Center for Civil Society International ([email protected])
Fri, 7 Feb 1997 13:58:35 -0800 (PST)
CCSI presents excerpts from the Agency for Social Information (ASI) e-mail
information bulletin. Translated from Russian by CCSI volunteer Tom
Sorenson, J.D., Ph.D., Edmonds, Washington, USA. For more information on
how to receive ASI's bulletin regularly, contact:
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AGENTSTVO SOTSIALNOI INFORMATSII
Kutuzovskyi pr. 22 pod. 14a,
Moscow, 121151
Tel./fax: (095) 249-3989
E-mail: [email protected]
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N 2 (111)
14 - 20 January 1997
In this issue:
I. A Founding Conference of a New Movement to Unite the Efforts
of Nongovernmental Organizations Took Place in Moscow
II. The Russian Green Cross Has Created a Computer Information System
on Radioactive Pollution in Russia as a Result of the Arms Race
III. The Social Organization "New Home" Provides Free Help and
Invites You to Participate in its Charitable Programs
I
A Founding Conference of a "New Movement
to Unite the Efforts of Nongovernmental
Organizations" Took Place in Moscow
On January 15 in Moscow the founding conference of the "international
nongovernmental organization" The Humanitarian Forces Movement of the CIS
took place in Moscow. Taking part were:
* representatives of three foundations--Confederation, Politics, and
Social Ecology;
* representatives of the movement "Reform--A New Course," The Strategy
Center, the Council of Russian Women, the international Confederation of
Artists� Unions, the Peace and Accord Federation; and
* representatives of the UN, the embassies of the countries of the CIS,
and national cultural centers in Moscow.
Analogous conferences are at the same level of formation in the
Trans-Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Western region.
The organizers of the Humanitarian Forces Movement of the CIS believe that
it is time to give a new impetus to the process of developing the
Commonwealth of Independent States. This impulse must come from the
social humanitarian and social diplomacy movements, emphasized Iu. Boken�
and G. Burbulis in their presentations [at the conference]. According to
G. Burbulis, the separation of the countries of the former USSR along
national and state lines is advantageous only to certain politicians.
Those active in the realms of science and culture, and ordinary people,
feel their spiritual unity as before. In this connection he highly valued
the accomplishments of the Soviet educational system and called the former
USSR "a unique geopolitical entity."
The organizers of the new movement propose that the Russian President�s
idea of mutual reconciliation and accord requires the support of
nongovernmental organizations. The strategic goal of the organization is
to support the Council of Heads of State of the CIS, whose executive
secretariat welcomed the idea of creating a new humanitarian movement.
The movement is created on the principle of a union of social
organizations and offers the possibility of free entry (by written
application to the leadership of the organization) as well as of
withdrawing from it, which can be done without a special decision of the
coordinating organs of the movement.
Despite the unquestionably favorable idea underlying the creation of the
new movement, the participants in the conference were not of one opinion
in their evaluation of it. Thus, the president of the Moscow House of
Charity volunteer center G. Bodrenkova said in an interview with ASI that
she fully welcomes the idea and that her organization is prepared to
associate with the new movement. But Mrs. Bocharova, representing the
international social informational and educational center "Goodness
Without Borders" [Dobro bez granits] is in no hurry to decide on
associating with the movement, since she is wary of the political
undertones of the new initiative.
The conference participants adopted a program statement "For Humanitarian
Development," heard an address to the conference participants by the heads
of state of the CIS, and issued an appeal to the citizens of Russia, the
President, the government and the Federal Assembly of the Russian
Federation in connection with an "all-Russian action of collecting
1,000,000 signatures in defense of [Russian] culture."
Contact telephone: 206-8854 (Iurii Ivanovich Bokan�)
II
The Russian Green Cross Has Created a
Computer Information System on Radioactive
Pollution in Russia as a Result of the Arms Race
The nongovernmental environmental organization the Russian Green Cross
(RGC) is completing work on a project entitled "The Radioactive Legacy of
Russia as a Result of the Arms Race." A large group of scientists and
specialists, among them representatives of the Russian Academy of
Sciences, the Atomic Energy Ministry, the Ministry of Defense, the
Ministry of Natural Resources, the State Atomic Oversight agency, regional
departments of a series of environmental organizations, and independent
experts took p art in the project.
The project has created a single computerized information system
containing a wide range of formerly unknown data on radioactive pollution
produced by nuclear weapons tests in many regions of Russia (Altaiskii
Krai, the Novaya Zemlya archipelago) and the nuclear fleet (the Northwest
Region, including St. Petersburg, and the Primorskii Krai).
The system contains electronic maps showing polluted locations, storage
sites of highly toxic nuclear wastes, regions containing nuclear and
radioactive sources, and contains information on the condition of the
health of the population in these and neighboring areas as well as the
collective doses of radiation and the dynamics of [radiation-related]
illnesses.
The information system that has been developed may be useful in developing
environmental expertise, [for recording information] upon discovery of new
radioactively dangerous factories and the closing of old ones, the
utilization of wastes and equipment, t he selection of sites for storing
and processing nuclear wastes, etc. Using the database makes possible
the modeling of the process of the migration of radionucleides in the
environment and permits the evaluation of the degree of the negative
effects on nature and people.
The final stage of the project (first half of 1997) contemplates
development of scientific recommendations for eliminating the negative
environmental consequences of the development, creation and testing of
nuclear weapons directed to the administration of the regions creating
programs for the rehabilitation of polluted territories, and to the
legislative and executive branches of the government of the Russian
Federation.
If similar information systems are created in the other countries of the
nuclear club, this will make available information on the global
environmental consequences of the development and testing of nuclear
weapons and of other dangerous nuclear objects for military and civilian
use and thereby make possible the organization of effective international
cooperation in resolving these most difficult problems.
For further information [contact]: The leader of the project and leader
of the group for systematic analysis of the Presidium of the Russian
Academy of Sciences Valerii Nikolaevich Samosiuk (129-06-11), or the
manager of the project Vitalii Grigor�evich Linnik (939-26-43), or the
press secretary of the Russian Green Cross Anna Shcherbakova (927-84-79,
927-82-87).
III
The Social Organization "New Home" Provides Free Help
and Invites You to Participate in its Charitable Programs
The social, charitable human rights organization "New Home" [Novyi dom]
was created on September 23, 1994. Its activity is directed to the
defense of human rights and the creation of a state based on law and of
civil society in Russia.
At the present time, as part of its project "Justice For All...," New Home
is providing consultation on juridical, social, and legal problems for the
more defenseless groups of the population: pensioners, people with
disabilities, the homeless, youth, people under surveillance, prisoners
and their families, and for newly released convicts. All persons and
legal entities receive free, qualified consultation with experienced
lawyers on all questions of criminal, civil, family, residential,
administrative, labor, customs, and tax law. They also receive assistance
with questions in connection with violations of rights by law enforcement
and state agencies. In addition, the staff at New Home provide assistance
to prisoners in obtaining higher education thr ough correspondence
courses.
The organization participates in charitable activities on behalf of
differently-abled workers and pensioners and plays an active role in
providing expertise for drafting laws in the State Duma. It also prepares
reports on violations of human rights for international human rights
organizations. Thanks to financial support from the European Human Rights
Foundation, the Canadian Assistance Foundation [Kanadskii fond
sotrudnichestva], the Small Grants Program of the embassy of the
Netherlands, and the Soros Foundation, New Home has been able to publish a
number of books on human rights issues.
Address: 111578, Moscow, ul. Saianskaia, d. 6B.
Contact telephone/fax: 288-3916
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