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русский
January
25, 2002
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear President Bush,
On behalf of the 2,700 writers who are members of PEN American
Center, we are writing once again to call your attention to the
plight of our colleague and Honorary Member Grigory Pasko of Russia.
As you know doubt are aware, Mr. Pasko has endured a 4-year legal
ordeal in retribution for his reporting, as a military journalist
stationed in Vladivostok, on illegal dumping of radioactive waste
by the Russian navy. Although he was a full acquittal on espionage
charges in July 1999, when he appealed to have his name cleared
completely prosecutors refiled espionage charges, and on December
25, 2001 he was convicted on one count and sentenced to prison.
Like human rights and freedom of expression organizations around
the world, PEN has watched Mr. Pasko's case closely and, because
it has occurred in the context of a number of prosecutions of
journalists and environmental whistleblowers in Russia, with mounting
concern. Indeed our colleagues at Russian PEN have played an active
and brave role in defending Mr. Pasko, both inside and outside
the courtroom. We are attaching a letter from Alexander Tkechenko,
who is Secretary of Russian PEN and who served as a member of
Pasko's legal defense team, which we believe eloquently conveys
the impact and implications of the continuing persecution of Grigory
Pasko.
There is very little we can add to this letter. Instead, we simply
wish to reinforce our colleagues' plea that you make Mr. Pasko's
fate a leading issue in your conversations with President Putin
until Mr. Pasko is unconditionally released and allowed to travel
and report freely.
Sincerely,
Frances FitzGerald
President, PEN American Center
K. Anthony Appiah
Chair, Freedom to Write Committee
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русский
15.02.2001
Oslo, Norway
Declaration
The representatives
of the Russian, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian PEN Clubs have
discussed the social and political situation in Russia in the
light of the decisions of the Moscow International PEN Congress
held in May 2000. We note with alarm and concern that the situation
has taken a turn for the worse on basic issues touching upon the
main rights and freedoms, first of all right to life and freedom
of speech.
The Chechen war has
reached a deadlock and there is no way out in case it continues.
Tens of thousands of people still have no shelter. They are exposed
to different kinds of discrimination and are deprived of real
guarantees for returning to normal life. There are attacks waged
under various pretexts on the right to free access to the objective
information as well as the mass media independence. The office
of public prosecutor is authorized anew with such rights which
it used to have in the totalitarian Soviet society. Its arbitrary
activities are patronized by the Russian authorities.
We deem it necessary
to bring our opinion first of all to the knowledge of Russia's
President, as well as of the world community.
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Centres: |
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Russian |
Alexander Tkachenko, General Secretary
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Finnish |
Elisabeth Nordgren, President
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Norwegian |
Kjell Olaf Jensen, President
Elisabeth Middlethon, General Secretary
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Swedish |
Hokan Josephson, General Secretary
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International PEN |
Eugene Schoulgin, Chair of the Writers in Prison Committee
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Final
resolution on the war in Chechnya as adopted by the
Assembly of Delegates of International PEN
The
Assembly of Delegates of International PEN, meeting at the 67th
International Congress, held in Moscow, Russia, 22-28 May 2000:
Is gravely concerned about the tragedy happening before the
eyes of the whole world as a result of an undeclared war on the
territory of the Chechen republic;
Expresses profound
sympathy to the Chechen people and all the victims of this war,
both Chechen and Russian, and to the thousands of refugees forced
to seek shelter away from their ruined homes;
Resolutely condemns
the second attempt made by the Russian authorities to resolve the
tragic situation in Chechnya by military means;
Reminds that this
needless war can only increase the number of innocent victims and
will not lead to the solution of the problem itself in whatever
circumstances ;
Believes that
the actual introduction of military censorship and limitation of
access to free information as well as violation of a person's right
to freedom of movement in his or her country is absolutely inadmissible
and breaches all norms of international and Russian laws;
Demands free access
for international non-governmental organizations to the concentration
camps set up both in Chechnya and on neighboring territories for
them to investigate living conditions there as well as numerous
accusations of torture;
Further demands broad
and free access to the territory of the Chechen Republic for international
governmental and non-governmental organizations in order to monitor
the observance of demands and norms of human rights by all parties
involve in the armed conflict;
Is mourning the
irreparable harm done to the Chechen culture – the loss of libraries,
theaters, centres of science, educational institutions, historic
monuments, of everything that ensures natural development of the
Chechen ethnos;
Is convinced that
the whole Russian society has suffered from this war, being de moralized
by militarization, cruelty, intolerance, escalation of violence,
grief that has come into thousands of families all over Russia misled
by the propagandist misinformation;
Calls upon both
Russian and Chechen authorities to comply with international laws
prohibiting direct attacks on civilians, including writers and journalists;
Further calls upon
the President of the Russian Federation and all competent authorities
to stop this war immediately and to begin negotiations with those
forces in Chechnya, including the legitimate president Maskhadov,
who are ready for the peaceful solution of the conflict;
Expresses support
to the Russian PEN Centre which defends principles of humanism and
democracy stipulated by the Charter of International PEN, under
the most difficult circumstances resulting from the disruption in
the Russian society provoked by the Chechen war.
Note:
This is a final official statement
on Chechnya as approved by the Assembly of Delegates on 26 May 2000,
and replaces earlier versions circulated to participants.
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Resolution
adopted by
the Assembly of Delegates of International PEN
The
Assembly of Delegates of International PEN, meeting at the 67th
International Congress, held in Moscow, Russia, 22-28 May 2000:
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Expresses
its concern about frequent recent attacks on freedom of expression
and press in the independent Russian media on the part of the authorities
and security services;
Notes with particular
anxiety that actual attempts to introduce censorship and suppress
freedom of the press have already been made both in the central and
regional media, and have not been stopped by the authorities who bear
this responsibility according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation;
Is indignant at
the ongoing persecution of journalists Grigory Pasko, Andrei Babitsky,
Rifat Galiyev and others, who are only 'guilty' of honestly fulfilling
their professional duties, especially in view of the fact that most
severely persecuted are those journalists, whose attitude towards
the Chechen war is different from the official one;
Deems it necessary
to support the efforts made by Centres of International PEN to defend
freedom of expression and human rights in the Russian Federation;
Calls upon the President
and all competent authorities of the Russian Federation to guarantee
full observance of human rights in reality and not only in declarations.
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Declaration
by
55 PEN Centres participating in the
67th International PEN Congress
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Contrary
to our tradition, this year's PEN Congress is being held in a country
in which a massive, genocide military and paramilitary operation
is under way. Besides mass murder, the crimes perpetrated against
the civil population of Chechnya include deportations, rape, torture,
destruction and theft of personal property as well as the systematic
looting and destruction of the material bases of Chechen culture
and civilization. At the same time, freedom of information has been
severely curtailed, and the official propaganda plays on xenophobic
and even racist ethnic stereotypes.
We know such phenomena
not only from post-colonial countries but also from the experiences
of the lost decade in post-communist Europe. Their mechanism, be
it in the Balkans or the Caucasus is always the same. The collapse
of the existing structures of a multiethnic state takes on the form
of war. This war forces upon its participants highly aggressive
national identification instead of a civic or neighborly one. It
acts as a pogrom carried out with the use of heavy arms (air strikes,
artillery, missiles, tanks) by regular army, police and paramilitary
forces. The military pogrom paves the way for mass plunders and
all- encompassing corruption. It is usually difficult to point to
the real principals behind the military action and the crimes, since
they act in the name of the state.
The genocide scale of
the events, mass terror, murder and deportation, unbelievable suffering
of people has irreversible consequences for the lives of all the
communities that have been drawn into the conflict. Even the ordinary
soldiers in the regular troops quickly become criminalized. Banditism
and brutality cease to be socially condemned. Public opinion accepts
all this as it accepts the institutional practice of concentration
camps. Russia, so tragically marked by the Gulag experience, has
accepted the return of such camps in Chechnya.
Violence on the territories
covered by military action is accompanied by formal or informal
introduction of the elements of martial law on the territory of
the entire state. Freedom of speech is violated by censorship, whole
spheres of reality are wiped out from propagandist information services.
This concerns especially TV programs, which have the widest reach,
and are psychologically most suggestive. Independent journalists
are being corrupted, persecuted, repressed and secretly assassinated.
The lack of information
and the distortion of what is left are conducive the expansion of
national and racial hatred. Common stereotypes are supplemented
with secondary political, religious and cultural motivation for
genocide practice. Vulgar names by which the Caucasus inhabitants
are referred to, such as "blackasses" or "blacks" are transformed
in the official repressive Russian euphemism into "a person of Caucasus
nationality". The annihilation of the town of Grozny finds a higher-order
explanation in the slogan worthy of the civil war in Lebanon "the
struggle of Christianity with Islam" and in a return in propaganda
to a colonial discourse. The thesis about the cultural inferiority
of Chechens is being supported by systematic destruction of Chechen
schools, libraries, museums, churches, architectural monuments.
Also the justification given for the killing of civilians as a fight
against terrorism is typical. All these practices, documented by
UN Reports, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, humanitarian
organizations and Russian human rights activists have been condemned
recently by the Council of Europe and by the UN Human Rights Commission.
Among all the propaganda
lies, the only truth is human suffering.
In the wake of the First
World War, the founders of PEN and later the authors of the PEN
Charter established a set of clear principles which all the members
of PEN have pledged to uphold. To react swiftly and decisively against
war crimes, genocide, mass and wanton destruction of civilization
and culture - these are our duties as members of PEN and, indeed,
as civilized human beings. The United Nations Resolution on genocide
and the Declaration of Human Rights show that the principles of
the PEN Charter are based on universally shared commitments and
values.
PEN cannot take part
in any actions aimed at creating the impression that the situation
in Russia is normal, that is, acceptable by our standards. In the
nineteenth century, Leo Tolstoy had the courage to speak out in
protest against the colonialist genocide perpetrated by the Russian
Empire in the Caucasus. Today, we must repeat his words, quoted
after the Christian Apostles: I cannot be silent! It is our duty
not only to protest against the genocide in Chechnya but to warn
against the typical character of this phenomenon. Silence or turning
away from the truth would strip us of our identity and of our moral
right to refer to the PEN Charter.
The last enormous atrocity
of the 20th Century is taking place in Chechnya. In a time of unconditional
interdependence of all people and all world events we cannot decline
the co-responsibility: we condemn and we warn.
PEN Centres:
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All-India
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Canadian
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Swedish
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USA West
Writers in Exile (American Branch)
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21.09.04