Center for Civil Society International ([email protected])
Thu, 18 Jun 1998 11:08:30 -0700 (PDT)
CCSI presents excerpts from the Agency for Social Information
(ASI) e-mail information bulletin. Translated from Russian by
CCSI staffer Alyssa Deutschler. For more information on how
to receive ASI's bulletin regularly, contact:
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AGENTSTVO SOTSIALNOI INFORMATSII
Kutuzovskii pr. 22 pod. 14a,
Moscow, 121151
Tel./fax: (095) 249-3989
E-mail: [email protected]
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ASI Bulletin Nos. 20 & 21
22-28 May & 29 May-3 June, 1998
In this issue:
I. Russian Human Rights Organization Protests Political
Repression in Belarus & Russia
II. Public Hearings Tackle Topic of Elimination of
Chemical Weapons from Udmurtia
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Russian Human Rights Organization Protests Political
Repression in Belarus & Russia
Representatives from the Russian human rights organization Common Action
called on the government of Belarus to halt the persecution of political
prisoner Pavel Severinets. Severinets, the leader of the Youth Front
Association, was arrested in Minsk on A pril 2, 1998. He was charged with
"malicious hooliganism" for organizing a march that was not officially
sanctioned by city authorities. Over the course of the first two weeks of
his imprisonment, Severinets was not allowed to meet with his attorney.
And, despite the fact that more than 40 organizations and individuals
offered to post bail for the Youth Front leader, officers in charge of the
case refused to free Severinets; although according to Belarusian law only
two offers of bail are required.
Common Action also issued a statement in defense of Nikolai Karpitskii,
chairman of the Tomsk regional branch of the Russian Anti-Fascist Youth
Movement. On May 4, personnel from the Organized Crime Division of the
Tomsk Oblast Department of Internal Affairs conducted an illegal search
of Karpitskii's apartment. In the course of the search, archival
documents from the Anti-Fascist Youth Movement were seized along with
research materials on human rights abuses, military deserters, and draft
alternatives. One of the Internal Affairs officers was particularly
offended during his search by the presence of documents connected with the
Soros Foundation's Open Society Institutes in Russia, who he accused of
"wanting to buy Russia."
After the search, Karpitskii was informed that the materials seized from
his apartment would be subject to an investigation which could result in
criminal charges being brought again him on the basis of "organizing
activities that infringe on the individual rights of other citizens."
However, on May 10, authorities told Karpitskii that after investigating
the documents taken from his apartment, no basis for criminal charges was
found.
Nikolai Karpitskii is a human rights activist and philosopher who teaches
philosophy at a college in Tomsk. His work has been published in regional
periodicals and philosophical journals. The Tomsk Anti-Fascist Youth
Movement is one of the organization's more active branches, and under
Karpitskii's leadership, the group publishes a news bulletin and analyzes
issues related to religious minorities, the homeless and victims of police
violence. Additionally, the Tomsk Anti-Fascist Youth Movement recently
took part in the interregional campaign "No to Government Repression!" In
the opinion of Common Action members, all of these activities served as
reasons for Karpitskii's harassment and persecution by the government.
Contact Telephone: (095) 207-7404, 207-6069
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Public Hearings Tackle Topic of Elimination of
Chemical Weapons from Udmurtia
A fourth round of public hearings were held in the cities of Kizner and
Izhevsk to discuss strategies for destroying chemical weapons stockpiled
in the Republic of Udmurtia. The hearings were organized by the Russian
Green Cross and the Udmurt government administration. The goal of the
meetings was to establish a favorable working environment under which
concrete resolutions can be made regarding the complex issue of chemical
weapons elimination in Russia.
Local ecologists took part in the hearings, as well as representatives
from Bryansk, Penza, Saratov and Kurgan oblasts, areas where arsenals of
chemical weapons are also stored. Representatives from the United States,
Italy, Great Britain and Switzerland were also invited to participate in
the hearings. Currently, the Russian Federation government is
collaborating with Italy and Great Britain to establish guidelines for
dismantling the chemical weapons industry in Kizner and creating a social
safety net to deal with the results of the industry's loss. Gerardo
Croccini from Italy stated that the Italian government intends to donate
eight million dollars towards the creation of social infrastructure in
Kizner, which includes rebuilding the regional hospital there.
The socio-economic and ecological conditions in Kizner are very poor: the
industrial production that the region relied on economically on has
fallen; unemployment has skyrocketed; the agrarian sector is in crisis;
social welfare is extremely low, and the area lacks investment that could
help develop new industry or new methods to utilize its natural resources.
Furthermore, Kizner residents are fearful of the possibility of a
catastrophic accident resulting from the chemical weapons stockpiled in
their city.
Participants at the hearings in Udmurtia drew up a series of
recommendations to send to Russian Federation President Boris Yeltsin.
They proposed that President Yeltsin consider providing federal aid to
regions where the elimination of the chemical weapo ns industry will
adversely impact the population and that Yeltsin re-examine the timeline
for the weapons' destruction in view of Russia's preparedness for such a
task.
Contact Info, Russian Green Cross
Telephone: (095) 923-4866
E-mail: [email protected]
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| CCSI presents excerpts from the ASI Bulletin. The |
| ASI Bulletin is a publication of the Agency for Social |
| Information (ASI) in Moscow. Originally published in |
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