Mobilization called for a report – Newspaper Kommersant No. 195 (7396) dated 10/20/2022

The Presidential Council for Human Rights (HRC) sent a report to the government analyzing the mobilization campaign. The speakers point to the urgent need to improve the mobilization legislation, the introduction of uniform payments for reservists and the possibility of canceling New Year holidays in the regions to provide soldiers with everything they need.

The report of the Human Rights Council “On the results of monitoring the implementation of the Presidential Decree on partial mobilization” should have been sent to the government a week ago. Plans have changed due to news about the mass delivery of subpoenas to citizens at the entrances and at metro stations in Moscow and St. Petersburg. As a result, human rights activists supplemented the report with the relevant paragraph. Commenting on the final document, the head of the Human Rights Council, Valery Fadeev, stressed that “all mobilization measures are targeted” and should be carried out “in relation to a single citizen”: “But in no case by means of “raids” in transport, at home and at work.” Each such case must be checked “for possible abuse of power” by the military registration and enlistment offices and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the report says.

Human rights activists remind about “giving citizens called up for military service by mobilization, the status of military personnel under the contract.” Benefits and social guarantees provided for contract soldiers, they continue to rely on and mobilized. Immediately, the HRC raises the question of alternative civilian service (ACS) for priests. With reference to the Constitutional Court, the HRC believes that church ministers should be granted the right to ACS “even in the absence of a special indication in the law on mobilization.”

In the paragraph on “information interaction between the authorities and the population,” the members of the HRC state the irresponsible attitude of a number of governors towards “ensuring conscription.” The lack of clarification on the procedure for mobilization, the total number of citizens called up, the sequence and criteria for calling up “contributed to increased tension in society.” The HRC notes that a week passed between the announcement of mobilization and the first clarifications of the authorities, during which time “the population of Russia was subjected to a massive information attack aimed at discrediting the mobilization campaign.” The result of the HRC, among other things, is the protests that took place in Russia at the end of September. Recall that the human rights project “OVD-Info” (included in the register of foreign agents) indicated that more than 1.3 thousand people were detained throughout the country in a few days of rallies.

This also includes such problems as the calls of fathers of many children, parents of disabled children and the lack of registration information about doctors in the military registration and enlistment offices. “There are inaccuracies in the criteria for granting a deferment from military service for mobilization in the law on mobilization,” the authors state. Human rights activists point to a discrepancy in the criteria for conscripting fathers with many children who have three or four children under the age of 16, and ask to change the law. This discrepancy was commented on Wednesday by State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. He said that he had discussed the issue with the Ministry of Defense and learned about the “cancellation of the decision to call for more than 9,500 fathers” who have three or more children.

The head of the HRC also reports that he asked the government and the Ministry of Defense for a delay for teachers and doctors from rural areas, but did not meet with support. The absence of medical examinations in the military registration and enlistment offices, the report says, led to the conscription of the unfit for service: “There is information about the deaths of persons called up for military service for mobilization due to deterioration in health during combat training.” The Human Rights Council demands “to initiate criminal proceedings in each case” and to provide for military medical commissions by law.

In about half of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, regional authorities have established additional benefits and social guarantees for the mobilized, remind human rights activists, pointing to the difference in approaches. Earlier, Kommersant reported that one-time payments to those mobilized in some regions could amount to 100 thousand rubles, in others – 300 thousand rubles. However, in some subjects there are no support measures at all, HRC members point out “discrimination against citizens”. It is necessary to “establish at the federal level a single amount for all types of cash payments” for those mobilized, the council believes. It should be noted that on October 19, Vladimir Putin announced the need to “establish allowances for the mobilized” in the amount of at least 195 thousand rubles.

The Council records “a large number of cases of evasion by credit institutions” from providing credit holidays, including to volunteers, and proposes to legislatively “eliminate loopholes for such practices.” Assistance in the purchase of medicines and personal equipment is provided by only a “small part” of the regions, a federal source of funding and compensation for previously purchased equipment is needed, the speakers are sure.

In conclusion, in addition to the conclusions about the need for legislative amendments that “clarify and expand the list of persons who have a deferment for conscription for military service for mobilization, as well as clarify the procedure for conscription”, the HRC suggests that the regions “take a balanced approach to the issue of planning solemn and celebratory events”: “It is unacceptable for the regions to refuse assistance to persons called up for military service for mobilization, citing a lack of funds, but at the same time keep holiday estimates unchanged.”

Maria Starikova