Russian soldier's mothers deplore abusive army.
A question from a Russian soldier's mother to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Moscow last week shone a spotlight on continuing problems of abuses and noncombat deaths in the Russian army, the slowness of military reform, and disappointment about a new law on alternative service. At a meeting arranged for Powell with representatives from Russian civil society groups at Spaso House on 27 January, Ida Kuklina of the Union of Committees of Soldiers' Mothers characterized Powell's relatively upbeat remarks about the Kremlin's reforms as "mistaken." "The army in Russia is the mutilated copy of the Soviet army," she was quoted as saying in a transcript released by the State Department. Her organization has been active for more than a decade in defending young men drafted into conditions that are often brutal and sometimes deadly even outside of combat zones.
Kuklina's solution, the remedy advocated by many groups seeking change, is to abolish involuntary conscription, and to work for a viable alternative service until that becomes possible. She cited as evidence of recent abuses the case of conscripts being transported in Magadan Oblast who were exposed to freezing conditions, one of whom died from the exposure. Chief Military Prosecutor Aleksandr Savenkov has opened an investigation into the affair, vesti.ru reported 20 January, and Major General Viktor Kozhushko, head of the Defense Ministry's department responsible for new recruits, is being charged and questioned. "This group has the responsibility of monitoring the transport of recruits around the clock," commented Savenkov. Three other officers are also being charged, and four others are being interrogated as suspects. Savenkov also said a total of 173 individual medical exams were made of those who fell ill and are being reviewed. The prominence of the story on the official news channel and the rapidity of the prosecution are indications that the Kremlin is aware of potentially serious popular backlash from the incident.
Powell indicated to the soldier's mother that he was familiar with the tragedy "where soldiers were exposed to very difficult conditions and one died," and said that he knew "the leadership here in Moscow was terribly shocked by that and I know that investigations are underway." He noted that he had encouraged "transformations" in his talks with Russian military leaders over the years, and discussed the advantages of a volunteer contract force as opposed to a conscripted army. In recent conversations with Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov, Powell said, they discussed a "shift from a conscript to at least partially a contract-volunteer force."
"I think additional pressure will be put on the system to treat soldiers with respect and to give them the best working and living conditions possible," noted Powell. The Soldiers' Mothers and other like-minded groups have been placing that pressure on authorities, with some success, and the fact that Ida Kuklina was first in line to ask a question to Powell was an indication of the visibility and respect the women's movement has gained over the years. They have been facing serious frustrations, most often just in getting information about their sons. Relatives of soldiers from Tula who became ill in Magadan, for example, said they still had no information about the recruits, Regnum news agency reported 29 January. Renat Abitov said his brother left for the service wearing warm boots and a hat, but his coat was too light because he had no idea he would be serving in Magadan, Regnum reported. His family thought he was stationed outside of Moscow and learned about his illness only from television news.
In 2003, some 1,200 soldiers and officers were killed in noncombat conditions in the Russian Army, Colonel General Chief Military Prosecutor Savenkov announced in September, "Trud" reported on 6 September. "More than a thousand lives of young men in military uniform have been lost in traffic accidents, 'games' with weapons, barracks hooliganism, suicides, and due to the disregard of elementary safety requirements in handling combat equipment," said "Trud." About the same number have been killed every year since 1999, although the Soldiers' Mothers have said that some deaths are not reported. While the figures have been reduced in recent years with more attention to the issue, the numbers are still far too high, and higher than other industrialized nations with standing armies. Some of the tragedies capture national and even international attention, such as the sinking of a decommissioned nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea, in which seven sailors drowned and two others who escaped from the vessel also perished. In this case one officer, Captain Sergei Zhemchuzhnov, has been targeted for prosecution because he headed the operation to tow the K-159 submarine to a disposal site. The flight director of two military helicopters in the Far East permitted to make a paired landing will also face trial, said "Trud," after the propellers became entangled and caused a crash, killing the crews. Another two senior submarine officers were killed in the Northern Fleet after they went out on the top deck of their submarine during a storm to repair equipment, although this is prohibited. They were washed overboard into icy waters and a rescue attempt failed.
The number of those who died in accidents of this type are not the only type of deaths. Citing the Military Prosecutor's Office, "Trud" says 2,500 people were reported as victims of hazing in 2003; of these 16 died, five being killed by their own commanders. The figures for the whole year were not yet available and were considered too low, says "Trud." In 2002, 800 soldiers and officers died at the hands of their fellow servicemen. In once incident, Lieutenant Colonel Aleksandr Baranenko sent eight subordinates to dig a trench for his dacha, and one soldier was buried alive when the walls caved in. "Trud" also cited the figure for suicides: about 300 per year, 70 percent of them first-year soldiers. Adding up these noncombat deaths, "Trud" concluded that Russia had lost more in the last years outside of war zones in Chechnya, Tajikistan, and Abkhazia than in the entire Afghan occupation.
The Soldiers' Mothers groups are among the largest and strongest civic movements in Russia. And there are indications that even parents who are not formally participating in this movement are willing to fight back and that even a recently more intimidated Russian press is willing to cover their struggles. A mother in Osinovo told "Vechernyaya Kazan" how military authorities continue to harass her in search of her son, who went AWOL after being forcibly drafted, hro.org reported 26 January. Irina Moshkovo blames inhumane treatment by the army for her runaway son. She tells how soldiers came to her apartment and knocked persistently on the door at 5 am on 18 December. They roused her draft-age son and said a bus was waiting outside to take him to the recruiting station. When she asked if she could take some time to collect some warm clothing and food for his journey she was told not to worry, that her son would undergo his medical exam and would return home soon. He never returned. On 19 December, she set out to Kazan to the central recruiting station in search of her son, and found other parents waiting outside in the cold for news of their children. Some had been waiting in vain for several days. Finally, an officer told her that her son had fled from the military. In the following days, draft board officials served her son notices at her home in the wee hours. She discovered that other young men in the town had also been drafted suddenly and were unable to prepare warm coats. Currently, Moshkovo is filing a complaint to the military prosecutor of the Kazan District and waiting for her son to reappear. Military representatives told "Vechernaya Kazan" that recruits were only taken forcibly from their homes if they failed to appear after their draft summonses. They believe that parents are hiding sons who have gone AWOL.
(Compiled by Catherine A. Fitzpatrick)
Feb.04, 2003
Soldiers' mothers to form own party
The Russian human rights organisation Union of Committees of Soldiers' Mothers has decided to transform into a political party, the head of the organisation Valentina Melnikova told Gazeta.Ru on Wednesday. The new party will protect the interests of conscript soldiers, women and children, she said. The documents necessary for forming a party were submitted to the Justice Ministry on January 27. The foundation congress is scheduled for March. //Gazeta.Ru//
Russian anti-war NGO to set up new pro-democracy party
MOSCOW (AFP) Feb 04, 2004
A leading Russian anti-war group, the Soldiers' Mothers Committee, announced Wednesday that it was setting up a new pro-democracy political party after the collapse of the liberal opposition.
"We have been thinking about this for several years but the political climate after (parliamentary elections in) December is such that we have no doubts about the need to create a political party," a top member of the organisation, Ida Kuklina said.
"No one is defending democratic values anymore after the crushing defeat" of the Union of Right Forces (SPS) and Yabloko, two liberal parties which lost all but a handful of their seats in the State Duma lower house of parliament, she told a press conference.
The pro-Kremlin United Russia party triumphed in the poll, winning more than two-thirds of seats which would enable the government to change the Russian constitution.
"Who can guarantee today that the constitution will not be changed and that we will still have a parliament?" said the committee's head Valentina Melnikova.
The Soldiers' Mothers Committee is a nationwide non-government organisation set up in 1989 by the mothers of Russian servicemen. It has campaigned strongly against the war in breakaway Chechnya launched in October 1999.
As a political party, it will defend the rights of Russian children and women, promote a progressive social and economic programme and will fight to ensure "the authorities respect their obligations towards citizens," Melnikova said.
As for the war in Chechnya, "we have denounced it from the start as a quagmire and we will continue to do so," as thousands of young people have been killed or injured there "which no one cares about," she added.
Moscow ready for "European representation" in Chechnya: Italian FM
04 February 2004
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Wednesday that Russian authorities were ready to have a "European representation" in war-torn Chechnya, now without any international representation, after he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"I was happy to hear that Russia is willing to welcome a European representation in Chechnya," Frattini said at a press conference with his Russian counterpart, Igor Ivanov, who made no comments.
The Italian minister said it had not yet been decided whether the European representation would be based in the Chechen capital Grozny or in neighboring Ingushetia.
He said the representation would guarantee "humanitarian assistance", saying there was a need to "see what's happening on the scene".
"I noticed, during discussions, a desire for transparency concerning respect for human rights," he added, though did not elaborate.
Russian troops, which poured into Chechnya in October 1999 to put down a separatist insurgency, have frequently been accused of human rights abuses.
The OSCE withdrew its personnel from Chechnya in December 2002.
Moscow has already proposed to allow it to return only with a limited humanitarian mandate, where the pan-European body has insisted it be allowed to exercise its principal human rights brief.
AFP