The State of Civil Society in Today’s Russia

Moderator: Libor Dvořák

Guests: Yegor Gaidar, Ella Kasaeva, Pavel Chikov, Anna Sevortian, Sergey Lukashevskiy

 

 

 

According to former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, civil society does exist in Russia, but it “is not sufficiently developed.” This view was shared by all of the speakers present at the panel on civil society in Russia, co-organized by DEMAS, Association for Democracy Assistance and Human Rights from the Czech Republic.

 

In his introductory speech, Yegor Gaidar also spoke more generally about the current political situation in Russia under the “double leadership” of President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin, expressing his concern over the lack of clarity about who is “in charge in Russia.” At a time when the country is facing an economic crisis, stability is much needed. He also touched upon the issue of the American missile defense project in Poland and the Czech Republic, and commented on President Obama’s decision not to pursue it.

 

Pavel Chikov, lawyer and Chair of the Interregional Human Rights Association “AGORA” in Russia, drew attention to the deficiencies in the state of Russian civil society. Referring to civic organizations’ relationship with the state, he distinguished between the more “loyal” ones, which have better chances of engaging state institutions in dialogue, in particular through the Civic Chamber, and those less “loyal,” which are not invited to participate. Chikov also added: “There are certain areas where the activity of civic organizations is just dangerous.” Among these are neo-Nazism and fascism, and work related to the North Caucasus.

 

Confirming Pavel Chikov’s last point, Ella Kesaeva, Co-Chair of The Voice of Beslan, noted: “The Voice of Beslan is a huge taboo; our name shouldn’t be printed in any newspaper.” She explained how the region of the North Caucasus is strained by permanent violations of the constitution, suppression of human rights, as well as by the presence of Russian secret services. From Kesaeva’s point of view, civil society in Russia exists only formally. “Yes, we may establish non-governmental organizations, but these organizations are being persecuted.” Kesaeva gave an example of her own NGO whose aim it is to collect evidence of the responsibility of former President Vladimir Putin and the Russian security forces behind the tragedy following the Beslan school hostage-taking in 2004, with the hope of presenting it at a fair trial. So far, there have only been trials led by the Russian state against the Voice of Beslan: “We were even accused of extremism.” Their last hope remains with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, where the case is awaiting hearing. Kesaeva’s goal is also to make the court in Strasbourg consider cases of victims of terrorism in priority order.

 

In her response to Czech journalist Libor Dvořák’s question regarding the Russian society’s attitude towards the problems of the North Caucasus and minorities in general, Anna Sevortian, Deputy Director of the Center for the Development of Democracy and Human Rights, spoke about the role of the Russian media. According to research carried out by the Moscow-based SOVA Center for Research and Analysis, there is a trend among the media of creating “anti-heroes,” depending on the current “trends” in society – such as anti-Americanism or against ethnic minorities. The reasons behind this may be political or economical. Recently, extremism and hatred towards immigrants in Russia have been on the rise. The civil sector is gradually paying more attention to the problem, but public activists cannot solve it by themselves.

 

Pavel Lukashevskiy, Director of the Museum and Social Center of Andrey Sakharov, expressed his concern over the lack of public awareness among the Russian population. He partly blames the state for this: “It is not possible to have public awareness without freedom of speech and public discussion of the problems.” The Russian government is also engaged in anti-American propaganda, where state-controlled media also play their role.