From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 7/5/2006 4:22 AM
4.7.2006 18:24 MSK
"Civil 8-2006” to be held in Moscow
RUSSIA, Moscow. On July 3 – 4, in Moscow, non profit organizations (NPOs) will hold "Civil 8 -2006". Participants include human rights organizations such as the International Federation for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, Human Rights League, and Amnesty International.

On the eve of the meeting of leaders of eight leading countries in Saint Petersburg on July 15 - 17, the civic community of our country is under threat, according to Russian human rights activists, who gave a July 3rd press conference at the Independent Press Center.

The annual report "Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders” a joint program of the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) and the Universal Organization Against Torture (OMCT), states: "In 2005, the position of human rights activists in a number of the countries of the CIS has severely deteriorated, the independent civic community has frequently become a target of authoritarian state policies, and human rights activists have become objects of abuse campaigns and attacks".

In Russia and Belarus, legislation regulating the activity of non-governmental organizations has become especially severe. The right to association and the right to freedom of expression have been severely disrupted. In Belarus, legislation changed in parallel with the closing of many NPOs as a result of arbitrary judicial decisions. Russia created legislation against NPOs which entered into force in April 2006, putting serious limitations on the rights of these organizations regarding registration and activity. Russian human rights activists have been victims of murders or threats on their lives and the lives of those close to them, including legal prosecutions and abuse campaigns, noted the report. At the press conference, the President of the International Federation of Human Rights Sidiki Kaba reported that in conversation with the President of France, Jacques Chirac, he focused his attention on the absence of human rights issues on the G-8 agenda.

Chairman of the Russian society "Memorial”, Sergey Kovalev, emphasized that the Kremlin administration is working on establishing a police state. Attacks on the civic community are inevitable, because the democratic movement is becoming increasingly more vocal. There is no real opposition in the political elite of Russia, Kovalev noted. In his opinion, the participation of human rights activists in "Civil 8" is useful and necessary, although it will not produce immediate results. Sergey Kovalev noted that the G-8, the Council of Europe, and the United Nations are behaving cowardly toward Russia. Otherwise western countries would put conditions on Russia which it would have to satisfy before the encounter in Petersburg could take place, he emphasized.

Chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group Ludmila Alekseyeva assumes that over time we will see a change in the relation of authority to society, because civil society will become stronger. The director of "Public Verdict", Natalya Taubina, reported that the final documents produced by Civil 8 will be transmitted to the G-8 countries.

On July 11 - 12 in Moscow the "Other Russia", conference will take place where representatives of the civic community of Russia and the opposition will gather. One of those invited is the leader of the "Working Russia" movement, Victor Anpilov. A PRIMA -News correspondent asked Ludmila Alekseyeva, who will participate in the conference, how she feels about the participation of such a person. "Anpilov is a Stalinist, but we are not observing the birthday of Stalin", said Alekseyeva. “Representatives of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation will be there. We will discuss other themes. For example, not only the democratic opposition suffers from the falsification of elections. Now there is reason to collaborate with other elements of the opposition,” said the chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group. Alekseyeva noted that she sits on the Presidential Council, where talk–show host Vladimir Solovyev also sits, and whose views she does not share.

Translated by OM Kenney
PRIMA-News Agency [2006-07-03-Rus-18]
http://www.prima-news.ru/eng/news/news/2006/7/4/36472.html