On 19 June, after four hours of heated debate, the Russian State Duma approved the government-backed bill on alternative military service in a crucial second reading. About 300 amendments – mostly from liberals – have been submitted to the Duma since the bill was passed in the first reading in April. However, the four pro-Kremlin centrist factions that form the Russian State Duma majority blocked the passage of most of them. (01-JULY-2002)
Lawmakers passed the bill with the vote of 274-3. Under the bill, a man of conscript age will be required to prove his pacifist views to a special committee. He will be required to serve 21 months if he has a higher education degree and 3 ½ years without it. Liberals had wanted to cut the term to 3 years for non-graduates and 18 months for graduates.
Deputies debated the need to prove one’s pacifist beliefs, but no changes were made to the stipulation. A draftee will have to prove his beliefs in order to qualify for alternative service and the committee will have the right to reject his application if it finds his arguments unconvincing.
Apart from moral aspect, the necessity to prove one’s beliefs will open doors to more corruption as bureaucrats on the committee will jump at the opportunity to take bribes.
Also hotly debated was the part of the bill defining where draftees will be required to carry out alternative service. Liberal deputies said that conscripts should serve locally, in their hometown and be sent to other cities or regions only if there is no work for them at home. But the Russian State Duma decided to give the military power to determine where to send conscripts.
The Russian State Duma must now pass the bill in a final reading that is usually merely a formality. If implemented as expected in 2004, the bill will end a discrepancy between the Constitution and the practice of compulsory military service. The 1993 Constitution grants draftees the right to seek alternative service if they cannot serve in the military for ethical or religious reasons.
