or by pager (095) 788-0088 ab.24712. Please do not forget to indicate your name, surname and address.We thank you for your support and wish you successful work!
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To the acting General Prosecutor
of the Russian Federation
Mr. Vladimir Ustinov
103009 B.Dmitrovka 15a, Moscow
General Prosecutor's Office
of the Russian Federation
tel. (095) 925-1879
fax (095) 921-4186
from __________________________
_______________________________
address _______________________
_______________________________
_______________________________
tel. (____)____________________
fax (____)____________________
E-mail ________________________
Dear Prosecutor:
On November 25, 1999, Dmitry Antonovich NEVEROVSKY, a member of the Radical Party and the Antimilitarist Radical Association (ARA), who conscientiously objected to protest against the Chechen war and applied for alternative civilian service according to the Art. 59.1 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, was sentenced by the Obninsk City Court of the Kaluga region to two years of imprisonment according to the Art. 328 of the Russian Criminal Code ("evasion of military and alternative civilian service").
On February 9, 2000, the Regional Court of Kaluga recalled by a cassation instance the verdict of the Obninsk City Court, and the case was remitted for a new examination by a new composition of the Obninsk City Court.
On March 3, 2000, the Obninsk City Court decided to remit the case of Dmitry Neverovsky for further examination and reaccusation. Moreover, the Court declined numerous requests of the defense to substitute the preventive measures in respect of Neverovsky by the written undertaking not to leave the place, despite the fact that he never made any attempt to escape or hinder the investigation. Thus, Dmitry Neverovsky has been confined in the investigation prison since November 25, 1999, he is evidently deprived of justice. The case of Neverovsky, an innocent person who for many months in violation of his rights guaranteed by the Constitution has been imprisoned for his active civil position, having become the subject of international preoccupation (see the resolution of the European Parliament of January 20, 2000), causes an irreparable damage to the reputation of the Russian justice and Russian force and law bodies.
I ask you to interfere IMMEDIATELY and substitute the preventive measures in respect of Dmitry Neverovsky by the written undertaking not to leave the place, and also to take measures in order to bring his case before the law in the shortest time with a view to pass the only fair verdict of "not guilty".
Date (dd/mm/yy): ___/___/___ _______________________
(signature)
>>> PETITION AGAINST THE WAR IN CHECHNYA
To: Acting President of the Russian Federation
Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation
Moscow, Kremlin
Mr. Acting President;
We, the undersigned, are sending you this petition; by doing so, we realize our right to appeal to organs of state power guaranteed to us by Article 33 of the Russian Constitution.
We declare our strong protest against the continued hostilities in Chechnya. We can see that behind the veil of official rhetoric about 'the fight against terrorism' a real war against all Chechen people is going on.
We do not believe that the mysterious explosions which occurred in living quarters of some Russian cities - regardless of who, in fact, caused these explosions - can justify the destruction of dozens of towns and villages, the deaths of thousands of peaceful civilians, as well as Russian soldiers and officers, and the plight of thousands of refugees, given that no known terrorists have been detained and prosecuted as of now.
We express our strong protest against the increasing militarization of all aspects of life in our country, and the crackdown on the media freedom which are taking place in the context of this new Chechen war.
We demand that you take all measures required
* To put an immediate end to hostilities waged by the federal armed forces in Chechnya;
* To start negotiations between the Russian federal authorities and the legitimately elected government of the Chechen Republic, in particular, with the Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov whose legitimacy is recognized by the Council of Europe, and was recognized, until recently, by the Russian Government;
* To initiate an immediate investigation into all military crimes committed in Chechnya, and to prosecute offenders;
* To end the information war against the Russian society by the federal authorities, to provide accurate information about the events in Chechnya to the Russian public, and to prohibit the illegal military censorship;
* To provide, without delay, all types of assistance needed to refugees who have fled Chechnya;
* To ensure free and unconditional access to the conflict zone for international and Russian observers.
________________________________________________________________
This petition was initiated by the Committee of Antiwar Actions which includes: Memorial Human Rights Center, Union of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia, Democratic Perspective, Antimilitarist Radical Association (ARA), Radical Party, Antifascist Youth Movement, Human Rights Youth Center, Anarchist Antiwar Movement, Human Rights Network, Democratic Union, Party of Economic Freedom, Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights, Independent Women's Forum Information Center, Non-Violence International, Human Rights Youth Movement, and other organizations, as well as individuals not associated with any movements.
Committee of Antiwar Actions
c/o Transnational Radical Party
Pechatnikov Pereulok 6, 103045 Moscow, Russia
phone (095) 208-4902, fax (095) 208-1805
E-mail: war@hro.org; Web Site: www.hro.org/war
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I, THE UNDERSIGNED, SUPPORT THE PETITION AGAINST THE WAR IN CHECHNYA
Surname ________________________________________________________
Firstname ______________________________________________________
Address ________________________________________________________
Zip code __________ City ______________________________________
State, region __________________ Country _______________________
Phone +___-_____-________________ Fax +___-_____-_______________
Email __________________________________________________________
Profession _____________________________________________________
Date of birth (dd/mm/yy) ___/___/___
Date of signature (dd/mm/yy) ___/___/___ Signature _____________
________________________________________________________________
>>> Please send this form by mail (Committee of Anti-war Actions - c/o Radical Party, Pechatnikov Pereulok 6, 103045 Moscow, Russia) or by fax +7-095-208.1805.
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=> DEPUTY REQUEST OF MARCO PANNELLA CONCERNING THE CASE OF NEVEROVSKY
February 2, Brussels. The leader of the Radical party, MEP Marco Pannella presented at the session of the EU Council his oral request asking to explain: "What initiatives were or are undertaken by the Council concerning the case of Neverovsky in respect of the Russian authorities in order to achieve the nearest revision of the sentence and immediate liberation of Mr. Neverovsky? What initiatives is the Council going to undertake in order that the representative of the Council could visit the prison where Neverovsky is kept, get information about the state of his health and talk with him? What initiatives did the Council undertake or is going to undertake in order to induce Russian authorities to adopt at last the alternative service law, provided by the Russian Constitution?" A similar request was sent to the Commission of the European Union.
=> THE COUNCIL AND THE COMMISSION OF THE EU ARE STUDYING THE CASE OF NEVEROVSKY
February 17, Brussels. The Council and the Commission of the EU gave an official answer to the deputy request of Marco Pannella concerning the case of Dmitry Neverovsky. The answer says: "The Council acquainted itself with the EP resolution of January 20, 2000 expressing the preoccupation in respect of the sentence of Dmitry Neverovsky who was punished with two years of imprisonment for conscientious objection (the right for which is provided by the Russian Constitution) to protest against the Chechen war. The Presidium charged the heads of its representative office in Moscow to check the information concerning the case of Neverovsky and if it is affirmed, the Presidium will present a corresponding request to the Russian competent bodies". The Commission in its answer to Pannella's request informs that "it is monitoring the case of Neverovsky and maintains regular contacts with Russian human rights organizations, as it did in other cases, in particular - in the case of Nikitin"
=> MASS MANIFESTATION AGAINST THE CHECHEN WAR
February, 19, Moscow. A mass antiwar manifestation took place in the center of Moscow. More than five hundred people took part in this action. The manifestation was organized by the Committee for antiwar actions (http://www.hro.org/war) consisting - besides the Radical party and the ARA - of representatives of a series of public organizations and aimed at consolidation of the efforts to organize actions against the Chechen war. The manifestation began with the rally at the Teatralnaya Square. The president of the Council of the Human Rights Center "Memorial" Oleg Orlov, the former deputy of the State Duma Valery Borshchov, the member of the Council of the Union of the Committees of the soldiers' mothers of Russia Liudmila Obraztsova, the ARA secretary Nikolay Khramov, the president of the party "Democratic Union" Valeria Novodvorskaya and other orators spoke at the rally. A greeting address from Grigory Yavlinsky was read out to the participants of the rally. The president of the movement "Yabloko" promised
"to do everything to stop this cruel and meaningless war". In the end the participants of the rally released to the sky hundreds of blue balloons with the slogan "No to the war in Chechnya" as a symbol of civil resistance to the violence and of peace alternative to the war. A launching of the campaign to collect signatures under the Petition against the Chechen war was announced at the rally. The campaign is initiated by the Committee. After the rally the participants of the action passed carrying antiwar slogans to the memorial of victims of GULAG - the Solovetsky rock at the Lubyanskaya square. After the speech of the member of the direction of the "Memorial" society Alexandr Daniel the participants honored the memory of the victims of the Chechen war with the minute of silence and laid the flowers on the memorial rock, emphasizing thus that what is happening today in Chechnya is the same violation of human rights as Stalin's repressions were.
=> KHRAMOV DISAGREES WITH YAVLINSKY OVER REFERENDUM
February 22, Moscow. "I disagree with the declaration of Grigory Yavlinsky over the professional army and referendum, - said the ARA secretary Nikolay Khramov. - Unfortunately, the leader of "Yabloko" repeats word for word the declarations of "supporters" of professional army from the Ministry of defense, who for many years have been not only sitting with their asses on the projects of professionalization of our armed forces but burying all the attempts of military reforms. The phrases like that the transition to the professional army is an enormous work and that such questions should not be submitted for a referendum, would be appropriate in the mouth of some general Kvashnin and not in the mouth of a politician who declares his adherence to the liberal reforms and heads the party which he himself defines as a civil one. Who should decide this if not the citizens of Russia?"
=> KHRAMOV: "RUSSIAN SOCIETY IS CELEBRATING THE GENOCIDE"
February 23, Moscow. The ARA Secretary has made a declaration on the occasion of the Day of the Defender of the Fatherland coinciding with the 56 anniversary of the deportation of Chechens and Ingushes: "Fifty six years ago during one frosty night all the Chechens and Ingushes were loaded on cattle-trucks and sent to Kazakhstan. Those who were not able to walk were shot down on the threshold of their houses or burnt down alive in the barns <...> And today another genocide is going on. Before the eyes of the delicately coughing world the Putin's regime is again exterminating the Chechen people, and is doing it quickly and professionally. The Russian army - soldiers and officers, conscripts and soldiers "on contract" - bomb, shoot down, torture, explosions with grenades old men, women and children, rape the girls <...> Today I am ashamed of the army of my country <...> Today I am ashamed of the 70% of my co-citizens <...> who, according to the VTSIOM (All-Russia Center for Investigation of Public Opinion), sup
port the Chechen war. And don't say anything about ORT and RTR, don't say that the people don't know anything. They do know everything <...> And if they don't know, it is because they do not want to know. As the Germans did not want to know anything about Auschwitz, as the Serbs do not want to hear anything about Srebrenica. They just support Putin's policies. They support the genocide and do it happily and with full understanding. Long live the Russian Army, long live the defenders of the Fatherland, Heil Putin!".
=> THE CONGRESS OF SOLDIERS' MOTHERS "FOR THE LIFE AND THE FREEDOM"
February 26-27, Moscow. The second congress of soldiers' mothers "For the Life and the Freedom" took place in the Central House of Tourist. It was organized by the Union of the committees of the soldiers' mothers of Russia (http://www.hro.org/ngo/usm). More than hundred representatives of the committees of the soldiers' mothers from dozens Russian cities took part in the congress. The participants voted for a document demanding that the war in Chechnya should be stopped immediately and calling all the organizations of soldiers' mothers to join the fight for abolishing the conscription slavery in the country. A delegation of the radicals took part in the Congress, they organized in the lobby a table to collect signatures under the petition against the Chechen war (58 signatures were collected and 1000 forms were spread out) and the petition "Third Millennium without the Conscription Slavery" (35 signatures were collected). The ARA Secretary Nikolay Khramov spoke before the participants of the congress calling
them to join the petition campaign against the war and to promote the development of a mass campaign of conscientious objection to protest against the Chechen war.
=> "IT IS NOT MY WAR" - AN ANTIWAR INITIATIVE IN THE INTERNET
March 1, Moscow. A new antiwar online initiative has appeared in the Russian Internet - the project "It is not My War". Each Internet user can join the declaration "It is not My War" on the site www.notmywar.ru. The authors of the project are Igor Voroshilov, Serguey Kuznetsov, Natalia Ctruchkova, Maxim Kononenko - people known in the Russian Internet community and not connected with any organizations. During nine days 235 people joined the manifest "It is not My War" (a considerable part of this number are however anonymous and pseudonymous signatories).
=> WEEKLY ANTIWAR MANIFESTATION IN MOSCOW
March 4, Moscow. A regular weekly manifestation to protest against the Chechen war took place at the Pushkinskaya square. The manifestation was organized by the Committee for the antiwar actions. About 30 people took part in the manifestation. The center of the manifestation was the table of the Radical Party and the ARA to collect the signatures of the citizens under the petition against the Chechen war. During two hours 29 signatures were collected under the petition against the Chechen war and 24 signatures - under the petition "Third Millennium without the Conscription Slavery".
=> ANTIWAR MINI-PICKETS OF THE RADICALS
March 6, Moscow. The activists of the Radical Party (http://www.radicalparty.org) and the ARA (http://www.ara.ru) have begun a series of mini-pickets spreading antiwar leaflets and collecting signatures under the petition against the Chechen war. The first picket took place near the metro station "Mendeleevskaya", during an hour and half 35 signatures were collected under the petition against the Chechen war. In the evening one more picket took place in the same place, during an hour 38 signatures were collected. On March 7, in the same place another antiwar mini-picket of the radicals was organized, during two hours 27 signatures were collected under the petition against the Chechen war.
=> THE CASE OF NEVEROVSKY. KOTLYAR: "THE WORST SCENARIO"
March 6, Obninsk. Tatiana Kotlyar, mother of Dmitry Neverovsky, the deputy of the Obninsk City Assembly and the vice-president of the General Council of the ARA, has made a declaration where she writes: "The worst scenario of the case of Neverovsky has realized - instead of a quick and fair judgement - a termless confinement, punishment cell and other forms of pressure and revenge, attempts to declare Dmitry Neverovsky a mentally diseased because he refused to take part in a criminal war. Even if the Kaluga Regional Court confirmed the illegal verdict of Neverovsky, it would be a better situation. After the decision of the regional court, the sentence could be appealed against both by the Supreme Court and the General Procurator's Office and even by the Ombudsman. Today there is not any sentence, and Neverovsky is kept in the prison - it is just an act of revenge for his firm position, for his refusal to take part in the criminal Chechen war, for his demand to observe the Constitution of Russia. They are try
ing to keep Dmitry in the prison as long as possible - even without legal grounds".
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=> March 10, Moscow
16.00 - 19.00. Near the south entrance of the metro station "Leninsky prospect" - a table of the Radical Party to collect signatures under the petition against the Chechen war.
Additional information: Alyona Asayeva - tel. (095) 208-4902, pager (095) 788-0088 ab. 24712
=> March 12, Moscow
13.00. At the Pushkinskaya square - a rally against the Chechen war organized by the Committee for antiwar actions.
Additional information: Alyona Asayeva - tel. (095) 208-4902, pager (095) 788-0088 ab. 24712
Grigory Tarasevich - tel. (901) 764-8480.
=> March 13, Moscow
15.00 - 18.00. Near the south entrance of the metro station "Universitet" - a picket of the Radical Party to collect signatures under the petition against the Chechen war.
Additional information: Alyona Asayeva - tel. (095) 208-4902, pager (095) 788-0088 ab. 24712
=> March 14, Moscow
15.00 - 18.00. Near the south entrance of the metro station "Universitet" - a picket of the Radical Party to collect signatures under the petition against the Chechen war.
Additional information: Alyona Asayeva - tel. (095) 208-4902, pager (095) 788-0088 ab. 24712
=> March 19, Moscow
12.00. At the Pushkinskaya square - an action "Farewell to the arms!" - a rally against the Chechen war organized by the Committee for antiwar actions.
Additional information:
Grigory Tarasevich - tel. (901) 764-8480.
http://www.hro.org/war
==> March 22, Moscow
In the Tushinsky intermunicipal Court (ul.Svobody 12/8) - a next court sitting on the criminal case of Vasily Bazhenov accused according to Art. 328 of the Russian Criminal Code (evading the military and alternative civilian service) for his conscientious objection.
Additional information: tel. (095) 208-1805.
________________________________________________________________
Check out websites of the Transnational Radical Party http://www.radicalparty.org
and the Antimilitarist Radical Association http://www.ara.ru
