"The Other Russia" discussed situation in Northern Caucasus

On July 11 and 12, 2006, the "Renaissance-Moscow" hotel hosted an All-Russian Conference "The Other Russia," convoked by the Action Committee of the All-Russian Civil Congress. The meeting comprised four sessions named as follows: "From the Russia of Bureaucrats - towards the Russia of Citizens," "From the Russia of Lawlessness - towards the Russia of Rule of Law," "From the Russia of Backwardness - towards the Russia of Prosperity" and "From Authoritarian Russia - towards Free Russia."

The Conference was attended by a broad number of Russian oppositional politicians, public figures, human rights activists, ecologists and representatives of various public organizations from almost all regions of Russia, including ex-premier Mikhail Kasyanov, leaders of the National Bolshevik Party (NBP) and "Trudovaya Rossiya" (Workers' Russia) Eduard Limonov and Viktor Anpilov, leader of the United Civil Front Garry Kasparov, former advisor of the president of the Russian Federation Andrei Illarionov, and the head of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alekseeva. At the fourth level of the "Renaissance," at the entrance to the hall, where "The Other Russia" was held, posters were exposed named "Freedom of Speech," "Northern Caucasus," "Contest of Regional Opposition Press" and others, with parallel texts in the English language. The poster "Northern Caucasus" contained eight photos made by V. Voronov and O. Eddy with the views of Chechnya of recent years: destroyed multi-storeyed blocks of flats, body remnants from a mass grave in Grozny. This and other posters were illustrated by publications of the Grani.Ru and "Kommersant" newspaper. The poster "Northern Caucasus" was prepared by the Internet media "Caucasian Knot."

The first day of the Conference was noted for excesses. During the speech of Anthony Brenton, the British Ambassador to Russia, a shouting young man broke into the hall. He spread leaflets and in coarse words offered the Ambassador to leave the event. It became known that the protest action was undertaken by an activist of the Eurasian Youth Union. In the conference break, another representative of this youth organization managed to fetch Mikhail Kasyanov a slap across the face. The security comprising NBP activists took revenge by beating the attacker, and then undertook a "zachistka" (clean-up) of the hall from disloyal journalists. Several correspondents representing "Pravda.Ru" and "Vedomosti" were deported. A lady journalist from "Vzglyad" (Viewpoint) was forced with her arms behind her back out of the building, - the "Polit.Ru" informs.

About 5 p.m. on July 11, another incident happened. In the foyer of the "Renaissance" hotel, the militiamen and members of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in private clothes detained four participants of the Conference - NBP activists - Elena Borovskaya, Alexei Makarov, Cyril Ananyev and Vladimir Sidorin. Garry Kasparov informed the audience from his seta in the presidium about detainment of the activists, and after that many of the conference delegates rushed outdoors, but it was already late - the detainees had been taken away in two passenger cars. The NBP informs in its web-site that they were brought to the Chief Investigation Department of Moscow's Interior. Later, Ananyev and Sidorin were released without drawing up any reports. Borovskaya and Makarov were accused of breaching Article 213, part 2, of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("hooliganism") on the fact of a scuffle at the Taganskiy Court on April 13 this year, when "national-bolsheviks managed to repel an attack on Eduard Limonov." On Thursday, the court should decide on their restraint.

On both days of "The Other Russia" Conference the building of the "Renaissance" hotel was picketed by the movement "Nashi" (Ours) named "The Other Russia Photo Session." On the pavement, under protection of about a dozen law-enforcement officers, some thirty young boys and girls were standing under six white flags with a red St. Andrew's cross. They installed posters with photographs of Lyudmila Alekseeva, Mikhail Kasyanov, Garry Kasparov, Eduard Limonov, Irina Khakamada, Georgy Satarov and disgraced Russian businessmen Vladimir Cusinskiy and Boris Berezovskiy. The photos were accompanied by discrediting quotes of the above persons, in the opinion of the organizers of the action. "Former Yeltsin's assistant in 1994-97. Under his active participation, oligarchic capitalism settled in Russia," the caption under G. Satarov's photo ran.

"From the very outset, the actions in Northern Caucasus have been called a counter-terrorist operation. This word combination had been used before the dwelling houses were exploded in the cities of Russia. For what purpose? In order to use the army round about the laws, the state of emergency and the martial law, and beyond the parliamentary control. Russia deliberately would not call the events in the region to be an armed conflict of non-international character to escape the use of humanitarian law in assessing the events. For the same reason Russia failed to observe the derogation procedure in international bodies allowing to restrict human rights within a certain territory. The law on fighting terrorism is clearly defining the place of holding a counter-terrorist operation: a building, a construction, or a vessel - something very local and short-term. Here, it has all continued for several years in the territory of thousands square kilometers, from 15 to 25 thousand people perished, and from 3 to 5 thousand more disappeared. This is a "caoutchouc" and a voluntarily broad interpretation of the law. A legal vacuum was deliberately created in the conflict zone. As a consequence, we have in place a system of organized impunity of representatives of state structures," Alexander Cherkasov, Board Member of the Human Rights Centre "Memorial," asserted from the tribune of the Conference.

"These conditions promoted to formation of a parallel system, in which people "disappeared" and were tortured; secret prisons were opened, extra-legal executions were practised, etc. This system is both criminal and low-efficient. The war in Chechnya could have ended back in 2000, if this system of "death squards" had not started. In the neighbouring Ingushetia the resistance started because of this very style of counter-terror, which was transferred there from Chechnya. The last year's events in Kabardino-Balkaria were the result of introduction by the law enforcement bodies of this very style of combating terrorism. There are complications for the whole of Russia. Firstly, representatives of power structures from other regions of the country are on service in Chechnya, where they are sent on their duty voyages. Secondly, the laws are changing: the suffrage has been restricted for all of us under the Beslan pretext; the journalists have been limited after the "Nord-Ost." Very few people know that a similar law enforcement practice is transferred to the whole of Russia: dozens of trumped-up cases on Islamic terrorism make the foundation of the future Nalchik anywhere, from Ulyanovsk to Siberia... In the Caucasus we watch a successful experiment conducted by the authorities allowing them to line up and get reorganized all over the country," Cherkasov thinks.

Mikhail Delyagin, a well-known economist and political scientist, who was excluded on July 10 from the "Rodina" (Homeland) party for his desire to take part in "The Other Russia" said that "terror and total negation of human rights are uniting the audience much stronger than local disagreements or past mistakes." He marked that Russia, in his opinion, experiences genocide of Russians, and not only the rights of minorities but also the rights of the majority of the population of the country need to be protected.

Garry Kasparov criticized the recently enacted law toughening the situation with NGOs. "We shall demand from the leaders of the western countries arriving to the "Great Eight" Summit to raise the issue on arrested people, the number of which grows with every hour." The fact is that many NGO representatives were detained, under various pretexts, by law enforcement bodies on their way to the Conference. "I hope we shall be able to find the words and create such public spirits, both in our country and abroad, in order to persuade the leaders of the western countries to raise the point on the arrested people and police voluntarism," Kasparov said after the incident with detainment of NBP activists who took part at the oppositional conference.

Ida Kuklina, one of the leaders of the Union of the Committees of Soldier's Mothers of Russia, told the audience about the problems of the Russian Army and her vision of tackling them. In her opinion, "today's army is the army of the day before yesterday's wars," and its poor efficiency is seen in the example of the ongoing guerrilla war in Chechnya. She called up everybody to join the struggle for cancellation of forced army drafting.

"In Chechnya, people disappear without traces. They are local citizens detained by representatives of the state at check-points, taken from home during special operations, etc. Sometimes their bodies are found with traces of terrible tortures. We, the activists present here and representing many human rights organizations, and the "Memorial" in particular, are compiling lists of people who have disappeared in this manner. They include now over three thousand persons, but most probably, about five thousand persons "have disappeared." Our opponents say: is it much? - In Moscow we have more disappearances. However, to assess the intensity of terror, we need to relate the number of these disappearing persons with the population of Chechnya. If we make this simple calculation, we shall see that the intensity of terror in the republic during the latest years is exceeding by far the "famous" terror of the Argentine military junta of the 1970s and approaches the intensity of terror in the USSR in 1937-38. In Chechnya, we have a massive state terror, although there is also terror committed by the militants," asserted Oleg Orlov, the leader of the Human Rights Centre "Memorial." So far till we have the regime of special service employees in power in the country, we shall not manage to cease terror in Northern Caucasus, therefore, the fight against this terror should be a part of a complex endeavours towards general democratisation of Russia.

"They are not bandits. They have not come to steal someone's wallet, or to rob a cashier or money collector. These people are putting forward particular political demands - yes, they are hostile to the Russian state, they are of ethno-nationalistic nature, related to Islamic extremism," in this way Sergey Markedonov, the head of the section of inter-ethnic relations of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, described the participants of the armed underground in Northern Caucasus. "Any terrorism is first of all the practice of political violence, not a criminal action. One should not hope that by using quasi-soviet PR methods and calling our opponents bandits and drunkards we can make them weaker. We need to understand the motives and the reasons, which drive people into the reality alternative to the Russian project." "If we do not change the social reality, the system of managing the outskirts of the Russian state, and of the Caucasus, first of all, if we leave the privatized power to local political establishment (nomenclature), then what we call terrorism today - the Wahhabite reality, - will remain the reality. I think that Russia should become a proper state. Its deprivatization process should start. The state should serve the Russian nation," Markedonov declared. The well-known political scientist expressed an opinion that the death of Basayev will not essentially affect the situation in Northern Caucasus. "Someone already gave an oath to take revenge for Basayev. While we are celebrating the victory, someone in the mountains has already decided "to make the life of Shamil," as we once wrote in school compositions." Among foreign guests of the Conference were the Ambassador of Britain to the Russian Federation Anthony Brenton, president of the National Endowment for Democracy Carl Hershman and programme manager John Squire, a foundation worker Frank Konatzer, a Bundestag deputy Andreas Schokenhof, representative of the Carnegie Foundation Michael Makfol, the head of the Russian representative office of the Boll Foundation Jens Ziegert, and over 30 other foreign guests. A total over 300 representatives of public organizations of Russia and several dozens journalists worked and took part during the two days of the Conference.