Chairwoman: Maria Kirbasova
Member of the Planning Board: Tatyana Znachkova
Press Secretary: Valentina Melnikova
The Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers works to protect the rights of Russian servicemen and their families. This includes providing information on the rights of servicemen, advocating legislation aimed at improving the conditions of military service, researching cases of abuse in the military and advocating the creation of a true alternative service option for conscientious objectors.
The Committee of Soldiers' Mothers was founded in April, 1989 by Maria Kirbasova and a handful of other concerned family members of servicemen in order to protect the rights of those serving in the Russian military and to improve the living conditions in the military. Since 1989, over 70 regional groups and committees of soldiers' mothers and family members have been formed. On January 16, 1995, CSM was awarded the Sean McBride Peace Prize by the International Peace Bureau. February 11, 1995, the second All-Russian Conference of Soldiers' Mothers was held in Tula. A working conference of Soldiers' Mothers convened in Moscow 25-26 March, 1995, to address concerns surrounding the Chechen conflict. Most recently, CSM has been nominated for the 1996 Nobel Prize for Peace.
CSM provides a number of services for soldiers and their families. Some of these include researching the cases of missing servicemen (both deserters and those missing in action), providing information about servicemen to their families (such as the location of one’s duty and their condition of health), making casualty lists publicly available, and leading letter-writing campaigns on behalf of individual cases of human rights abuses.
In their efforts to expand the legal rights of servicemen, CSM has regularly consulted with state bodies on the structural reorganization of the military and have contributed to the creation of new draft legislation governing the terms and conditions of military service. Their concerns include the range of medical services available to servicemen during their tour of duty, the need for more sanitary living conditions and the guarantee of adequate nutrition. Since its founding, CSM has advocated the right of students to postpone military service in order to pursue their academic studies uninterrupted. Other topics in their ongoing dialogue with state bodies include standardizing the method of appeals for service deferment and/or exemption and reducing the military to a smaller professional army.
The various local branches of CSM across Russia are active in staging public events such as rallies and marches to draw public attention to the conditions of military service. CSM has been extremely involved in raising public awareness of the conditions of service in conflict areas and has publicly called into question the legality of various military actions taken by the Russian Armed Forces. Recently, their efforts in these areas have focused on the conflict in Chechnya. A CSM research team has collected evidence of human rights abuses for presentation to the World Court on war crimes allegedly committed in Chechnya. CSM wants to see Russia charged on two counts -- death of civilians and cruelty to their own soldiers.
Special Projects:
March of Maternal Compassion and Protest Against the War in Chechnya
This protest march -- from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow to the Chechen capital of Grozny -- was organized by CSM with support from various international women's and human rights groups, including East-West Relations Committee and Quaker Peace Services. The march aimed to draw attention to the atrocities occurring in Chechnya, to provide humanitarian aid to the region, to research and report on casualties in the region and to search for those missing in action or disappeared. The march included over 300 participants as well as a host of international media reporters.
Marchers were initially refused the right to march by federal forces in the region, despite the fact that CSM had secured permission for the march with federal officials in Moscow. Local authorities were concerned about the safety of participants, citing the fact that the planned route of the march proceeded directly down the line of military engagement in Chechnya. 150 marchers were detained for five hours before being forcibly returned to Narzan, outside of Chechnya. Four Japanese Buddhist monks participating in the march were told by local officials that they could not legally participate because they were foreigners.
In addition to the march, CSM planned dozens of unsanctioned actions across Russia to protest the military actions in Chechnya. These actions included picketing the State Duma and leading an ongoing letter-writing campaign. During the first two months of the Chechen conflict alone, more than 110 appeals from Soldiers' Mothers groups had been received by the Presidential Administration. In response, the presidential staff prepared an overview of the concerns for the President, entitled "On Appeals from Soldiers' Mothers". The report is said to have noted that Soldiers' Mothers Committees carry great influence and prove very effective in controlling the public opinion about the Chechen conflict. Over 135 statements of parents of conscripts who have deserted their posts in Chechnya had also been received by the President.
Hotline for Information on the Chechen Conflict
On October 16, 1995, CSM opened this telephone hotline to enable family members to access the most up-to-date information on military casualties in Chechnya. According to Press Secretary Valentina Melnikova, the creation of such a line became necessary because of the "continual refusal of government organs to disclose or publish casualties lists of Russian soldiers and officers in Chechnya."
Barracks for Soldier-Fugitives
CSM, together with representatives from the Defense Department, have established barracks for soldiers who fled their service -- most for reasons of health or personal safety. Physical rehabilitation, legal counseling and employment services are provided at the barracks. Research is also conducted into the reasons for such high rates of desertion in the Russian military.
The barrack address is: Moscow, E-250, Krasnokursatsky pr., 1/5. Tel: 095-261-55-43.
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