Human rights activists: social protection agencies in Volgograd region violate the rights of relatives of soldiers killed in the army

"It seems that we are protecting the population of Volgograd region from social protection agencies and military commissariats," stated Victoria Podkhvatilova, lawyer of "Mother's Rights" human rights organization for servicemen's parents in Volgograd region, in an interview with "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The conflict started around the certificates giving the right to privileges, issued under Art. 21, it.3, of the FL "On Veterans", to family members of soldiers killed during their service in the army.

In 2002, the new version of the federal law divided the servicemen who died during military service into those who died "in the line of military duty" and those who died "not in the line of military duty." The cause of death started to have an impact on the amount of pension.

"In the documents issued to the parents of diseased servicemen before 2002 the commanders of military units often failed to indicate the exact cause of death ("the old" law did not require this). As a result, social protection agencies, acting on behalf of the state, began sifting those claiming privileges in a most cynical and impudent way," said Nina Anatolievna Ponomareva, chairperson of "Mother's Rights" human rights organization for servicemen's parents in Volgograd region, to our correspondent.

According to Victoria Podkhvatilova, the military commissariats and social protection agencies ought to perform the work which "Mother's Rights" does free of charge and without any support from the state. A human rights organization is not able to assist everyone in need: "It seems that people are simply left to themselves."

"In effect, these agencies take the side of the state which simply does not need the family members of diseased soldiers, said Victoria Alexandrovna, the military commissariats are obliged to help people collect the required documents and protect their interests. They fail to do it. The social protection agencies interpret the law in courts in favor of the state, which often is an indirect cause of their children's death, rather than in favor of deserted parents."

Roman Belyi, head of veterans' section, department of social protection of the population at the Volgograd region administration, in his interview to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent listed the situations which do not entitle the parents of diseased servicemen to receive such certificate. This may happen in cases when their son's death resulted from: leaving his unit without permission, being in the state of alcoholic or narcotic intoxication, committing a crime or suicide. "We work strictly within the law. If there is an entry we issue a certificate. If not, we are sorry. As a rule, such entry is made correctly by the commander. However, if one doubts the legitimacy of his formulation, one should follow the chain of command. It includes the regional military commissariat, the Rostov military district, the Ministry of Defense, or court in the long run," explained Roman Vladimirovich.

"Indeed, there are comments of the Ministry of Defense. There exists a list of cases which do not fall under the definition of "in the line of duty". But in our work we do not deal with them. We protect the rights of those parents whose children died of other causes which are not in the list. The social protection agencies, however, take an approach we do not understand. What we observe is an unbridled casuistry they resort to in court, says Nina Ponomareva, sometimes, the incompetence of bureaucrats and judges amounts to absurdity. For instance, on the case of Orlova in Spring 2006, the Olkhovsk district court adopted the following "masterpiece": "the soldier has neither died nor been killed." When the judges were asked what happened to the diseased they answered: "He evaded military service by way of hanging himself." The regional court, naturally, invalidated this ignorant ruling."

Victoria Podkhvatilova stated that it was hard to get at justice in Volgograd region courts. The court proceedings may last for six months or more. The people who apply for help, as a rule, are old-age and sick. "How can they importune courts, looking for justice? The state, however, makes them follow the chain of command instead of trying to make things easier for them."

Starting from 2002, the human rights organization has taken part in 70 court proceedings connected with the problem. In seven cases the courts ruled in favor of the parents who had lost their children in the army.

Andrei Serenko, expert of the Fund for Information Policy Development, stated in an interview with our correspondent that this situation was a vivid manifestation of bureaucratic egoism. "We are observing the implementation of the global Russian state strategy of getting rid of its social responsibility, said Serenko, the system of state guarantee has degraded into the practice of social tips and bribery of strictly defined social groups. For instance, the national projects implemented within fixed time limits and covering limited categories of the population. On the eve of the coming elections Putin's Government pursues social manipulations rather than social policy. The troubles of simple people are of little concern for the federal authorities."