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User:Sibirinka/Mother’s Right Foundation

Mother's Right Foundation
Company typeNon-profit
Founded1989
FounderVeronika Marchenko, Margarita Pashkova, Inna Plavan
Headquarters
Moscow
,
Russia
Key people
Veronika Marchenko – President of the Board of Directors.
ServicesCharity, Human rights, legal representation
Websitemright.hro.org

Mother's Right Foundation (Interregional Charitable Public Foundation “Pravo Materi”) is a Russian, non-profit, non-government human rights organization which works to protect the rights of the families whose sons died while performing military service as a result of bullying and disparagement, criminal actions, insanitary living conditions, unhealthy psychological environment, etc.

According to the information of the human rights activists, 3,000 people die annually while performing military service in the Russian army, and in many cases the parents of the deceased soldiers do not receive any support from the government. [4] According to the information of the human rights activists, 3,000 people die annually while performing military service in the Russian army, and in many cases the parents of the deceased soldiers do not receive any support from the government. [4]

The organization was established in 1989 under the original name “Association of the parents whose sons died while performing military service on the USSR territory during peace time”. The foundation acquired official registration with the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on March 4, 1993, and then was re-registered at the Department of Justice of Moscow City on June 16, 1999. The founder and the current leader of the organization is Veronika Marchenko – the first Russian woman to receive the international award “Women of Courage” (2009).[5]

"The story of establishment and development of the Mother’s Right Foundation is unique …. At the same time this story reflects the evolution of the human rights movement and, moreover, the evolution of the entire “third sector” in Russia during the 1990s” — Pursuing the public interest, Columbia Law School. New York, 2001; Pursuing the public interest, Moscow, Yurist, 2004

Annually over 3,000 families of the deceased soldiers contact the foundation with the request for help[6], as “very often the parents are the only people who want to ensure a fair investigation into the deaths of the soldiers” [7]. The foundation was established as a professional charitable organization and the Foundation’s lawyers work pro bono (latin, free of charge, for public good) providing support to the parents of the deceased soldiers. In 2007, there were 396 articles published about the foundation by the independent media [8].


Objectives and tasks

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The mission of the organization is to facilitate promotion of the following concepts in Russia:

  1. The idea of the rule of law state, where the needs of the citizens portray the true and not merely declared priority of the state and the social policy;
  2. The idea of accessibility of legal support to the socially unprotected population;
  3. The idea of professional army.[9]

Objective of the organization’s work is “to accumulate capital and funds through charitable donations and to utilize them to provide legal, expert medical and other professional support to the families of the soldiers who died while performing military service; to provide social support to the families of the deceased soldiers”. — [from the] Statute of the Mother’s Right Foundation

The lawyers of the foundation work to facilitate effective investigation of all cases that involve the death of the conscripts during military service and the realization of civil rights for a just and fair trial. "The lawyers of the Mother’s Right Foundation …provide assistance to the families of the deceased soldiers both to ensure effective investigation into the death of a soldier and to defend the right of the family to receive social support and protection." — Novaya Gazeta, February 17, 2010.


Work scope

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“Background information from REGNUM: Russian charitable public organization Mother’s Right Foundation has been working since 1989 in the following fields: raising public awareness of legal issues and provision of legal assistance to the families of the deceased soldiers; lawmaking; sociological surveys; publishing; information dissemination; charity; and organization of moral and psychological rehabilitation of the families of the deceased soldiers. The parents of the deceased soldiers can receive consultation from the foundation’s lawyers either personally or over the phone regarding the issues related to social security (pensions, welfare allowances and benefits, insurance), housing rights, criminal and procedural law, emotional damage compensation.” — Information Agency REGNUM, August 30, 2005


1. The foundation educates the parents and widows of the deceased soldiers about their legal rights and provides legal representation throughout all level of court to protect these rights.

“Mother’s Right Foundation is a non-profit organization that provides legal assistance to the parents of the deceased soldiers that are neglected by the state. When I say soldiers I mean not only private soldiers but also cadets, officers – every one of them. I mean not only those who perished in combat but also the servicemen who get killed in our army during the time of peace as well. Last year* the foundation provided assistance to 5,788 families. In the first half of this year 3,115 families received our assistance.”

— Novaya Gazeta, November 9, 2009*


2. The foundation engages in lawmaking by actively promoting and lobbying proposals on the introduction of necessary changes to the current legislative framework. [10]


3. The foundation conducts sociological surveys on human rights violations in the army.

“The figures presented by the Mother’s Right Foundation are based on the results of tens of thousands of questionnaires distributed and reviewed by the organization’s lawyers. These results show no discrepancies.... The Office of the Public Prosecutor collects statistics of their own, while the Mother’s Right Foundation over the years has been steadily accumulating the flow of applications and complaints from the families whose family members perished or succumbed to illnesses sometimes even after they were discharged from the army. This is a whole separate legal topic.”

— Ekho Moskvy Radio, Kuda begut soldaty? (Where do the runaway soldiers run to?), February 21, 2005

“Already in October 2009, Mother’s Right Foundation raised the issue of the inadequate conditions in the military unit #24776 and sent an appeal to the president of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev. At that time the foundation was dealing with several appeals from the parents of soldiers who were serving in Barabash, reports NEWSru.com” — «Noviy Region – Far East», July 8, 2010


4. The foundation produces two series of periodic publications: • Book of Remembrance: This is a periodic publication to remember the victims of violence in the army. Each book has short biographies and photos of hundreds of young men who died while performing military service in the time of peace. The foundation continues its work to find opportunities to publish new editions of this book, as the organization has accumulated a tremendous amount of this kind of information. So far seven editions of this book have been published – One hundred out of fifteen thousand in three volumes (Moscow, Izvestiya, 1992; Moscow, Izvestiya, 1994; Moscow, Human Rights, 2000)

“… On the wall blackened with smoke there are photos of Alyosha. A strong and handsome young man.… He was a great support to his mother. He loved doing sports. Legally he did not have to do military service, since his mother has a category 2 disability. But he made a decision to fulfill his civic duty. He served in Germany, and that is where he died. His name is commemorated in the book of remembrance as a soldier who perished performing military service in the time of peace. The book’s title is “One hundred out of fifteen thousand” and it was published by the Mother’s Right Foundation.”

— “Pozitsiya”, Tver, 14 August 2007

• Legal Advice to the Parents of the Deceased Soldiers: The publication covers a range of important legal issues that the parents who lost their children during their military service have to face. It includes legal cases that were represented by the Mother’s Right Foundation which then became legal precedents. Four editions of the publication have been issued so far (Moscow, Human Rights, 1997; 2000; 2005; 2008). [11] The third and the fourth editions were distributed to 2,600 federal courts of the Russian Federation.

“The book with ten thousand printed copies will be distributed free of charge through the network of the foundation’s regional coordinators and representatives of public organizations. Additionally a sizable share of the circulation will be mailed to the chief justices of regional and district courts. Anybody who is interested in obtaining the publication can do so by contacting the regional office of the foundation or by sending a written request to the Moscow office of the organization.”

— IA REGNUM, legal hand-book [reference book] for the parents of the deceased soldiers was published, August 29, 2005

5. The foundation works with the media and issues press-releases and information bulletins

6. The foundation provides affordable financial support to the parents of the deceased soldiers;

7. The foundation works to provide emotional and psychological support to the parents of the deceased soldiers [12], [13]

8. The foundation engages volunteers and interns.

“Veronika Marchenko, the President of the Board of Directors of the Mother’s Right Foundation: We certainly rely on the support of our volunteers – people who devote their spare time to provide free of charge assistance to our organization. Moreover, we believe that if a public organization has its own network of volunteers, it is a positive sign than the organization is efficient and that the organization’s work is needed” — Infoblago.Ru

Prominent cases

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1. The foundation provided legal support to the parents and widows of the Heroes of the Russian Federation (1999-2010) [14].

“…Inter-regional public charitable foundation “Mother’s Right Foundation” (http://mright.hro.org) confirmed that this kind of situation is common in many regions of the country. The foundation has been working on the cases of the families of the Heroes and veterans free of charge since 1999.” — Rossiyskaya Gazeta – Nedelya, September 24, 2009

2. The Mother’s Right Foundation successfully defended the complainant in the criminal case in the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation(Ruling of the Constitutional Court of the RF № 447-O of 5 December 2003)

“… The above mentioned Ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is very important as it allows the complainants with low income background to engage experienced and highly qualified professionals, who are not attorneys, to ensure protection of their rights and interests. Such experts can be lawyers from the public organizations working in the fields of human rights and other organizations (Quite importantly this complaint that was filed to the Constitutional Court by the Human Rights Commissioner was initiated by one such public organization – Mother’s Right Foundation – that has been representing families of the deceased soldiers for many years)…” — Report “Provision of free-of-charge legal support in the Russian Federation, O. Yu. Krivonosova, D. V. Kulagin, D. B. Shabelnikov, edited by N. M. Kipnis and M. A. Krasnov, 2004.

3. As a result of the work of the Mother’s Right Foundation, families of the submariners who perished in the Kursk submarine disaster were recognized as the wronged party.[15], [16]. “…Recognition of the families of the submariners who perished in the Kursk submarine disaster as a wronged party has an important significance. Now they and their representatives have a legal right to participate in the process and to study all the details uncovered as a result of the ongoing investigation into the causes of the Kursk submarine disaster.” — Trud, April 11, 2002

4. The Mother’s Right Foundation helped to ensure compensation of the emotional damage in the case of the loss of the Armavir Special Forces Detachment in Chechnya as a result of friendly fire: “… In Nikolay Vlasov’s case against the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Treasury Administration of the Ministry of Finance of Mariy El Republic was sentenced to pay the fine of 500,000 rubles. This is the largest compensation ever** won by court action by the Mother’s Right Foundation in favour of the parents of the perished soldiers. It is also the first case when the State acknowledged its own responsibility before its citizen who lost his son in combat. The 19 year old soldier of the Armavir Special Force Detachment Stanislav Vlasov died on September 10th, 1999 as a result of the friendly fire from the federal air force that was caused by the gun layer’s misjudgment.” — Izvestiya, “They have the right”, December 3, 2002**

5. The foundation’s case in the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation led to the cancellation of the Decree of the Ministry of Defense No. 444 of 02.12.1997 (Ruling of the Russian Federation Supreme Court No. VKPI-00-27 of 27.04.2000).


Rating of military units in the Russian Federation

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In the autumn of 2004 the Mother’s Right Foundation compiled a rating of the most dangerous military units in Russia in the past 10 years (1994- 2004). The rating was based on the analysis of 5,433 questionnaires filled out by the parents of the deceased soldiers, who contacted the Foundation during the period of 1994-2004. [17] The Article “Eyes Toward Death” (Moskovsky Komsomolets Newspaper, author Artyom Davydov) caused public outcry.

“Today 'Moskovsky Komsomolets' Newspaper is publishing the rating of the most 'deadly' military units, which is compiled in collaboration with the Mother’s Right Foundation based on the letters of the parents of the deceased soldiers”. - Polit.ru, Russian Army’s Most Deadly Units, “Rating” by the Mother’s Right Foundation, 26 October 2004

Mother’s Right Foundation published the rating of the military units that have the highest soldier death rate. It was compiled based on the 5,433 questionnaires that were collected over the past 10 years.... According to the experts, non-combat deaths are primarily caused by bullying and disparagement, violation of safety regulations, negligence of those in command and unsanitary living conditions”. - South Region Portal (ЮГА.РУ), Kuban military unit tops the rating as having the most [highest number] non-combat deaths, 26 October 2004.

“… the rating of the military units was compiled by “Moskovsky Komsomolets” Newspaper and the Mother’s Right Foundation based on the application letters from the parents of the deceased soldiers”. - Anna Davydova, News Service “UralPolit.Ru”, Military unit in the Central Urals is rated among the most deadly, October 26, 2004.

Promotional Events

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In 2010-2011 Mother’s Right Foundation started a project in the social net "Odnoklassniki.ru” that was dedicated to the memory of the servicemen who deceased in the army during the time of peace. The activists of the Foundation place in their account the stories about life and death of the deceased from the first person, their pictures have mourning ribbon. By this way the profiles and the data of the perished which often seemed basically uncared-for, again appeared in "friends" pages which could learn about their fate. The formation of the group was carried out with the help of volunteers. [Parents] were asked the permission to use the personal data. “Idea” of our “odnoklassniki” is simple: the perished boys were interesting to only a Defense Department at the moment of their call up, and after their tragic death they became forgotten and wiped from memory, as though they never existed. We decided that it is not fair. They have been and will always be alive for their parents and closed ones, and we would like their voices to sound for everyone else. Having fulfilled their duty by going to the army, they have the right to respect from society", reported Veronica Marchenko,[18] the Chair of the Council Board "Mother’s Right” Foundation to Interfax. The project is designed for the purpose of not letting the Ministry of Defense to bury the names and the faces of the perished in oblivion, turning them into the heartless numbers of the official statistics. The stories of the soldiers will now be read by many people.[19] However, this is not exactly the spirit-rapping. “Parents of the deceased soldiers have always stayed one on one with their pain”, tells the head of the foundation. No one really cared about them. And, finally, the received hundreds of the commentaries from many-many people. They received words of encouragement. For the first time in their life they felt, that the society is sympathetic with them.” “We really are fond of the idea of the foundation, acknowledges Ivan Sergeevich Dolin from the city Tchaikovskiy of the Perm region, the father of Anton who died from being blown in the Special Forces detachment "Vityaz" of the Moscow-area Dzerzhinsky division. - Let the people remember" [20]

Charity

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In the end of December 2000, a charitable auction organized by the deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation V. E. Koptev-Dvornikov, V. O. Semyonov and A. Yu. Vulf was held at the “Metelitsa” Club in Moscow. Altogether 58 lots belonging to 51 celebrities were sold. The most expensive lot was Alsou's concert dress. Other lots in the order from most to less expensive were as follows: Lev Leschenko’s hat, Iosif Kobzon’s concert costume, the first chess set of Anatoliy Karpov, concert dress of Kristina Orbakaite, wedding dress of Tatyana Ovsienko, tail-coat of Valery Leontiev, concert dress of Larissa Dolina and home kimono of Irina Khakamada. The collected funds were transferred into the account of the Mother’s Right Foundation (totaling over 500,000 rubles). The funds were evenly distributed among the parents of the soldiers perished in Chechnya, who contacted the [21]

In 2006 the foundation accumulated 127,249 rubles in donations and presented the funds to the mother of Andrey Sychyov who was bullied to death while fulfilling his military duty [22] [23].


Awards

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In 2004 “Career” Magazine compiled the first rating of the charitable organizations and foundations in Russia. The Mother’s Right Foundation was awarded the 4th place among 400 nominees [24]. “Measuring the measurable, and making the immeasurable measurable. This is the principle that governed us during the rating compilation for the Russian charitable organizations and foundations”. The rating was based on the results of expert assessment. As the first step, the CAREER Magazine compiled the initial list of 400 organizations and foundations involved in charity work.. …Then the experts evaluated the participating organizations against 4 parameters: publicity, compliance with the claimed status, efficiency and financial transparency, - and assigned them the score from 1 to 10. …The top fourth place was awarded to the human right organization Mother’s Right Foundation" - “Career” Magazine, № 5 (58), 2004

In accordance with the results of the competition organized by the SuperJob.Ru Portal in 2008, the foundation was recognized as the “Employer of Choice” [25].


Location

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The office of the foundation is located in the Central Administrative District of Moscow in Luchnikov Alley [26]. It has been there since August 1992. Just like many public organizations [27], the foundation had to fight to keep their office in a convenient and accessible location.

“Last November*** the Mother’s Right Foundation – an organization that provides support to the parents of the deceased soldiers - almost got evicted from the occupied office. “I was 42 when my son died. I did not want to live. It was the Church and Veronika Marchenko (President of the Board of Directors – NI) who saved my live. I ask you, Vladimir Nikolaevich, please do not deprive us of our home. Because the Mother’s Right Foundation is the home that helps me feel connected with my son. Mother of the deceased soldier, Perkova Lyudmila”. This is the type of letter that the Chief of Moscow Property Department Vladimir Silkin was receiving from senders all over Russia. “We contacted the Prosecutor General’s Office and Federal Antimonopoly Service and we were told that there should be no obstacles to Moscow Property Department renewing the contract” – Veronika Marchenko told “NI”.

— Noviye Izvestiya, 7 July 2009***

Internet representation

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Video materials

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Additional information

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  1. ↑ Federal Law from May 19, 1995 N 82- FZ “On public associations”. Garant. – Article 10. Public Foundation.
  2. ↑ Vacancies of the International charitable organization Mother’s Right Foundation, , Trud.
  3. ↑ Veronika Marchenko. Novaya Gazeta (March 17, 2010) – On-line conferences.
  4. ↑ Mother’s Right Foundation made an appeal to the President of the Russian Federation to support the families of the deceased soldiers. VSESMI.RU (February 12, 2007)
  5. ↑ Polina Ivanushkina. Army of Heaven. Argumenty i Facty (№26) (June 25, 2009)
  6. ↑ Alexander Kolesnichenko President of the Mother’s Right Foundation Veronika Marchenko “The only interest in soldiers is criminal”. (November 30, 2009 г.).
  7. ↑ Information Agency “Regnum” The Mother’s Right Foundation: Often parents are the only ones who are interested in investigating the death of servicemen. IA REGNUM (February 21, 2008).
  8. ↑ Appendix (List of Publications). Foundation “Mother’s Right”.
  9. ↑ Mother’s Right Charitable Public Foundation (Moscow) (November, 2008). — Would you like to help?
  10. ↑ Natalya Lebedeva "Wounded Family" (Staff of the Mother’s Right Foundation who have for already seventeen years been defending the rights and interests of the parents whose sons perished performing military service during the time of peace, prepared a number of remarks and corrections for the current legislation, ensuring observance of human rights of the families whose members perished.). Rossiyskaya gazeta – Central Issue №4300 from February 21, 2007 (02-21-2007
  11. ↑ Vyacheslav Feraposhkin "The third part of the legal cases of the Mother’s Right Foundation is concerning the soldiers who perished at war in Chechnya. "Kavkazsky Uzel" (08-29-2005).
  12. ↑ Alexander Kolesnichenko "Requiem on a Holiday". Noviye Izvestiya (02-24-2004). — Mothers of the deceased soldiers celebrated February 23 at the temple.
  13. ↑ "Time for mourning". Kasparov.Ru (02-23-2009). — Mother’s Right Foundation arranged the memorial service for the soldiers who deceased in time of peace.
  14. ↑ Dmitry Anokhin "The state tests the limits of the relatives of the deceased soldiers". Evening Moscow №143 (25163) from 08.05.2009 (August 5, 2009 г.).
  15. ↑ "The first appeal on the case of the deaths of submariners of “Kursk" NEWSru.com, Novostiy Rossii (March 22, 2002).
  16. ↑ Larisa Alimamedova "Mishap on a paved road". Trud №63 from 04.11.2002 (April 11, 2002).
  17. ↑ "A military unit from Yekaterinburg got into the list of the most “deadly” places of military service". RIA Noviy Region (10-04-2006).
  18. ↑ "Died in the army. Perished" INTERFAX.RU (03.03.2011). — Society.
  19. ↑ Yana Sakharova "At www.odnoklassniki.ru there appeared pages of the soldiers who died in the army" Novosibirsk-news city 03.03.2011- Society.
  20. ↑ Dmitry Vinogradov. “Online Forever. Human right defenders “brought back to life” diseased soldiers in the Internet”. RIA-NEWS (March 4, 2011) – At www.odnoklassniki.ru there appeared thirty pages of the soldiers who died in the army at time of peace.
  21. ↑ Larisa Larina "Thank you for your support!". Trud №032 from February 17, 2001 (02-17-2001). — Press-conference of the organizers of charitable auction took place at State Duma.
  22. ↑ Foundation Mother’s Right organized fund-raising to help the family of Andrey Sychev. IA REGNUM. — Novosty.
  23. ↑ Designated donations to the Mother’s Right Foundation in 2006 from individuals and organizations (welfare to Galina Pavlovna Sycheva) (Reports). Foundation "Mother’s Right" (12-31-2006). — Novosty
  24. ↑ Lada Ivanova, Natalya Klimenko The Lot of Good Doers Kariera Magazine. Education. Tactics for a Successful Career (№ 5 [68] from May, 2004.).
  25. ↑ Attractive employers of 2008. superjob.ru.
  26. ↑ Contacts. Foundation “Mother’s Right”.
  27. ↑ Alecya Lonskaya You didn’t rent this place. . Noviye Izvestiya, 07.07.2009. — Fight for the competition resulted in non-commercial organization wrongful dispossession.

References

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