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RFE/RL Russian Federation Report - excerpts


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RFE/RL Russian Federation Report - excerpts


RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
________________________________________________________
RFE/RL Russian Federation Report
Vol. 2, No. 9, 1 March 2000
 
A Survey of Developments in the Regions Outside Moscow
Prepared by the Staff of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
 
******************Note to Readers*****************
A weekly supplement to "RFE/RL Newsline," the "RFE/RL
Russian Federation Report" features news about the
Russian Federation outside Moscow and the North
Caucasus. Those interested in Russia's regions might
also want to look at Russian-language transcripts of
RFE/RL's weekly "Korrespondentskii Chas" at
http://www.svoboda.org/programs/.
**********************************************
 
...............

BURYATIA
 
JAPAN HOPING TO REVIVE PAN-MONGOLISM? A professors of linguistics in
Japan, Katsukhiko Tanaka, has suggested that Buryatia return to the
name of Buryat-Mongolia in order to attract more investors in East
Asia, "Nezavisimaya gazeta-regiony" reported on 22 February. According
to the semi-monthly, Tanaka says that Buryatia is virtually unknown in
Japan, while Mongolia enjoys very warm relations with his country. He
also maintains that Buryats should speak in their native language, and
Japan will be happy to help the "Mongol-speaking" population. Tanaka
has on several occasions pressed the idea that the Japanese are
genetically closer to the Buryats than to Koreans, Chinese, and even
the Ainus (who live on Kurile Islands.) Tanaka also expresses the hope
that the old "enthusiasm" for pan-Mongolism, which Soviet authorities
squashed, can be revived. The newspaper notes that Tanaka is an
academic and therefore his views cannot be equated with that of the
Japanese government. However, it notes that while Tanaka's earlier
visits to Buryatia took place within the confines of a cultural and
scientific mission, this time his trip was sponsored by the Japanese
Embassy in Russia. JAC

...............

 
SAKHA (YAKUTIA)
 
MOSCOW NEWSPAPER BOTHERED BY ENGLISH-LANGUAGE POLICY... Mocking a
recent decree of Sakha Republic President Mikhail Nikolaev,
"Komsomolskaya pravda" published a long article written in a style
reminiscent of Evelyn Waugh's novel "Scoop," about a reporters'
journey to a fictional African country. On 7 January, Nikolaev signed
a decree making English a mandatory language for instruction in
schools as well as one of the "working languages" at official
functions (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 6 January 2000). The special
correspondent dispatched by the daily to the republic reported that
she encountered a waitress in a restaurant in downtown Yakutsk that
did not understand the most elementary Russian. She concluded that
this was because "instruction is in Yakutian in middle schools up to
the eighth grade." The correspondent also confessed to experiencing
"secret pleasure" when two Russian officials at one state institution
had to spend 10 minutes in order to find the village of Churapcha on a
map of Yakutia that was only in English and Yakutian. JAC
 
. AS HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER CALLS DECREE UNCONSTITUTIONAL. On a
more serious note, the daily noted that publication of Nikolaev's
decree immediately raised many questions that have not yet been
answered by the presidential administration. For example, does making
English a working language of the government mean that all official
documents should be translated into three languages, Russian,
Yakutian, and English? The daily also cites Vasilii Pavlov, a deputy
minister for external relations in Yakutia and one of "ideologues
behind the decree," who explains that the decree is linked to another
decree about the Internet. According to Pavlov, one way to provide
education to students in remote villages where there are few teachers
is via the Internet. He said that government would like each Russian
village school to have an Internet connection. The daily notes that
not one Internet connection has been established in part because none
of the schools have phone lines. Vladimir Kartashkin, chairman of the
federal Commission for Human Rights, said that Nikolaev's decree
"violates the Russian Constitution. It is impossible to force people
to study a particular language. This is a scandalous violation of
their human rights. Only one thing is clear: this decree does not
strengthen Russia as a federation." JAC

SVERDLOVSK
 
TATAR NATIONALISTS ACTIVE IN SVERDLOVSK CAPITAL. "Nezavisimaya
gazeta-regiony" reported on 22 February that pamphlets are being
distributed to the more than 300,000 Muslims living in Yekaterinburg
calling on them not to vote in presidential elections. Sverdlovsk
Oblast Mufti Sibbatula Khazrat said that the pamphlets "are being
distributed by a well-known nationalist extremist organization that
represents neither the government nor religious authorities."
According to the semi-monthly, which is financed by Boris
Berezovskii's LogoVAZ, the pamphlets are signed by Rafis Kashapov,
chairman of the Tatar Public Center in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan.
JAC

ULYANOVSK
 
BARKASHOVITES TO FIND LIFE MORE EXPENSIVE. The oblast Legislative
Assembly has passed legislation stipulating penalties for those who
produce, distribute, and display fascist symbols, Interfax reported on
25 February. Anyone found guilty of such activities can be fined
between 20 and 50 minimum wages. In the case of repeat offenders, the
fine will be increased. The legislation must still be signed into law
by Governor Yurii Goryachevyi. JC

...............
 
***********************************************
Copyright (c) 2000. RFE/RL, Inc. All rights reserved.
 
"RFE/RL Russian Federation Report" is prepared by Julie
A. Corwin (JAC) on the basis of a variety of sources,
including reporting by "RFE/RL Newsline" and RFE/RL's
broadcast services. Regular contributors are Jan Cleave
(JC), Liz Fuller (LF), and Paul Goble (PG). It is
distributed every Wednesday.
 
Direct comments to Julie A. Corwin at [email protected].
For information on subscriptions or reprints, contact
Paul Goble in Washington at (202) 457-6947 or at
[email protected]. Back issues are online at
http://www.rferl.org/russianreport
 
Technical queries should be emailed to:
[email protected]
 
For information on subscriptions or reprints, contact
Paul Goble in Washington at (202) 457-6947 or at
[email protected]. Back issues are online at
http://www.rferl.org/russianreport
 
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
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with the word subscribe as the subject of the message.
 
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_______________________________________________________
RADIO FREE EUROPE/RADIO LIBERTY, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC

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