Citizens' Watch

Citizens' Watch was formed in 1992 by a group of Duma deputies, lawyers, human rights activists and academics concerned about the lack of civic control over state agencies and acts. The group organizes seminars and conferences to draft amendments to Russian laws that do not adhere to international legal standards and lobbies these amendments in parliament.

CW also publishes material and holds public conferences to stop the spread of fascism in Russia, which it considers a real danger in Russian society today. In 1995, the group led a seminar with the Russian-German Exchange entitled Neo-Nazism As an International Phenomenon: Common Danger. Recently, CW has focused on the issue of the right to privacy�a relatively new concept in post-Soviet law and society. It has held seminars in St. Petersburg on this topic, such as Legal Models of Personal Data Processing (1996) and Free Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (1997). CW also publishes Russian translations of international human rights documents and Council of Europe documents for public use.

Since 1996, CW President Pustintsev has taken an active role in the public defense of Alexander Nikitin, the former Russian Navy officer charged with treason for his report on Russian nuclear hazards in the North Sea. As Chairman of the Public Committee in Defense of Alexander Nikitin, Pustintsev works with the Norwegian environmental group Bellona, Nikitin's former employer, to support Nikitin's defense.

Last updated:    February 1999

A print version of much of the information contained in this NIS Third Sector Organizations section can be found in the The Post-Soviet Handbook (Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1999).

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