MEMORIAL
The Presidency of the European Union welcomes the decision by the European Parliament to award the 2009 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to the Russian organisation Memorial, as well as all other human rights defenders in Russia.
The Presidency commends the long-standing work of Memorial to promote civil society, democracy, human rights and the rule of law in the countries on the territory of the former Soviet Union, and to document and publish the truth about the victims of political repression.
On October, 16 in the framework of the International week «Football against racism» which exists ten years in many countries of the world, on the playground of school № 624 a football match took place. ADC "Memorial" participates in the antiracist football movement many years and organises games for multicultural school teams with the backing of UEFA the FARE.
This year schools № 624, 272, 288 participated in the event.
Human rights activist Natalia Estemirova has been murdered.
Natasha Estemirova has died. She was abducted and killed, just like the hundreds of others in Chechnya, those to whom she dedicated her time during all the last years, being fully engaged in their destinies and troubles, - despite of the danger, the direct threats, the enormous risk... She knew everything, but she was not afraid of anything. Her fearlessness was fascinating ... it seemed, that this bright and vivid woman would not fall victim to those brutal forces that she opposed. Natasha was a human rights expert of a huge capacity, she was interested in all people and she did not divide their problems on small and big. Working in war torn Grozny during the terrible Second Chechen war, she managed to pay attention to the problems of a young unknown Roma girl from a local Roma family, who suffered from illiteracy. Natasha addressed to us in her energetic way stressing the importance of doing something for this child that could not find understanding and support from others. It’s up to those, who worked closely with Natasha, to tell about her merits in the fight for human rights in the Caucasus. Natasha’s death is a terrible loss... Not only for Memorial, not only for the unfortunate Chechen Republic, not only for Russia. There is only a small number of such outstanding people in this world. It’s a big question how we are going to carry on - without her.
On July, 4th ADC Memorial conducted the interviews for qualified students to receive the grant from Roma Educational Fund. Applications from ten candidates were accepted and all of them approved.
The screening committee consisted of the well known ethnographer specializing in Roma culture N. V.Bessonov, the professor of Moscow City Pedagogical University specializing in Roma culture V. V. Shapoval, an expert of Human Rights and professor of Smolny College of Liberal Arts and Sciences D. V. Dubrovsky, and the member of Russian Institute of the History of Arts and the researcher of Roma ethnography C. V. Kuchepatova.
At the same day seminar for young Roma activists «The Problems of Roma Rights Observance in Russia» took place. There were 3 contributors who presented reports at the seminar: professor of Academy of Public Service and the vice-president of Smolensk Regional Roma Community L. M. Nefedova, a lawyer at ADC Memorial M. S. Arefyeva, and an expert of Human Rights and professor of Smolny College of Liberal Arts and Sciences D. V. Dubrovsky.
20 June 2009 - International refugee day.
On May 29, 2009 ADC Memorial will organize a round-table discussion Children’s Rights and the School for school teachers who are already involved and those who would like to participate in the project School Ombudsman supported by the Gagarin Fund.
On May 7 in Goethe-Institut, St Petersburg, within the Film-Forum project, film Guca! by Serbian director Dusan Milic was screened. It is a story of a Roma trumpet player, Romeo by name, who falls in love with a Serbian girl whose father is an awful chauvinist. Members of ADC Memorial took part in the discussion after the viewing. Тhe topic of the discussion was "Roma: Myths and Legends". Stefania Kulaeva from ADC Memorial told about problems with education of Roma children and how they are being solved in Russia and Europe. ADC Memorial volunteer Kristina Botnariuk described Roma life in the village of Peri in Vsevolozhsk District of Leningrad Region where she helped to prepare Roma children for school.
On May 6, 2009 the St Petersburg City Court again dismissed an appeal by the Office of Public Prosecutor in which a decision of Dzerzhinsky District Court on illegality of last December search in the office of Research and Information Center Memorial was contested for the second time.
In addition, Memorial has got back 12 hard disks and 7 CDs and DVDs that were illegally withdrawn during the search.
In Russian:"Фонтанка" и "Закс".
On May 14, 2009 a round-table discussion on the problems of education for Roma children will take place in Volgograd. It is organized in the framework of the project on protection of Roma children’s rights in Russian Federation supported by Save the Children Sweden. School directors and teachers from schools where Roma children study will take part in it as well as representatives of local educational authorities from Volgograd, Riazan’, Tula, Lipetsk and other cities and regions where there are Roma settlements.
On April 26, 2009 a seminar Legal aid in the circumstances of discrimination in Roma settlements on the problems of discrimination connected with the right for housing and education took place in the office of ADC MEMORIAL. Among participants there were Roma leaders and lawyers from St Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Tambov, Yekaterinburg, Cheliabinsk and Omsk who provide legal assistance for Roma. The event was organized in the framework of the project supported by OSI.
On April 8, 2009, Moscow, ADC Memorial held a press conference timed to International Roma Day. S.Gannushkina, N.Bessonov, S.Kulaeva and N.Shkurenok spoke there.
In Russian: радио "Свобода" (ещё), sova-center.ru, Новые Известия, ПРИМА-News, Delfi.lt, kavkaz-uzel.ru
On April 7, 2009, a round-table discussion on the problems of school education of Roma children organized by ADC Memorial and the Center of National Educational Problems was held in Moscow. HR specialists, Roma leaders, experts, school directors and representatives of education authorities, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Regional Development and Ministry of Science and Education took part in the discussion.
In Russian: BBC Russia, Каспаров.ru, hro.org, kavkaz-uzel.ru.
The International Roma Day (April 8) was officially declared in 1990 in honour of the first major international meeting of Romani representatives, 1971 in London. Since then it has been celebrated in many countries. Europe has announced the international Roma Inclusion Decade.This programme involves concrete measures and proposes a financial framework within which to implement them within a 10-year period from 2005 to 2015. This year ADC "Memorial" which specializes at protection of rights of Roma invites journalists to visit events organized to mark the occasion.
Panel of judges on criminal cases of Pskov Regional Court have not complied with the complaint of Antonina Sukhovskaia concerning the decision of Opochka district investigation department under the RF Office of Public Prosecutor in Pskov Region not to initiate criminal proceedings. The case can now be taken into the European Court of Human Rights.
A concert on the occasion of the Roma Day will be held in Leskolovo House of Culture on April 12, 2009 at 1pm.
Psychologist Ilya Berdyshev, ADC Memorial, participant of the American Fellowship programme for St Petersburg specialists on the problems of tolerance, will take part in a round-table discussion entitled On Protection of Minorities Rights: Dialogue and Tolerance to be held on January 28 at 1 pm in the Mayakovsky Central City Public Library.
Protect your rights from the youth
The first seminar and conference within a new project School Ombudsman was held on January, 17 in the ADC Memorial office.
Dzerzhinsky District Court has partly allowed an appeal on illegality and baselessness of the search held in Memorial’s premises last year.
"Memorial" issues statement over the seizure of its office in St Petersburg. (read on our site)
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources, including Memorial Saint-Petersburg, about the thorough search into the offices of the Memorial Research Centre of Saint Petersburg.
Raid on an independent research centre Memorial should be investigated.
Offener Brief von Memorial Deutschland an die Botschaft der Russischen Föderation in Deutschland.
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On January 19th, 2009 in Moscow lawyer Stanislav Markelov was shot in the head dead and critical journalist Anastasia Baburova was deadly wounded and died a few hours later in the hospital. Murdered are our colleagues, associates and friends. Murdered are antifascists, people who could and were not afraid of telling the truth and fighting for it.
Stas was always helpful - he rendered assistance to victims of war, terror and state policy, he helped antifscists and those who sufferred from discrimination. He also aided us in some cases against demolishing Roma settlements. He fully realized the situation and once said "I am tired, very tired of reading friends’ names in crime chronicles. It is not work any more, it’s the matter of survival. We need protection from fascists, from mafia authorities and law machinery that often simply serve them. And we understand that nobody else at no time protect us but we ourselves."
On December 6, 2008 a seminar on the problems of Kelderari Roma settlements has taken place in the office of ADC MEMORIAL. Among participants there were HR experts, Roma leaders and local lawyers who provide legal assistance for Roma to overcome discrimination connected with the right for housing (lack of registration, lack of access to education, personal documents, medical care, employment). Roma activists and lawyers from Leningrad, Novgorod, Tula provinces, as well as from Yaroslavl, Kaliningrad, Ryazan, Lipetsk, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk have taken part in the seminar. The event was organized in the frames of the project supported by OSI.
On November,13 2008 an anti-fascist piquet in memory of Timur Kacharava who was killed in 2005 took place near "Bukvoed" book store on Ligovski prospect, 10 at St. Petersburg. Those who gathered here commemorated all antifascists killed during last years.
In Russian: Фонтанка.ру: "Фоторепортаж: в Петербурге вспоминали Тимура Качараву"
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A study-tour to Sweden for the Roma activists and directors of the schools where Roma children study took place from November,3 untill November, 7 2008. This trip was organised within the project supported by Save the Children Sweden.
Roma activists E.G. Mikhai (Tula) and V.V. Mikhai (Penza) interviewed by the Roma Radio of Sweden
S.M. Mikhai (Tula) interviewed by the Roma newspaper in Sweden
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On November, 2 2008 a "March against Hatred" in memory of Nikolai Girenko took place. A statement and a resolution were made on the meeting followed.These documents are available in Russian only.
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A round table on the Roma children education problems and publication of two school-books to increase language teaching quality at schools where bilingual children study. Very little attention to the Roma children who speak Romanes at home and have to study in Russian at school was paid before. All materials are in Russian only.
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On June, 20-27 2008 within the project "Tolerance, Equality and Integration in School Education" supported by EC an integration camp for children was organized
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On June, 26 2008 within the project "Tolerance, Equality and Integration in School Education" supported by EC a seminar "Integration and Adaptation Methods of the Refugee and Ethnic Minorities Children" was held.
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Since January 2008 ADC "Memorial" starts a new project concerning Kelderari Roma children school education
"Overcoming of the segregation and language discrimination of the Roma children at schools"
with the support of the Swedish organisation "Save the children" http://www.rb.se/
Within this progect a conference at 2-3 February 2008 was held. Specialists on the Russian as not native language, specialists on the Roma language, teachers and directors of the schools where many Roma children study (from Lipetsk, Volgograd, Tula, Penza, Ryazan, Nizhnie Oselki village of the Leningrad province), representatives from the education authorities, spetialists on Human Rights took part in this event. -
In 2007 with the support of the Memorial of St.Petersburg a book of the Roma wrighter Petrovich Oleg Nikolaevich
"Barons of Camp Sapporoni"was published.
This book is a true event. The book has been planned by the author as memoirs of the grandson about a grandfather, and it turned out to be a story about a people, about time, about the culture of kelderary Roma, about their hard destiny, about their past and present. -
In January 2008 the Antifascist motive №8 in cooperation with the Open City magazine (MPD) and with participation of the
antifascist movement activists and musicians was issued.
A CD with the antifascist songs is enclosed to the paper version of the Motive. If you wish to one (any issue) please
contact ADC "Memorial":
7(812)575-90-50
, memorial@memorial.spb.ru -
In January 2008 a Bulletin of the Anti-discrimination Centre "Memorial" № 20 was issued. If you wish to get a paper version of the Bulletinof the Anti-discrimination Centre "Memorial" (any issue) please contact ADC "Memorial":
7(812)575-90-50, memorial@memorial.spb.ru
Our postal address:
Memorial, PO Box 109, WP 1596, Lappeenranta 53101, Finland