#6
Kommersant
December 4, 2001
DEMOCRATS AND THE STATE: 90% IN AGREEMENT ON COURT
REFORMS
Democrats and civil rights groups gather for a conference
Author: Dmitry Kamyshev
THE SECOND MEETING OF THE RUSSIAN DEMOCRATIC CONFERENCE, ESTABLISHED IN JUNE AT THE INITIATIVE OF YABLOKO, TOOK PLACE IN MOSCOW YESTERDAY. THE MEETING WAS CENTERED AROUND THE COURT REFORMS, BUT DELEGATES ALSO DISCUSSED FREE SPEECH AND TV-6, RUSSIA'S LAST INDEPENDENT TELEVISION NETWORK.
In June, all delegates to the Russian Democratic Conference wanted to know whether the Union of Right Forces was going to consolidate all democratic organizations in Russia. The URF ducked the question. The decision was made to make the Russian Democratic Conference a permanent body.
This time, journalists closely watched human rights activists split over the Civil Forum that had taken place on November 21 and 22. Some human rights activists objected to the idea of participation in a forum organized by the government. Valeria Novodvorskaya even accused Sergei Kovalev, and others who chose to attend the function, of betrayal.
The meeting was attended by representatives of all 22 organizations comprising the Russian Democratic Conference, including Novodvorskaya and Kovalev. It made its decisions behind closed doors, and the decisions must have been a compromise between advocates and opponents of interaction with the government.
The government was represented at the meeting by Dmitry Kozak of the presidential administration. He was invited for the discussion of the court reforms. After the meeting, Kozak told journalists that democrats' views on the subject were 90% the same as those of the government.
These common views were formulated in two documents adopted at the meeting. The first document acknowledges that "much has been done over the last decade" and that "the first steps toward creating a civilized court system have been made." It then proceeds to paint a horrible picture of "legal nihilism" with the whole spectrum of sins from corruption to torture. In the second document, the democrats present their proposals on the reforms. Among other things, they insist that the law should not even mention the death penalty; and that all detention cells of the Federal Security Service should be turned over to the Justice Ministry.
Free speech was discussed as well, and a special resolution in defense of the TV-6 network was adopted.
The next meeting, scheduled for January, will focus on freedom of speech in Russia.
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