29 August 2003, 18:29
Round-table meeting "Alternative Civil Service. 30 Days before Conscription" took place in Krasnodar
A round-table meeting under the title "Alternative Civil Service. 30 Days before Conscription" took place in the South Regional Resource Center in Krasnodar on August 27. It was organized by the regional Society for Tax-Payers' Rights together with the Krasnodar Club of Civil Education in the limits of the Moscow Helsinki Group project "Network of Regional Coalitions".
As the press-service of the Creative Union "Southern Wave" alleged, a new federal law "About Alternative Civil Service (ACS)" will come into force on January 1, 2004. It will allow any Russian citizen between the ages of 18 and 27 to do ACS. However, this law has a number of faults: the mechanisms of its maintenance are not completely worked out, there is a contradiction between some of its clauses, - all these things hinder the proper development of the ACS institution in Russia.
"At the moment public organizations should not incline future conscripts to do ACS. They should rather describe them all merits and faults of the ACS as fully as they can so that the youth could make the right decision", said Kuban Youth Union Vice-Chairman Mikhail Jurilo.
