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29.09.2007 SOLIDARITY WITH ANTI-FASCISTS IN RUSSIA
It is not easy being an anti-fascist in Russia at the moment. We are under constant attack from racists and fascists and we receive little or no protection from the authorities. Several of our activists have been murdered in recent years and even when the attackers are caught they often walk free with suspended sentences.
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02.09.2007 My Belgium
An article about Maxim Efimov's first trip to Belgium.
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30.08.2007 TRANSITIONS ONLINE: Gangs: Vigilante Justice
Russian disdain for non-Slavs is misdirected. They ought to care more about a fair judicial system and good governance. ST. PETERSBURG, Russia | A man is a murderer when he cuts another man’s throat in a deliberate attack, right? But the question then arises: are the people that hold the victim’s feet, punch him, tie him up and prevent him from escaping also culpable in the crime? However obvious the answer may seem, regardless of forensic or legal expertise, a Russian court can often rule otherwise.
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24.08.2007 RUSSIA: ADVANCING IN THE WAR AGAINST CANCER, RETREATING ON DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE
The first Russian Forum on Health or Tobacco convened in Moscow May 28-29, 2007, under the auspices of the State Duma and in collaboration with a broad array of international organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Union Against Cancer (UICC)...Bending Swords In To Plowshares. Whither Democracy?
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13.08.2007 ACTIVISTS PRESENT MIXED ASSESSMENT OF PROTECTION AND PROMOTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN OSCE REGION
Nearly a hundred human rights advocates representing dozens of NGOs and national human rights institutions gathered in Vienna, July 12-13. for the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Protection and Promotion of Human Rights convened by the 56-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Discussions were organized around three main topics: the role of national courts in promoting and protecting human rights; the role of civil society in addressing human rights violations; and, the role of national human rights institutions in promoting and protecting human rights.
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25.07.2007 I hardly kept myself on the edge of insanity
The article written by Maxim Efimov about his trip to Madrid.
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23.07.2007 Chekism: Its Genesis and Evolution. Culture and devilry. Dull Septennium
Let’s sum up what we know about Chekism.
The abbreviation Cheka is the bastard of the October revolution. But the phenomenon I call Chekism has deeper historical roots – the Bolsheviks made a latent pathology an explicit one, gave it the status of a norm. I think Chekism is connected with nihilism, which had variously shown itself in Russian history. The blood-thirstiness of Ivan the Terrible – the sadism of serfdom – Leninist concentration camps: here one can trace a single line, through which thanatophilia – an unconscious though incredibly powerful will towards non-being – shows itself.
Seven years of a new millennium elapsed. There is a good reason to tally up the total. In the Apocalypse seven is a number of fullness. Deplorably, our septennium shows no specter, neither gamut, only a single gray and dim continuum. There are my seven disappointments.
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21.07.2007 Culture and the State
I believe in Orphic mission of the Art. Remember? By the power of his art Orpheus defeated chaos in the world and in human soul. Orphic spirit was imminent in Alexandria, famous for its Museion. It was there where people were taught to love and understand Beauty. Now I could give humanity a unique Polymuseion. It is the cause of my whole life. I imagine my dream come into reality and see a large building housing a complex of my five museums, auditorium for lectures and a library. I will say briefly of the structure of Polymuseion.
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30.06.2007 I felt a Jew with Messianic Complex
Maxim Efimov in Israel
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17.06.2007 THE ROLE OF INTERNET IN THE FORMATION OF A NON-TERRITORIAL ROMA NATION
Presentation of Valery Novoselsky for the seminar on “Roma and media” within the frames of International Khamoro Festival, 1-2 June 2007
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29.05.2007 America’s Mission
Russian North – and the United States of America: there is an implicit but very deep analogy between them. These territories were settled by people, driven by the spirit of freedom. Disciples of Sergius of Radonezh played a huge role in the settlement of Russian North. They wanted to make our country a mirror of Holy Trinity, to teach people how to live inseparably and unmixedly, how on one hand to feel oneself part of a unity, on the other – to respect a separate personality. The dialectics of these contraries is the core of the principle of “sobornost’” (conciliarism or “symphonism” in terms of Russian philosopher Leo Karsavin).
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15.05.2007 REMARKS BY THE HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS AT THE WORLD RUSSIAN FORUM
As Chairman of the Helsinki Commission and as a past President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, I have had the pleasure of visiting Russia on numerous occasions and meeting with fellow parliamentarians from the Duma – some of whom, I understand, are with us today. ...
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12.05.2007 Pro & contra
My favorite poet Fyodor Tyutchev dreamt of a Pan-Slavic Union. We are still infinitely far from living up to his dream. Brother Slavs don’t want to be friends with us. The Ukraine is going to enter NATO. How can it be? The city where Russia accepted baptism turns away from Moscow. Let alone Prague and Warsaw. The capitals of two Slavic states are ready to host the US ABM. We could rage at it as long as we want, but we should pass from powerless fury to a sober analysis. Why they don’t love us? Why they don’t trust us and want to be protected against us? It is very important to see the problem from their point of view.
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26.04.2007 On the Nature of Sincerity
We can speak of two forms of sincerity:
- one proceeds from foolishness, when a person lets out what should be kept in silence;
- the other results from honesty and frankness.In his TV program “Real Politics” (April, 24, 2007) Gleb Pavlovsky was absolutely sincere. That’s the resume of his eloquence: Yeltsin was revolution, Putin is counter-revolution. The alternative was framed using the evaluation marks: Yeltsin was bad, Putin is good.
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05.04.2007 Ystavallinen, cool venalainen
Venajalla ollessa aina silloin talloin tulee vastaan asioita, jotka suomalaiselle niin sanotusti pistavat silmaan. Koska en ole Venajalla ensimmaista, vaan noin kolmattatoista kertaa, en tormaa naihin uusiin piirteisiin enaa joka paiva.
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14.03.2007 REMARKS ON RUSSIA AND CENTRAL ASIA: THE GROWING POLICY CHALLENGES FOR THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AT JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
I would like to thank Freedom House for inviting me to speak at this important event. Freedom House has well earned its reputation as one of the foremost democracy-promoting organizations in the world. Moreover, Nations in Transit – whose 2007 edition this conference is launching – has become an indispensable source of information, measuring the advance of democratization around the globe. Thanks also to SAIS for co-hosting and my congratulations to you on the success of your Russia and Eurasian Studies Program.
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09.01.2007 How to bring up a citizen
In September, 2006, I visited the capital of Switzerland to take part in a training on civic consciousness supported by the Council of Europe and European Commission, which cooperate in the field of developing youth initiatives and informal junior education. Its work involves a huge number of organizations throughout Europe. Youth faces the same problems as adults, namely the realization of human rights values, civil activity, intercultural dialogue and cooperation, development of youth policies and respect towards cultural diversity. European civic consciousness means for me a commitment to the ideals and values of Europe, which were generated in the long history of European thought.
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22.11.2006 Citizenship is the characteristic of a European
I was really surprised to get an invitation to take part in the international training on citizenship. There were 80 candidates. But at last only 30 participants from 220 European countries got this chance. In September I enjoyed the Swiss sun, the Alps and the beautiful architecture of Bern. I was really in raptures with Bern and fully agree to the words of the British Queen, who compared it to the paradise.
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09.11.2006 Accepting Others, you Get the Whole World
There are not so many programmes on our TV, which we watch with pleasure. One of them is «Around the World».
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01.09.2006 Social violence and tolerance: reality and media images
Violence, extremism always were a part of the life of any society and any person, its external component. Violence is everywhere. Violence - is universal. Pedagogic, sex, commercials, family lives – all this includes violence. The analysis of the materials received during researches, lead by Independent Institute of Communication, shows the following: though the majority of Russians basically do not approve non-tolerate behavior and even negatively concern to the facts of unmotivated aggression, but at the same time almost 30% of our citizens do not see anything bad in this kind of behavior. Besides it is necessary to ascertain, that, not approving such behavior basically, many of our fellow citizens (from 33 % up to 42 %) often themselves make such non-tolerate acts.
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08.06.2006 Injections of Mind
An interview with Maxim Efimov, chairman of Karelian Branch of Youth Human Rights Group, editor of the Karelian anti-fascist bulletin “Hour Zero” (“Chas nol’”).
- I heard you called a Russophobe and blamed of hate towards your people…
- It’s a lie. I am anxious about my people, but I don’t want to share its mistakes. I don’t want people to lack civil rights. That’s why I try to change this situation and make my people see the light and stop being a slave. And if I call people slaves it is not because I hate them, but because I feel concerned about their lot and yearn to help them become free. It is a sober outlook without illusions.
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06.06.2006 The Remains of Stalinism Found Government and Justice in Modern Russia
March, 31, a civil action was launched by YHRG against the appalling and critical situation in Russian army. We advocated dismissal from office of the Minister of Defense Sergei Ivanov, abolition of universal military service and called for contract-based military forces. In Germany, for instance, with its strong democratic traditions, human rights and liberties stand in the first place, that’s why for the Germans any obligatory service – military or civil – means a rude intervention into the life of a person and its plans and therefore, a violation of human rights. In the new Russia we still face the Soviet inertia, when a citizen is treated like a serf. We had got the local administration’s consent for the action beforehand.
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01.06.2006 Political Creed of “Youth Human Rights Group”: Juvenocracy and Invocation of the Varangians
The second idea is the invocation of the Varangians. The country is agonizing. We need an influx of fresh blood, fresh resources. And as sometimes the Novgorodians invoked the Varangians, who acted in their interests, so we today call for the foreigners to rule our country and revive it. We are no xenophobes. We are really tolerant people and we go further than our Novgorodian ancestors, inviting not only Europeans to our land, but as well the Asians, the representatives of the Arab world. A Russian is globally sympathetic. Let’s prove that indeed! We are not able today to solve our problems ourselves: raise agriculture, building infrastructure, health protection and education. Let us trust and support those who has achieved brilliant results in these fields – our neighbors all over the planet from the developed countries of the world! They are already helping us today, unlike the aboriginal governors, following their own primitive and selfish ends, punishing any healthy initiative and silly scroungers businessmen who don’t give a damn about social policy.
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15.11.2005 The way we played in fascists
In September I was invited by the Karelian branch of Youth Human Rights Group to give a few lessons to the pupils of the 8th and 9th forms of Petrozavodsk schools. The themes of the lessons touched such problems as racism, xenophobia, fascism, modern neo-fascism organization, values of different cultures and tolerance.
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09.11.2005 LEARN TO LIVE IN THE TIME OF AIDS
Many people concider that AIDS will never concern them and their relatives. They think that VHI is a problem of foreign countres. There are many other problems in Russia besides it. Till 1996 in our country had only been documented about some hundreds cases of disease and nobody was especially worried about it.But in the last 3 or 4 years the infection has been spreading over the whole country extremely guickly.
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18.10.2005 Nazi skinheads in modern Russia
Skinheads made their appearance in Russia in early 90s. In 1992 there was about a dozen skinheads in Moscow. They were keeping a low profile, were mostly busy with self-admiration and showing off in downtown Moscow. Original skinheads have come from apery practiced by teenagers as they were trying hard to imitate Western ways. They first became aware of Western skinheads at the time of perestroyka: during 1989-1991 the Soviet media had a vogue to write about British, German and later –Czech skinheads.
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20.09.2005 In Russia 2 millions children are alcoholics, 56 thousand from them are younger than 14 years!
Alcohol has taken a strong niche in a modern Russian society. Each seventh Russian is the alcoholic. For a long time there was habitual for us a picture of the drunk 13-years teenager with a bottle of beer in a hand in streets of city. Everyone speaks about this problem, but nobody accepts concrete measures.Each third teenager in the age of 12 years drinks beer, and in the age of 13 years - two from every three. Vodka and wine drink up to third of young people. Mass consumption of beer teenagers and youth begin on the average in 12 years, wine - in 15 years, vodka - in 16 years. Motives of the use of alcohol in this group basically were similar - " pleasant spending of time ", " being as all ", " feeling themselves the adult ", " desire to relax, or taking off a pressure".
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19.09.2005 My family as many others in Russia has come to know the dread of war & totalitarianism!
An Interview with Maxim Efimov, Head of the Youth Anti-fascist center, Chair of the Karelian regional department of Interregional youth social & charity organization “Youth Human Rights Group” (YHRG), editor of the anti-fascist bulletin “Zero o’clock”.
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11.08.2005 Is Russia for Russians?
Judging by the sociological surveys being made this nationalistic slogan is bothering more than a half of the country. There is nothing to be surprised with: it always has been common knowledge that people are trying to blame somebody else in their troubles. But what is the actual state of affairs? How much Russians are to be blamed in their troubles? It’s not a pleasure to think about it. On my point of view, nationalism is a hate that is trying to justify itself. But hate could never be justified; it never gets an ethic sanction to exist.
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15.06.2005 Neonazism, Xenophobia, Anti-Semitism in Karelia
Swastika, Nazi and xenophobic graffiti and leaflet on dwelling houses, graveyards, garages, fences, doorways and the other places of our town, that humiliate national dignity and are aimed at stimulating national, racial, religious hostility and hatred, had been usual things for a long time. People, passing by the attribute of the regime, that killed million of people, looked indifferently. Government also did not want to note the symptoms of aggravated social illness of the country that won the Nazi German many years ago! Only small groups of young enthusiasts fought with the manifestations of xenophobia in Petrozavodsk by colors and brushes.
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27.05.2005 “We shrug off laws which interdict our culture!”
Within the limits of project organized by Karelian department of “Youth Human Rights Group” and financed by “Memory and the Future” fund (Germany) professor of university of the Ministry of internal affairs in Saint-Petersburg M.M. Rodionov has visited Petrozavodsk. He has showed a magazine which was withdrawn from underground circulation by police. This “work” had been produced by Saint-Petersburg’s skinheads’ organization called loudly “Schultz 88”.
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21.05.2005 “Tolerance”, but in russian it is friendliness and understanding
There was a conversation with the reader of the chair of philosophy in Pertrozavodsk’s state university, whose name is V.A.Phillipova. She appears as a teacher in a project “The establishment of democratic and enlightener work and work with the youth of Karelia”.The project is supported by the german fund “ Memory and the future”.
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20.05.2005 "Skinheads” shoot
The wave of neo-Nazi massacres,that increases across all Russia recently, seems to have come to silent Petrozavodsk where “skinheads” are known only by hearsay. Hearings about mass slaughters ,that some short-haired young people in sports suits with stripes of the neo-Nazi contents arrange in night streets, have spread throughout city.
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11.05.2005 Employment rights protection
In my opinion protection of the youth employment rights is nowadays one of the most topical problems, if not actually the most topical one. Indeed, the first thing a University graduate faces is the clash between his expectations and reality. It is not just the matter of revaluating one’s abilities and skills, but also of the fact that the state is uninterested in the graduate’s further career and is reluctant, therefore, to protect him socially. The attempts are made, of course, to change the situation.
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07.05.2005 BATTLE CLUB
Small, but dangerous "slight war" goes at full speed in Petrozavodsk. "Informal" groups of youth have gathered together continuously many years behind a state university. Guys do not do anything particularly illegal. Admirers of "punk - rock", "alternative" and other tendecies of music simply communicate, "socialize" with each other.
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01.05.2005 Skinheads in contemporary Russia
Skinheads are participants of the radical nationalist youth movement adhering to the “white power” ideology – the ideology of “white fight” against the “aliens”. They consider themselves “soldiers of the Third World War in which the white race shall win or perish. Skinheads are fighting against “occupants” they believe all non-Aryans –Africans, Asians, natives of the Caucasus and the North – to be. Their goal is to drive all non-Russians away from Russia. At that their main rule is “The enemy does not have age, nor gender”. That is how they justify their attacks against women and children of “wrong” nationalities.
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30.04.2005 THE HERO OF OUR TIME?
It would be quite possible to relate this story to the category of usual, household crimes, if there was not one essential circumstance. Those who has insulted and have not apologized, they were the Azerbaijanians, and those who were likely protecting the trambled honour of comrade, were Russian. In this connection the history began to get completely wild colouring. It has quickly acquired with hearings. And we already hear about one hundred of the Azerbaijanians who have attacked three courageous Russian guys which have not become puzzled and have finally repulsed the “ungirdled Caucasians”.
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23.04.2005 I HOPE
An interview with Efimov Maxim, chief of the Karelian Regional Department of Interregional Youth Public Charitable Organization “Youth Human Rights Group (YHRG)”.
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22.04.2005 Mass-media: the fourth authority or the fifth column?
It’s hardly wanted to protest against and argue about caught stamp of contemporary clip-time, only receiving video track and also about the fact of objective reality according to which we all live exceptionally in the media world. We protest against the common thought that, if some event is not broadcasted on TV, it doesn’t exist in real life. Nonetheless, everyday we see and hear the second reality edited by an unknown author.
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21.04.2005 Be not silent, when the rights are broken!
On December, 10th, in the international day of human rights, in Petrozavodsk the first took place a remedial march. A route passed from main case of Petrozavodsk State University up to a building of government RK. The organizer was the Karelian regional branch "Youth Human Rights Group (YHRG)". The purpose of the action was to pay attention of a society to infringement of human rights, to call all for civil activity. The chosen motto isn’t accidental too: "Be not silent, when the rights are broken! " It was not sham, but display of real democracy and will of citizens.
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20.04.2005 A Nation Extermination
It was in the Middle Ages that the Church pinned the blame for the crucifixion of Jesus on the Jews though the execution was administered by the Romans. This nation has been persecuted since then. The Nazi ideology stated in Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” of the superiority of the pure “Arian” race over the others started to act violently long before the II World War, in 1933 right after Hitler taking power. The Jews were withdrawn from civil service, from participating in cultural life, they were banned to marry people of German origin. Jewish children were prohibited to attend German schools.
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19.04.2005 ANTI-SEMITISM IN KARELIA
Most of Jews usually try to do fine for thremselves what anti-Semitism is, just some hatred of them or something else, lying deeper. When do they ask such a poser? When they openly face some signs of it.There are quite many Jews in Karelia, especially in such centres as Petrozavodsk and Kondopoga. So there is a certain basis for anti-Semitism.
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18.04.2005 An American View of Russia
For most of my life, I never had any interest in the country of Russia, its people, language or culture. Like every other American attending school in the 1960's, I was taught that Russia was our enemy, to be feared, condemned, and avoided. Imagine my surprise when, in 1993, I became immersed in a project to aid the Russian people in the Republic of Chuvashia. I was happy to help with this project, having been in contact with a Russian pastor for about 2 years previously, and being told of the difficult circumstances of their lives. I was moved by compassion. But to actually travel into Russia was beyond my level of comfort.
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17.04.2005 “I Feel Sympathy for the American Nation!”
The ex-prisoners with the profoundest gratitude recall the day when they were liberated by the American troops. “I feel the most deep sympathy for all of the American nation, because this nation set us free from the terrible conditions of the death camp”, says ex-prisoner Zinaida Vladimirovna.
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16.04.2005 Shall Russia Stay Barracks?
Russia's Government and Defense Ministry have been recently drafting a bill to be introduced to the State Duma, repealing many social delays of military service and all those for students of higher and professional education. This bill implies that ALL students, young people having children or senior relatives are liable for military duty as well as people who have other grounds for delays.
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15.04.2005 The free person
Morning in San-Francisco.There are few people in the street. I was having a short walk through the streets running up...Suddenly a strange guy showed up in front of me. His exotic appearance struck me...
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