A Russian Diary (38 page)

A very detailed, comprehensive, and rational set of proposals passed by the meeting was published in the local newspaper,
Sovetsky Sakhalin,
but there was no follow-up, despite the fact that the resolution is an elegant and realistic plan of action proposed to the state authorities. Our people can live in the remotest regions and yet can think in a statesmanlike way that one only wishes those in the Kremlin could emulate. Yet again the authorities stonewalled.

We know what we need but lack the tenacity to fight for it. We give up almost immediately. Life passes by while we wait for our aspirations to be bestowed on us from above, as in 1991 when a coup within the elite was latterly supported by the people. But the elite has learned from the experience of 1991 and has no wish to get involved in any more coups. They prefer to come to agreement quietly in offices, and their agreements are not in the interests of the people.

March 26

In the Chechen village of Samashki, at five in the morning, masked soldiers speaking Russian abducted Ibrahim Shishkhanov, twenty-one. He was taken away in his socks, not even allowed to put his shoes on. They told him, “Where you are going you won't be needing shoes.” The abduction was carried out by about twenty people, who drove up in four cars without number plates.

*

Twenty-four hours later the family discovered what was going on at Achkhoy-Martan militia station. Ibrahim had been kidnapped under the scheme to take “counter-hostages,” which the procurator general of Russia had deemed an acceptable measure in the aftermath of Beslan. The
Shishkhanovs were ordered to surrender their relative, Said-Khasan Mu-sostov, a member of the resistance and cousin of Ibrahim.

He did not surrender, and nothing more is known about the fate of Ibrahim.

*

Today, Saturday, is a day of protest meetings. There is a picket in Khabarovsk demanding “independence of the courts in the Khabarovsk region.” The protesters had suffered from “dependent” courts, and decided to send an open letter to Putin:

Our experience over many years shows that judges in the Khabarovsk region do not protect the rights of citizens in their judgments, as required by the Constitution, but rather the interests of bureaucrats. Many court decisions accord neither with the law, common sense, nor elementary logic.

Judges are grossly and cynically violating citizens’ fundamental rights to a hearing, without which there can be no talk of observing and protecting other rights. Journalists are excluded from open court sessions, records of hearings are falsified, as is evidence: court verdicts “to order” have become the norm in the Khabarovsk region. No written judgment is provided, unfavorable evidence is ignored. Argumentation that refutes a court's verdicts and rulings disappears from the files of the case;

Appeals to the Collegium of Qualification of Judges regarding violation of legal rights are sent back for consideration to the same courts and are reviewed by the individuals responsible for the original violations;

Complaints about illegal behavior by judges of the Collegium of Qualification of Judges are not accepted for examination by the courts;

Establishing the public accountability of judges as required by the law “On the Institutions of the Legal Profession” has become a farce in Khabarovsk. Six of the seven representatives of the public in the Collegium of Qualification of Judges are appointed by the authorities or judicial institutions.

There was no reaction to this. President Putin did not demand the resignation (as only he has the right to) of either the chairman of the Khabarovsk regional court, Mr. Vdovenkov, or of his deputy, Mr. Voloshin, as the main culprits of the extraordinary state of justice.

In Ufa, the capital of Bashkiria, between 5,000 and 10,000 people attend a protest meeting in Lenin Square. They have come from fourteen cities in the republic to demand the resignation of President Rakhimov. The slogans are: “Fire Murtaza Rakhimov!,” “No to nepotism in the government.” The enterprises of Bashkiria's fuel and energy complex are controlled by Murtaza's son, Ural Rakhimov.

They demand that the shares in Bashkiria's oil companies be returned to state ownership, and compensation for moral and material loss of the inhabitants of Blagoveshchensk who suffered the brutal “cleansing” of the city by the militia and its special operations units in December. The organizers are a coordinating committee of the United Opposition, which includes the local branches of the Communist Party, Yabloko, People's Will, the Russian Pensioners’ Party, the Foundation for the Development of Local Government, the Union of Tatar Associations, and the Rus Society.

The meeting passed a resolution demanding repeal of the law on monetarization of benefits; and the resignation of President Rakhimov; of the chief federal inspector of Bashkiria, of the minister of the interior of the republic, Rafail Divaev, who stated that the militia's “cleansing” operation in Blagoveshchensk had been justified; and of other top officials.

Having stood in Lenin Square for an hour, the huge crowd marched six miles to the offices of Rakhimov's administration, but were prevented from approaching the building by a barricade of buses and a cordon of many thousands comprising, apparently, the entire militia of Bashkiria. Rakhimov did not come out. Instead they were met by the director of his administration, Radii Khabirov, and the secretary of the Security Council of Bashkiria, Alexander Shabrin, who were presented with the resolution, and the people dispersed.

In Moscow, Committee 2008 once more attempts to create a united democratic party and fails. Kasparov proposes inviting to Moscow regional representatives of the opposition and letting them decide who
should head the list of democratic candidates. The Moscow leaders are afraid of bringing the provincial opposition together, because they will then quite certainly not head the list. Stalemate.

In Pskov, 300 people gather in Lenin Square to protest about the new Residential Accommodation Code. The meeting was called by the Pskov Communists together with the local branch of Yabloko and the trade unions. None of the local television stations would agree to cover the meeting, which declared criminal the idea behind the new residential code, effective from March 1: “In recent decades the state has failed in its obligation to repair and modernize residential properties, but has instead very effectively directed national resources into creating a class of property owners from among the ranks of those in power.”

They demand that:

the Residential Accommodation Code should be suspended until the level of pensions and wages in the region is sufficient to meet the market cost of what is provided by the Communal Residential Services Office, and also the cost of health, education, culture, transport, communications, food, and other essentials; there should be full transparency in the fixing of prices and tariffs for services provided by the Communal Residential Services Office; those who devised the deplorable Residential Accommodation Code, namely the government of Russia, should be fired; the state Duma should be dissolved for failing to represent the interests of the people, packed as it is with functionaries of the United Russia Party and Liberal Democratic Party of Russia who voted for adoption of the Residential Accommodation Code; full responsibility for the increase in social tensions within society should be laid on President Putin.

March 27

Today, Sunday, is a day of regional referendums.

In Saratov there is a referendum about how the mayor should be elected. Just over 7 percent of the people of Saratov turn out to vote. They
don't appear to care whether they elect him directly or have him nominated by the Kremlin-appointed governor. The Popular Front of Saratov Province, a regional association of all the opposition parties, refused to take part.

In Bashkiria a referendum has been called by the Society for Local Government Reform, on the grounds that the new system of appointing civic and regional leaders in the republic contravenes the European Charter on Local Government, ratified by Russia in 1998.

Here too the turnout was very low, although the issue affects every citizen. The root of all this apathy is a firm belief that elections are rigged and will continue to be rigged, so why bother to vote? In any event, 90 percent of those who did turn out voted in favor of direct election of mayors.

Moscow is becoming the least politically active of cities. If there is to be a revolution, it will come from the provinces.

Yabloko's demonstration in Moscow next to Government House, protesting against the reform of the Communal Residential Services Office, managed to assemble only 200 demonstrators. The government is insisting that all regions make these services fully self-financing by the end of 2005, and in a country with as many poor people as ours, this will be beyond the means of most. Yabloko's view is that the government has no right to encourage a further raising of prices; it should be cracking down on the monopolistic mentality of these offices, encouraging those who own accommodations to set up cooperatives, and should encourage small businesses to offer competing services. By putting up prices, the government is proposing to raise one trillion rubles [$36 billion] and to invest the money raised in the current rotten system of residential services provision.

Yabloko's proposals are very sensible, but the low turnout tells you how seriously people take the party. The leaders are seeking not the support of the people, but rather seats in the Duma by negotiating with the presidential administration.

March 28

In Ingushetia attempts to demand the resignation of President Murat Zyazikov have been thwarted. Bearing in mind the way events developed in Kirghizia, the organizers evidently thought that where there is thieving, you can expect a revolution. Everyone is wondering whether Russia can follow Kirghizia.

The authorities suppressed the meeting before it began. The Memorial to the Victims of Political Repression on the outskirts of Nazran was cordoned off at a great distance by armored vehicles, soldiers, and militia. Boris Arsamakov, the leader of Akhki-Yurt, which organized the demonstration, was detained until the day was over. On the eve of the protest President Zyazikov left Ingushetia just in case—he is never around when he smells trouble brewing—and returned only when everything had calmed down.

Although the meeting was not allowed to assemble, the crowd did not resort to violence. When Arsamakov was arrested, protesters wanted to storm the militia headquarters, but were restrained by Musa Ozdoev, a deputy of the People's Assembly and prominent representative of the In-gushetian opposition. He went into the building to negotiate Arsamakov's release, then called on those outside to adopt a resolution demanding President Zyazikov's immediate resignation and added, “Since the authorities have shown their cowardice by bringing such numbers of troops into the republic, we should disperse for today and wait to see whether they implement our resolution.”

This calmed the mood. Murat Oziev, the highly respected editor in chief of
Angusht,
the only opposition newspaper in the republic (banned by Zyazikov), also asked the crowd not to take direct action. Two pro-Zyazikov deputies said they had come to negotiate with the opposition and to consult Zyazikov about the issue of his resignation. They asked the crowd to disperse.

What was behind this behavior by the authorities? In a nutshell, panic that the Kirghiz scenario was being repeated. Ingushetia is poor, while its
officials are rich and getting richer by the day by plundering the state budget. The following is taken from an official audit looking into misappropriation of budgetary funds and carried out by the Central Directorate of the Interior Ministry of the Southern Federal District:

Total losses from misappropriation of federal budget resources amounted to 3.9 million rubles [$141,000], of which 2.8 million rubles was misappropriated in 2003, and 1.1 million rubles in the first half of 2004. During 2003 and the first half of 2004 financial irregularities have been discovered totaling 181.4 million rubles [$6.7 million]. Of this total, those involving resources of the federal budget amount to 72.5 million rubles [$2.6 million], or 40 percent.

Tiny Ingushetia is even smaller than its neighbor Chechnya, yet in the year and a half of Zyazikov's rule, millions have been filched. Where did these millions come from?

Ingushetia has a number of major problems. The first is refugees: the federal government provides aid for them, and for building new houses for those who lost their homes in floods in 2002. The second problem is the Malgobek oilfield, the principal source of wealth in the republic: all the big local officials are constantly jockeying for control of this, and endless corruption surrounds it. Finally, there is agriculture, since the republic is primarily agricultural.

The audit continues:

Without making the necessary budgetary provision, the government of the republic illegally granted a budgetary credit to the company Ingushneftegazprom of 30 million rubles [$1.1 million]. Without making the necessary legislative changes, the amount allocated for subsidizing residential accommodation was decreased by the same amount.

The Ingushneftegazprom oil and gas company is the republic's most important enterprise and financially underpins the authorities. Unfortunately,
under Zyazikov, having an oil company is proving expensive for the people living in Ingushetia. There is an acute housing crisis, partly owing to the thousands of refugees, so cutting residential subsidies and handing the money over to the oil company is the most outrageous act one can imagine, but that is what happened.

In 2003 Ingushneftegazprom was allocated a loan of 27 million rubles [$981,000] in order to implement a program of stabilization and development of the oil complex. Only 10.5 million rubles [$381,000] was repaid on time. On the balance the period of repayment was extended. According to the statistics provided, the extraction of oil is declining year by year. It has been discovered, however, that since 2002 Ingushneftegazprom has been extracting oil without a license and concealing from audit the true quantity obtained …