Tag: Roginskij

“The authorities still do not understand what freedom of association means” http://www.rightsinrussia.info/archive/interviews-1/roginsky/memorial Rights in Russia: What is the International Memorial Society today? Arseny Roginsky: Today Memorial is a network of organisations operating in several countries. Most of our organisations are in Russia— 38 of them. There are about ten organizations in Ukraine, one each in Latvia and Kazakhstan and, further abroad, in Italy, Germany and France. Each organisation operates autonomously and independently; and all of them together form a community, which is called International Memorial. The management board of Memorial is more of a coordinating body than a directive body. Once every four years delegates from all the organisations gather at a conference, re-elect the management board and plan the main strategy for our work going forward. Moreover, in Russia there are some regions and even some towns and cities where there is not just one Memorial organisation but several. For example, in the Komi Republic we have several organisations. In Perm there are two organisations: a few years ago a separate organisation that works exclusively with young people split off from the Perm Memorial Society — Youth Memorial. In St. Petersburg we have three organisations that are involved in different areas of work: social (St. Petersburg Memorial), research and education (St. Petersburg Memorial Information Centre) and human rights (the Memorial Anti-Discrimination Centre), which focuses on issues related to discrimination against Roma. There is a similar picture in Moscow: Moscow Memorial carries out the main brunt of the work on cooperation with the Moscow authorities on issues related to preserving the memory of the Stalinist terror, the holding of public commemorative events, and social support for the victims of repression; the Human Rights Centre, whose main activity centres on working in areas of internal armed conflict within the Russian Federation, and now also defending the human rights of refugees and forced migrants; and the Memorial Research, Information and Educational Centre. RiR: How did all this come about? AR: Well it all started in 1987-1988, when action groups sprang up in several cities and launched a widespread publicity campaign; at that time the main aim was to keep alive the memory of the victims of political repression. Then in January 1989 we held our founding conference, at which we created the All-Union Memorial Society, since at that time the Soviet Union was still in existence. In 1990, after lengthy delays, the authorities registered us and we began operating as an officially recognised NGO. Then in 1991 separate organisations split off to work in different areas. That is when the Moscow Research Centre and Human Rights Centre came into being. Then when the Soviet Union collapsed, the ‘All-Union’ phrase in the title became meaningless and we re-registered as the Memorial International Society. Those organisations that exist today in Italy, Germany and France originated in recent years, originally as support groups for International Memorial. RiR: And what is the Russian Memorial Society? AR: Well I guess the simplest way of putting it would be to say it is a collection of Russian organisations which belong to the International Memorial Society. However, unfortunately it’s not that simple. Our community includes organisations that are registered with regional branches of the Ministry of Justice, and there are some who are not officially registered. But only registered organisations can belong to International Memorial, such is the requirement for an international organisation under Russian law. That at least is how it was explained to us in the 1990s. But there is no such requirement for a national organisation. So that is why the Russian Memorial Society contains both registered and unregistered Russian organisations. Registered organisations belong to both the Russian and the International Memorial societies, while unregistered organisations belong only to the Russian Memorial Society. You have to understand, this isn’t because we like to complicate matters, it’s simply because our Russian legislation is so convoluted. We have to try to adapt ourselves to fit in with it. RiR: How do unregistered organisations differ from those that are registered? AR: Registered organisations are “legal entities” and consequently can, and by law in fact are obliged to, have their own bank account, stamp and other attributes of a “legal entity.” In addition, they can own property, rent premises, etc. Unregistered organisations can do none of these things and as a result cannot pay their employees. So all their work is purely voluntary. And from a legal perspective they are nothing more than an informal group. Life for non-governmental organisations in Russia is pretty tough, especially legal entities. They have to continuously report to a huge number of inspection and monitoring authorities, who are frequently not very well disposed towards them. And many of our regional organisations have come to question why they would need this kind of headache. We’ll just be an informal group instead, they say. We won’t have to register. And if they’re already registered they simply don’t renew their registration. So they cease to be legal entities. But carry on their work. They are no longer members of International Memorial but they still belong to the Russian Memorial Society. In December 2010 the Russian Memorial Society consisted of 38 registered organisations (legal entities, who also belong to the International Memorial Society) and 27 unregistered ones. This balance is continually changing as the proportion of unregistered organisations increases. So what does that mean? Even purely voluntary organisations can do a lot. And they do. They are involved in giving advice to people, sometimes in homes, sometimes at places of in other offices. They write letters to local authorities about setting up a monument or publishing a commemorative book. They take part in ceremonies dedicated to the victims of political repression. There is a great deal they can do. But they are not legal entities. RiR: At the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 the Justice Ministry carried out an inspection of the Russian Memorial Society. What was the point of it? AR: Well, I guess… Continua a leggere Rights in Russia interviews Arseny Roginsky