President: Boris Pavlovich Pustintsev
Citizen Control was founded in 1992 in order to raise Russia’s legal standards and address critical issues of information control by the state in Russia. Boris Pustintsev, President of the group and founding member recalls, “The organization was formed by a group of people who were concerned about the absence of any system of control -- parliamentary or public -- over the security services, armed forces and criminal police.” The 12 founders consisted of two deputies of the Russian Parliament and other well-known people, including publicists, writers, reporters, scientists, human rights activists.
Initially, local authorities were dismayed by the proclaimed goals of the group and delayed the group’s official registration for four months. Initially, the group was wholly self-funded from donations of its founders. Cooperative programs and seminars held in St. Petersburg have been organized with help from the Russian-German Exchange. In 1995, the group received a grant from the European Union Phare/Tacis Program to fund an extensive program of seminars, two campaigns to lobby the Parliament for changes and improvements in the laws governing security services, and an extensive publishing program on human rights education. As for the group’s future, Pustintsev said, "The next thing we want to do is to lobby for a freedom of information act in the Russian Parliament. No Russian law, good or bad, will be observed by the Russian government until we break the government’s monopoly on information."
Special Projects:
Control and Accountability of Authorities in Post-communist Countries
Two international seminars held in March and September, 1993. ACLU, Center for National Security Status, and People for the American Way took part in these hearings.
The Right to Life in Chechnya
Two seminars held in May, 1994, which addressed gross violations of human rights in Chechnya. Testimonies were made by witnesses of human rights violations committed by the federal troops. Evidence and testimonies from the seminars was forwarded to the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations before they made their 1995 report on human rights in Russia.
Laws on Security Services in the Countries of the Former USSR
June 10-11, 1995. A seminar on the state of security services and their regulation around the former USSR, including extensive reports on the situations in Azerbaijan and Kazakstan.
On the Observance of the Status of Underage Delinquents During Investigation, Trial and Civil Sentencing
June, 1995. A seminar which examined the treatment of teenage delinquents by authorities with respect to Russian and international legal standards. Following the seminar, local government officials sent Citizen Control a letter stating their support for the seminar’s research and said that a report on the seminar findings had been circulated to six ministries about this problem and requests were made for explanations of what local authorities planned to do in this respect. Follow-up seminars on this topic are being planned.
The NIS Third Sector Organization section is based on information found in the print edition of "The Post-Soviet Handbook." For more information on the Handbook and instructions on how to order, see our
Post Soviet Handbook Information page.
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