Honored with sledgehammers

On March 25, the Independent Press Center (Prechistenka 17/9) will host a press conference “Call in 2010: the number of violations will increase.”

It will be attended by Sergei Krivenko, director of the Expert Group "Citizen. Army. Law", member of the Council under the President of the Russian Federation for promoting the development of civil society institutions and human rights; Tatyana Kuznetsova, Chairman of the Interregional Movement "Soldiers' Mothers", member of the Expert Council under the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation; Ella Polyakova, chairman of the ROPO "Soldiers' Mothers of St. Petersburg"; Irina Kizilova, human rights activist, journalist, author of the book “The Extra Soldier”; Anna Berdichevskaya, writer, editor-in-chief of the ArsisBooks publishing house.

The intention of the General Staff of the Russian Federation to stop the transition to a contract means a return to the conscription model of recruiting the Russian armed forces: in order to maintain the regular strength of the Armed Forces, instead of contract soldiers serving for three years, it is necessary to increase the number of conscripted military personnel.

But due to the deterioration of both the demographic situation and the health of the younger generation, it is not possible to fulfill the inflated plan for conscription within the framework of the law. This is evidenced by the experience of the 2009 conscription campaigns.

In 2010, human rights activists expect an increase in the number of gross violations during the implementation of the conscription plan.

At the press conference, reports will be presented on the results of monitoring cases of violations of citizens' rights during last year's conscription campaigns, which took place in 9 regions of Russia. The monitoring results showed that the increase in conscription plans has already had a very negative impact on the state of legality in the field of conscription and has led to serious consequences.

In addition, at the press conference there will be a ceremony to present the Anti-Prize “Golden Sledgehammer” on behalf of the community of human rights organizations to the head of the Main Organizational

Mobilization Directorate of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces Vasily Smirnov for failure to organize conscription for military service in the Russian Federation without violating the law.
Participants in the press conference will talk about the preparation of authorities for the spring conscription of 2010 (information from an extended meeting of the Moscow conscription commission); about illegal actions on the part of departments of the military registration and enlistment office, which began already in March 2010, that is, before the start of the conscription campaign; on the appeal of human rights organizations to the President of the Russian Federation about the inadmissibility of refusing to transfer the Russian Armed Forces to a contract basis within the established time frame; about the book "The Extra Soldier", dedicated to the problems of the Russian army.