brochure to 5.000 artists, scientists, politicians and businessmen, asking them to support our struggle for the ACS law , sign our special appeal and join or contribute to the ARA.

2.6. Moscow Alternative civilian service law.

Unfortunately, last September the General Council did not approve the proposal of initiative for the adoption of a regional ACS law in Moscow. It goes without saying that it is the federal law that regulates all the relationships concerning conscientious objection and ACS. The struggle for such a law, for a liberal law is a primary political objective of the ARA, indicated in its Statute, in the General Motion of the First Congress and in the General Motion of the last General Council. However, discussion of a liberal ACS draft law in a single subject of Federation, that is in Moscow (and the campaign for the referendum on the ACS law in Moscow), may become a kind of political detonator, like the Land law in Saratov - its discussion accelerated the adoption of a Federal law. Now I address my earnest request to the General Council to consider this campaign one again.

2.7. Initiatives for the abolition of levy

Unfortunately, today I cannot propose to you any initiative in this field or a plan of a concrete campaign for the nearest months, although this initiative in support of Presidential decree 722 was mentioned in the General Motion of the First Congress. Now, two years after the adoption of this decree, it is evident what in fact was evident from the very beginning: neither the President, nor his Government (or rather his "governments") are going to execute the decree. "If the President cannot and/or does not want to provide the realization of this decree, he must distinctly explain to the country why he is doing it and why the decree had been adopted", - I think that now this position that we expressed during our manifestation on May, 7 at the House of Government is the most realistic and politically worthy. On the contrary, an urgent petition campaign seems rather problematical (mainly because its addressee and concrete political objectives are rather vague). However, I think that if General Counsellors and

guests propose some initiatives in this field, we may discuss this issue today.

2.8. The second Congress of the ARA

Finally, the last point of my report. I am convinced that we can no longer postpone the next Congress of our association. Despite all financial, technical, political reasons that made us adjourn the Congress, we have to hold the Second Congress of the ARA by the end of 1998. In the course of an open and intensive discussion the Congress will estimate and, maybe, modify strategic and tactical objectives of the association. We shall also elect new leaders - many people joined us after the first Congress and renewed our strength. There are two possibilities: hold the Congress in the nearest future, in the middle of the Summer, or wait till next Autumn. Anyway, the Congress must take place by the end of November - beginning of December.

I suppose that, in contrast with the First Congress, this time we will not try to surpass ourselves and provide the participation of "people from regions", following the geographical principle, often in spite of political and organizational reality. The next Congress will be a working Congress. It will determine our politics, and our politics should be determined by those who effectively create our association with their participation, their membership, their work, their contribution (including financing).

Dear friends, I hope that the problems I mentioned in my report and the ideas that you will propose in your speeches, will give birth to a fruitful discussion and will be the basis of the final document. Thank you for your attention.