Center for Civil Society International ([email protected])
Wed, 2 Dec 1998 15:53:27 -0800 (PST)
From: Catherine Fitzpatrick <[email protected]>
Dear Friends,
All of us have been reeling from the news of the assassination of Galina
Starovoitova, Russia's liberal parliamentarian famous for her courageous
and outspoken defense of tolerance and human rights. It has sent a
shock-wave through the numerous NGOs working for civil rights, conflict
resolution, women's leadership, and many other causes in the non-profit
sector in Russia. It is definitely a time when we need to increase
communication and support of our colleagues, be vigilant about their
safety, and press for an investigation into this and other political
murders.
As many of you know, Russian NGOs have been especially hard hit by the
banking crisis just at a time when they must increase both their human
rights and humanitarian relief work. Many of them have seen their grants
disappear or devalue, or are dealing with frozen accounts or the
withdrawal of donors. Unfortunately, we must now revert to the
old-fashioned methods of the Soviet days, when we provided our visiting
Russian friends with very hefty per diems and generous gifts of computer
equipment to help them and their families survive back home. We also need
to look for every opportunity when visiting Russia ourselves to take
direct aid to our counterparts.
Some of you know Yuri Dzhibladze, who worked part-time at Committee to
Protect Journalists, on Russian cases and the Caucasus report, and who
also worked at the League on the project to publicize and help prevent the
trafficking of NIS women. Unlike some of his fellow citizens, Yuri went
back to Russia after graduating from Columbia University's SIPA program.
What's more, at a very risky time, Yuri went back to start a non-profit
policy and human rights organization, to try to draw public attention to
the broader issues, addressed only sporadically by numerous other groups,
which affect the whole third sector and the society at large.
Right now Yuri has launched a very important campaign against the latest
outrage to come from Russia's Duma -- a draft law that would double-tax
nonprofit NGOs, that is, tax their foreign grants so heavily as to beg
the question of receiving them, and then tax their re-grants, or their
relief distribution. Already, using some of the techniques he learned in
the U.S., Yuri has done something extraordinary for Russia -- launched a
grassroots campaign for Russians to visit their parliamentarians and send
them protest postcards -- an act most of them despair of having any
effect. Nevertheless, he's already persuaded groups in 35 of Russia's
provinces to respond.
On Dec. 15, I will be visiting Moscow and I would like to take Yuri a
small amount of funds to contribute to his effort, which is vital for the
survival of the whole community. If any of you can help, please send me a
check today. $25 or $50 still goes a fairly long way in Russia. Make your
check out to International League for Human Rights, mark it for Yuri, and
I will pass it on to him, and also give you a tax-deduction form for the
IRS.
I will also be attending the 10th anniversary conference of Memorial
Society, which is the leading human rights organization in Russia,
concerned with exposing the crimes against humanity in the totalitarian
past, and investigating and publicizing mass abuses of human rights in the
present time. Memorial has also been hard hit by the crisis, just at the
moment when they were trying to put many years of their research on the
Internet for the use of us all.
We have formed a small non-profit called "Friends of Memorial" (FOM). If
you would like to join FOM and contribute towards their Internet and other
projects, and also help by selling Memorial's publications in your
community or helpin other ways, please contact "Friends of Memorial"
through my address below.
All contributions for Russian NGOs to the League or to Friends of Memorial
reach our colleagues in entirety, are tax-deductible, and we do not take
any percentage.
Thanks for your help!
Cathy Fitzpatrick
International League for Human Rights
432 Park Avenue South #1103
New York, NY 10010
tel. (212)-684-1221
fax. (212)-684-1696
E-mail: Catherine Fitzpatrick <[email protected]>
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