A-Infos (en) < ANTIMILITARIST ON-LINE No. 4 >

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< ANTIMILITARIST ON-LINE No. 4 >

Bulletin of antimilitarist actions

Issue # 4, April 22, 1998

Published in English and Russian languages
by the Antimilitarist Radical Association (ARA),
an association of the Transnational Radical Party

========================================
ARA - ANTIMILITARIST RADICAL ASSOCIATION
Ul. Trubnaja 25-2-49,
103051 Moscow, RUSSIA
Tel. & fax: +7-095-923.91.27
E-mail: ara@glasnet.ru
Internet URL: http://www.glasnet.ru/~ara
========================================

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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.

---------------------------------------------------------------
Surname _________________________ Name ________________________ 
Address _______________________________________________________
ZIP __________ City ________________________ Country __________
Telephone_________________________ Fax ________________________
E-mail ________________________________________________________
Occupation ____________________________________________________
Birth date (dd/mm/yy) ___/___/___

Date ___/___/___  Signature ___________________________________

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.



JOIN OR CONTRIBUTE ARA!
---------------------------------------------------------------
Please, fill in this form and send it by post,  fax or E-mail.

Last Name _____________________________________________________
First Name ____________________________________________________
Address _______________________________________________________
ZIP code ___________  City ____________________________________
Country _______________________________________________________
Occupation ____________________________________________________
Date of birth (dd/mm/yy): ___/___/___
E-mail: _______________________________________________________
Telephone:
home    (________) ____________________________________
office  (________) ____________________________________
Fax     (________) ____________________________________

* Yes, I join ARA in 1998 as member/adherent and pay ........ 
  as the annual membership fee (minimum fee 10 USD at 
  official exchange rate)

* Yes, I join the Transnational Radical Party in 1998 and pay 
  ........ as the annual membership fee (minimum 16 USD 
  at official exchange rate)

* I do not join ARA, but contribute to ARA .......

Payment: 
# by mail transfer (ARA, ul. Trubnaja 25-2-49, Moscow 103051)
# by bank transfer (get details by e-mail or by phone)


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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Free thought, neccessarily involving freedom of 
speech and press, I may tersely define thus:no 
opinion a law-no opinion a crime.
          Alexander Berkman

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