#9 - RW 266
Vedomosti
July 23, 2003
NO ALTERNATIVES
Experts say the law on alternative civilian service will not be popular
Author: Igor Fedyukhin
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]

ALTERNATIVE CIVILIAN SERVICE WILL COME INTO EFFECT FROM JANUARY 1, 2004, THANKS TO A DECREE SIGNED BY THE PRESIDENT. PEOPLE WHO DO NOT WANT TO TAKE UP ARMS WILL BE ABLE TO SERVE IN STATE-OWNED ORGANIZATIONS OR IN THE ARMY AS CIVILIAN PERSONNEL FOR THREE-AND-A- HALF YEARS.

Alternative civilian service will come into effect from January 1, 2004, thanks to a decree signed by the president. People who do not want to take up arms will be able to serve in state-owned organizations or in the Army as civilian personnel for three-and-a- half years. Experts think that only a few thousand conscripts a year will choose alternative service under such conditions. The law on alternative civilian service was signed by the president on July 25, 2002 and will come into effect from January 1, 2004. The duration of alternative service in federal and regional organizations or military units will amount to 175% of the duration of the compulsory military service. According to the law, the duration of military service is up to 42 months (21 months for people with a higher education). In addition, volunteers will have to do alternative civilian service on the basis of so-called extraterritorial principle (in other words, outside their home regions).

The law on alternative civilian service passed in 2002 could not come into force without the president's signature. Vladimir Putin signed the decree on July 21. According to the decree, federal and regional bodies which need "alternative servicemen" must submit applications to the Labor Ministry. Alexander Pochinok's ministry will summarize these applications, and the Defense Ministry will provide "alternative servicemen".

Alexander Barannikov, a member of Union of Right Forces, said: "Judging from official reports, 1,000 to 1,200 conscripts declare their intention to choose alternative civilian service every year. Surveys by the Labor Ministry show that 10,000 to 100,000 people would choose alternative service each year." A source in the Labor Ministry said that the ministry has already received 40,000 applications via federal and regional bodies.

However, experts are not sure that conditions set by the law and the decree will attract many volunteers. Valentina Melnikova from the Union of committees of mothers of soldiers, says: "According to the law, the place where volunteers must serve is to be determined by military registration and enlistment offices. This means that the majority of volunteers will be sent to military units as civilian personnel." Barannikov agrees with her: "According to the law, volunteers will have to serve in other regions. The question is where they will live. The Army is the only organization that can supply housing to volunteers, which means that the majority of volunteers will be sent to military units."

Yelena Vilenskaya from the St. Petersburg committee of mothers of soldiers, says: "Volunteers working in military units will probably become the most oppressed people. They will have to serve in unbearable conditions. In addition, the duration of their service is twice as long." Yelena Vilenskaya says "only a few people will agree to this penal servitude".

According to Melnikova, the number of volunteers who will be prepared to do alternative civilian service will not exceed 3,000 a year.

Alexei Arbatov, deputy secretary of the Duma defense committee (the Yabloko faction), says that in the beginning the number of volunteers will not exceed a few hundred a year. Arbatov: "The law is very conservative. The Defense Ministry has done its best to scare people away from alternative service. People who cannot do military service owing to their beliefs will seek ways to evade service."

Economists complain that the state will not be able to fill vacancies in the state sector, which needs labor resources, owing to flaws in the law. Sergei Guriyev, pro-rector of the Russian Economic School, says: "The mobility of the population is very low in Russia. This is why some regions suffer from unemployment, and other have many vacancies in the state sector. If the law was not as draconian, it would make it possible to solve this problem."

(Translated by Alexander Dubovoi)

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