Agency of the antimilitarist action

Issue 24 * November 3, 1999

Published by the Antimilitarist Radical Association (ARA),

an association of the Transnational Radical Party,

in Russian and English languages

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TELEX

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KARELIAN PACIFISTS AGAINST THE CHECHEN WAR

Petrozavodsk, October 21. Karelian right-defence public

association "Pacifist" has distributed its declaration

concerning the war in Chechnya. The military men still have an

enormous power in our country. "The waging of the war is

accompanied by the growth of militarism, - write Karelian

pacifists in their declaration, - It seems that many people are

interested to declare the war. However, the attempts to keep

the present-day system, a completely incapable system, can

nether have a success. The state has immediately found the

money to kill its citizens. While it can never find them to pay

pensions, allowances, salaries, to restore economics". "We

think that in the present-day dangerous situation all public

forces have to unite in order to stop the war, to prevent the

growth of militarism, to guarantee the fundamental human rights

and freedoms in our country", - says the declaration.

ANOTHER CRIMINAL CASE OF A CONSCEINTIOUS OBJECTOR

Obninsk (Kaluga region), October 27. The Office of the Public

Prosecutor of Obninsk has brought a criminal action against a

member of the ARA Dmitrii Neverovskii (accused of "Evading the

military service", Art. 328.1 of the Criminal Code). Since 1997

Neverovskii conscientiously objects and fights in the Court for

his right to perform the alternative civilian service instead

of the military service. The mother of Neverovskii Tat'yana

Kotlyar (vice president of the ARA General Council) is a

candidate to the State Duma from the Union of the Right Forces.

In his declaration for the press Neverovskii says: "I am not

afraid of the process, but I protest against the criminal

persecution of any conscientious objector and, especially,

against the attempts of the Office of the Public Prosecutor to

exercise pressure on my mother".

GENERAL POPKOVICH CALLS THE OFFICE OF THE PUBLIC PROSECUTOR TO

CLEAR THE SITUATION WITHT THE RADCIALS

Moscow, October 28. General Roman Popkovich, President of the

Defence Committee of the State Duma ("Our house is Russia"

group) has sent a letter to the Secretary of the ARA Nikolai

Khramov and to the Treasurer of the Association Anna Zaitseva.

The letter says that "the petition campaign '"The third

millennium without conscription slavery", carried out by the

Antimilitarist Radical Association, is directed against the

State". Deputy General Popokovich also informs that "the

Defence Committee is passing the data to the General

Prosecutor's Office to control the compatibility of the above-

mentioned campaign with the legislation of the Russian

Federation and, if necessary, to take necessary measures".

YOUTH "JABLOKO" FOR THE ALTERNATIVE SERVICE

Belgorod, October 29. The youth branch of "Yabloko" has carried

out an action for the adoption of the alternative civilian

service law - manifestations near the Regional committee of the

Communist party and near the Military Commissariat of Belgorod

region. The manifestants protested against the delay of the

adoption of the alternative civilian service law "thanks to the

position of the communists as well as deputies of "Our House

Russia" and the party of Zhirinovskii - once again they have

spitted on the Constitution and human rights", - says the

press-release of the Belgorod youth branch of "Yabloko". During

the manifestation 500 signatures under the appeal to the new

Russian parliament and the President, calling them to adopt as

soon as possible the alternative civilian service law, have

been collected. The signatures were passed to the

representative of the Russian President in Belgorod region S.N.

Kisin.

THE ARMY HAS ALREADY LOST IN CHECHNYA 300 PEOPLE

Moscow, November 2. According to the data of the Committee of

the Mothers of Soldiers, the Russian Army has lost in Chechnya

300 people, excluding those dying of wounds in the hospitals.

These data were announced today at the press conference of the

Committee by its Secretary Valentina Mel'nikova. Moreover, the

Mothers of Soldiers affirm that the soldiers called up in

spring 1999 still take part in the battle and ask the

authorities to send there only the military men serving

according to the contract. (Polit. Ru net agency).

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THE THIRD MILLENNIUM WITHOUT CONSCRIPTION SLAVERY

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By November 3, 1999 we managed to collect 5678 signatures in 72

Russian regions under the petition "The Third millennium

without conscription slavery". The regions where more than 10

signatures have been collected:

Moscow............................................... 3587

Moscow region......................................... 476

Komi republic..........................................149

Udmurtiya............................................. 140

Krasnodar territory....................................137

Yaroslavl' region......................................103

Tver' region............................................89

Tula region.. ..........................................85

Ryazan' region..........................................72

Kaluga region...........................................59

Stavropol' territory....................................59

Oryol region............................................55

Rostov region...........................................54

Penza region............................................52

Mary-El republic........................................50

Krasnoyarsk territory...................................41

Nizhnii Novgorod region.................................41

Orenburg region.........................................41

Sankt Petersburg and Leningrad region...................39

Chelyabinsk region......................................26

Volgograd region........................................24

Valdimir region.........................................21

Saratov region..........................................16

Voronezh region.........................................13

Ekaterinburg and Sverdlovsk region......................12

Smolensk region.........................................11

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THE SECOND PAGE

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THE OPEN LETTER OF NIKOLAI KHRAMOV TO SERGEI KIRIENKO

Moscow, October 19, 1999.

Dear Sergei Vladilenovich,

to appeal to You I have chosen the form of an open letter

(generally, not so common among comrades and colleagues)

because the question I am going to discuss is of an

extraordinary political and public importance.

First of all, I would like to thank You for Your support of our

campaign "The Third millennium without conscription slavery" -

You have publicly joined the petition of the Radical Party and

the ARA for the abolition of conscription as soon as possible

and for an entirely-professional army. Your support was

particularly precious because, unfortunately, for today no

political party in Russia, no political leader of its elite has

manifested his definite and univocal support of our claim.

Therefore, we were not surprised when on September 30 the mass

media have quite unexpectedly informed (at least it was

unexpectedly for us) about the initiative of the Union of the

Right Forces that You lead (by the way, Club Khramov - an

association for libertarian reforms, a political organisation

of Russian radicals, is also a member of this Union, being

member of the Right Cause) to collect signatures for an all-

Russia referendum, one of its questions concerning "the

transition to the professional army". We, radicals-

antimilitarists, at the organisational assembly of the ARA

already four years ago have determined our political

objectives: the abolition of conscription and the transition to

the professional army. Thus, we were ready to mobilitate all

our, unfortunately, not so great resources to support Your

initiative.

However after we have read the question to be proposed for the

referendum ("Do you approve the decision to use in the

combatant actions in the local conflicts only the military men

serving in accordance to the contract?") many of my comrades

form the Radical Party and the ARA and I were disillusioned.

"The mountain has brought forth a mouse" - this was the first

comment on the referendum of the Union of the Right Forces.

You and we, Russian liberals, may have no doubt that Russian

citizens, at an all-Russian referendum, should determine what

is the army Russia needs in the next century: will it be an

Army, sill basing on conscription, or a contract army, remanned

on a voluntary basis, as the armies of the majority of the

developed democracies (USA, Great Britain, Belgium, Holland, in

the nearest future France and after that, probably, Italy). You

and I, as well as the majority of Russian citizens (58%

according to official statistics), are convinced that only the

people who choose this profession by themselves should service

in the army - not those who were brought there by force and

intimidation.

Why not ask the Russians at the referendum about it? Not a kind

of a national opinion poll, financed from the state budget,

with uncertain juridical consequences - let us propose for a

national voting, in accordance with the Federal law "On

referendum", a concrete draft law that would stop the

realisation of the Military duty and military service law in

peace time, as far as the performance of the military service

is concerned.

Who has formulated the question proposed for the referendum?

What concrete juridical consequences will have a positive (or a

negative) answer of the citizens at the referendum? I have no

answers to these important questions. I hope so much that You

have them and that You can and want to explain them. Not to us,

but to dozens, hundreds, thousands and millions of Russians

that You call to sign for the referendum and that, I still hope

so, will vote on December 19 for the Union of the Right Forces.

The collection of 2 million signatures for the referendum in

three months is a difficult objective, requiring the

participation of hundreds (or maybe thousands) of militants,

and the financing of about 200 000 dollars. However, the game

is worth the candle if it is a referendum that will allow to

the Russians to decide by themselves if they want to keep or to

abolish the conscription slavery in our country. If the Union

of the Right Forces You lead has these resources, if You have a

political will - it is not too late to unite a new initiative

group that will formulate a new question and will begin to

collect signatures for the "new" and for four "old" questions.

You will have not only our support, not only the support of all

democratic parties and associations (at least the majority of

their members), but also the support of millions of Russian

citizens.

It is not too late yet, Sergei Vladilenovich.

Sincerely Yours,

Nikolai Khramov,

Secretary of the ARA.

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