The Ministry of Culture presented a program to combat extremism and xenophobia

On September 11, 2006, the Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications presented a program to combat extremism and xenophobia. Minister of Culture Alexander Sokolov, Deputy Head of the State Duma Committee on Legislation Pyotr Shelishch, Chairman of the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights Alexander Brod, State Duma Deputy Alexander Fedulov, Deputy Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Vsevolod Chaplin, member of the Public Chamber Kamilzhan Kalandarov and others took part in the development of the program.

The program includes a number of measures aimed at fostering tolerance among Russian citizens. These include courses for schoolchildren and civil servants, media monitoring to identify incitement to ethnic, religious hatred and incitement to violence, preventing persons “calling for violence” from airing and appearing on the pages of the print media, and even developing “amateur art activities based on folk traditions.” ". According to A. Sokolov's adviser Vladimir Semyonov, "it is necessary to show with a positive example what tolerance is . "

The programs are financed, despite the participation of the Ministry of Culture, from extrabudgetary sources - at the expense of the Moscow European Club and the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights.

This is not the first tolerance education program. Initiatives have already been presented by the Public Chamber, human rights activists, the Prosecutor General's Office proposed to amend the legislation to combat extremism.

Igor Yakovenko, Secretary General of the Union of Journalists and the Russian Anti-Fascist Front, believes that "the Ministry of Culture is simply working out a program that everyone is working out. Let them engage in amateur performances, as long as they don't show aggression . " President of the National Strategy Institute Stanislav Belkovsky said that "For the next step, the authorities chose an agency with the least aggressive image, with a human face, so as not to cause rejection in people. We started small, but soon they will begin to take tougher measures. "

Savina E. The Ministry of Culture will spread amateur activity against xenophobia // Kommersant. 2006. September 12.