I. Memorial Service for Victims of Repression Held at Lubyanka Square

On October 30 a group of former prisoners and relatives of victims of Soviet-era repression gathered at the Solovetskii stone on Lubyanka Square in Moscow. They had come to pay tribute to those who died for their beliefs and ideas. Each brought only one or two flowers to lay at the stone, but in an hour the monument was covered with carnations and roses. The day marked the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the "Great Terror" of 1937-1938.

The Solovetskii monument was established on October 30, 1990, in memory of the victims of totalitarianism. A monument to those executed under the Soviet regime was also proposed in 1990, but thus far, doesn't exist. And the people who come to pay their respects to those who died consider the lack of a separate monument to be a disgrace to the country.

The Day of Remembrance for victims of political repression appeared on Russian calendars in 1991, in honour of an event that occured on October 30, 1974 and received worldwide recognition. On that day, camp prisoners began a protest against the incarceration of people for their ideas and beliefs; consequently, the day is considered now to be one of the precursors of Russian democracy. However, practically no one gathered at Lubyanka Square was speaking of the democratic achievements in Russia; but rather, of the fact that again human rights are being encroached upon here. Gleb Yakunin stated, "The 'red belt' will again close around us unless in the next year or two their forces are breached." As an example, Yakunin pointed out that the Day of Remembrance services were organized without sufficient time alloted for attendees to speak publicly. Attendees also were perplexed by the absence of representatives from either the federal or Moscow city government.

II. "Healthy World" Opens First Office in Moscow

On October 29 the first Moscow-based office of "Healthy World," a new civic organization, opened on Varshavskii Avenue. The organization was originally created in St. Petersburg under the directorship of Professor P. Gorbenko and now the initative is also starting up in the capital. The primary goal of the movement is to bring together ecologists, journalists, educators, doctors, politicians and business people to promote healthier lives.

The organization's leaders intend to direct governmental attention to the environmental problems faced by those who live in large urban areas. Already "Healthy World" has enlisted the support of the Moscow city government, which will participate in the organization's official charter meeting on December 8 and 9. "Healthy World" offices will be opening in several different regions of Moscow.

The new organization plans to establish a charitable program to finance projects of all sorts in the area of "human ecology." The group also hopes to open an international center for education and information and to put out a periodical aimed at youth, on the issue of environmental protection in Russia's urban centers. Contact telephone: 291-1015

III. "Names" Charitable Foundation Launches New Project

The foundation's latest project involves a series of informational seminars aimed at a wide variety of people: those diagnosed as HIV-positive, the HIV-negative population, journalists, members of NGOs, and medical professionals. Different issues surrounding the AIDS crisis will be discussed at the seminars, such as alternative cures, illegal drug use and AIDS, women and AIDS, as well as sex education and AIDS. Nikolai Nedzel'skii, president of the "Names" Foundation, states, "Our main goal is to get the most accurate information possible about AIDS out to those who need or want it, to give them concrete answers to their questions. In that way, we hope to further awareness about the issue."

The meetings will occur once a month. Leading physicians, psychologists and social workers--experts in the various fields of AIDS prevention and treatment--will speak at the seminars. The first seminar, on the topic of the latest AIDS treatments, has already taken place. In the course of his presentation at the seminar, Aleksei Kravchenko, a specialist from the Center for the Fight Against AIDS, revealed that in Moscow 25 patients infected with AIDS have begun a free course of treatment thanks to help from the Moscow city government. The patients are receiving two new medications, Temazid and Kriksivan. The normal cost for these medications would be around $500 (US) per month. In the near future the number of AIDS patients receiving free treatments under the auspices of local government budgets will increase; lists of eligible patients are already being collected in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Krasnodar oblasts.

Kravchenko also informed his audience of the latest AIDS statistics in the Russian Federation: in October of 1997, 6150 cases of HIV-infection were reported; as compared to 2600 registered in January of the same year. Ninety percent of the cases registered in the past ten months were reportedly infected through intravenous drug use.

IV. Charitable Organizations Join Forces to Improve Children's Health

On October 23 the "Society of Charity and Social Defense," an interregional association, together with the Federal Fund for Social Support (FFSS) and the "Russian Family" Foundation put on an event at a children's sanitorium in the Podmoskovskii region, with the goal of helping disadvantaged children. More than 60 children (mainly orphans and neglected children) are currently at the sanitorium, pursuing a 40-day course of treatment and rest to help improve their health. The Federal Fund for Social Support has already provided 9 million rubles to pay for the cost of the children's stay at the sanitorium. The "Russian Family" Foundation organized a story-telling presentation for the children, as well as a program of games, while representatives from the "Society of Charity and Social Defense" prepared snacks. The groups also brought small presents for the children--purses for the girls, and backpacks for the boys.

In the opinion of Tatiana Makarova, director of the sanitorium, the such "holidays," along with laughter and happiness, are as helpful as medicine, vitamins, and treatments in improving the children's conditions.

Contact telephone: 220-0400 (Federal Fund for Social Support, Lidia Alabina)

V. St. Petersburg Construction Workers Help Rehabilitate Former Prisoners

Construction Workers Union No. 16 and the Center for Social, Psychological and Legal Research are working together on a program for the social rehabilitation of those in "crisis situations;" in this case, former prisoners. The program gives newly released prisoners the chance to learn a new profession, and provides them with room and board for a limited period of time. The program benefits businesses, too, by providing them with low-cost labour and the moral satisfaction that comes from charitable acts.

The program--a complex system of cooperation between the third and second sectors--was presented as a model at a recent seminar (October 25-26) held by the Center for Social, Psychological and Legal Research on the topic of "Strategies for Social Rehabilitation." Attendees at the seminar included Duma deputies, representatives from the St. Petersburg legislature, local government officials and representatives from various NGOs and businesses. They discussed the many issues connected with re-intergrating people into society, including the use of work programs and other strategies for rehabilitation, as well as the need for further trans-sector cooperation.

Contact telephone: (812) 251-3246 (Center for Social, Psychological and Legal Research)

VI. Environmental Groups in the Black Sea Basin Demand a National Plan

On October 31, representatives from the governments of Russia, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Georgia and Turkey signed the "Strategic Plan for the Rehabilitation and Protection of the Black Sea." Russia, however, has failed to implement a national plan for protection of the sea. Participants at the Third Russian Conference of Environmental Groups in the Black Sea Basin (which occured on October 27), signed an appeal addressed to the Russian Federation government, asking for the creation and implementation of a national strategic plan for the preservation of the Black Sea. Attendees at the conference also planned events for the upcoming International Day of the Black Sea, on October 31.

Contact Information: (8622) 92-9529 ("ECOS" Ecological Center in Sochi, Russian Federation)

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