16 August 2003, 15:29
London and Washington are worried about fate of Novorossiysk Fund "School of Peace"
We remind that the main department of justice of the Krasnodar territory tries to liquidate the Novorossiysk Fund "School of Peace" through court. The cause is that the organization has only one founding member, the other two left it in 1999-2000. The department of justice was notified about it, but at that time it did not object to the Fund's work. After the Krasnodar Territory Security Council had made an appropriate decision, a complex examination of the work of public organizations that posed "a threat" to the Krasnodar territory was conducted. In spring the department of justice made claims on the Creative Union "Southern Wave", and now - on the "School of Peace". The persecution of exactly these public organizations is connected with their active position on the advocacy of human rights, especially, of Turks-Meskhetians' rights.
Amnesty International in London has already expressed its concern upon the persecution of human rights activists in the Krasnodar territory and appealed to its followers to send fax massages to the Minister of Justice and to the Prosecutor General.
On August 14 Nickolai Butkevich's article "Giving Peace No Chance" was published in Transitions Online in Washington. The author analyses the policy of Krasnodar Territory Governor Alexander Tkachyov on the discrimination of minority groups and liquidation of public organizations. A high attention in the article is given to the pressure upon the "School of Peace". This article has aslo been published by the authoritative non-government organization Center for Defense Information, whose delivery was received by all experts on Russia in the US.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the governor with human rights activists, which was promised by the region's Vice Governor M. Akhedzhak in June, has never been held.
Author: Aramat Prutina, press-secretary of the Novorossiysk Committee on Human Rights Source: Novorossiysk City Committee on Human Rights
