Paul Goble
Vienna, November 5 – In a move that reflects the Kremlin’s deepening concerns about demographic trends, the Russian government has moved to restrict abortions, a step that its advocates say will help boost birthrates but that opponents argue will only lead to additional and inherently more dangerous illegal procedures.
Last week, Russians got their first look at a decree signed by now former health minister Mikhail Zurabov in May but approved for release by the justice ministry only on October 17, a delay that likely reflects how controversial the move is even within the government (http://www.izvestia.ru/obshestvo/article3109831/?print).
The decree has four parts, all of which taken together will significantly reduce the ease of access to abortions by Russian women in the future and could even in the minds of some Russian commentators ultimately lead to a banning of that procedure as was the case in the Soviet Union under Stalin.
First, the decree requires that any women wanting an abortion be informed about “all possible negative consequences” of the operation. Second, it directs that all facilities offering the procedure employ a special social worker to tell women who apply for abortions all aspects of the procedure.
Third, ministry order cuts the number of reasons for a state-funded abortion. Fourth, the directive leaves only two unqualified justifications in place – for victims of rape or incest. And officials say that “the next step will be to ban abortions in private clinics” (RBK Daily, November 2, in http://www.pravaya.ru/leftright/473/14164?print).
The timing and content of this decree raise questions. Although Russia has for many years led the world both in the total number of abortions and in the number of abortions per woman, that country has been doing better in this regard recently, something that has cheered pro-natalists in the government.
Over the last five years, they point out, the number of abortions there has declined by 21 percent from 1,782,000 in 2002 to 1,407,000 in 2006, and during the last two years, the number of live births for the first time in many years has exceeded the number of abortions, albeit by small amounts (http://www.ami-tass.ru/article/28644.html).
But the continuing demographic decline of the country and especially of the ethnic Russian nation clearly and the fact that the decline in the number of abortions in the Russian Federation has not been as great as that in many other countries clearly worry Moscow officials.
And these considerations have prompted the Russian government to issue this inevitably controversial decree even as the country moves into an election where politicians of various stripes are certain to make an issue of it, with some supporting the measure as the salvation of the country and others denouncing it as a retrograde step.
(For the views of various figures, see “Kommersant-Vlast’” for October 29 at http://www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=819512. One, Deputy Aleksandr Krutov said that “a country which supports the murder of children does not have a future,” while retired judge Sergei Pashin said this was “the rebirth of Stalinist and Hitlerite laws.”)
Abortion opponents have been enthusiastic – one article featured the headline “At Long Last!” (http://www.demographia.ru/articles_N/index.html?idR=1&idART=930) – or somewhat defensive – if a woman wants an abortion, she should have to pay for it, Elena Loria said in remarks quoted by Izvestiya on October 30.
But supporters of abortion rights are clearly troubled by what the Russian health ministry has now done. Anatoliy Vishnevskiy, the director of the Moscow Institute of Demography, warned that the measure will not boost the birthrate much if at all and will lead to more illegal abortions that will prove dangerous to women’s lives.
And Polina Orlova, in comments also cited in the same Izvestiya article, argued that it was morally wrong to restrict the access of women to abortions if they want one and that “one must not raise the birthrate by making it more difficult” for women and especially those who are less well off to gain access to them.
In many ways, this Russian debate echoes discussions in other countries deeply divided over abortions and the role of the state in guaranteeing access to them. But it may prove even more explosive because President Vladimir Putin has made overcoming Russia’s demographic decline a key element of his plan.
That means that measures like abortion that are intended to address that issue inevitably get wrapped up with broader political issues such as migration and the shifting balance between ethnic Russians and Muslims, issues that are already explosive without this additional fuel.
Indeed, in an online essay on Friday, Eduard Popov argues that Putin’s focus on demography has legitimized some radical views precisely because many in Russia now cross the line between responsible public discussions and openly racist views and thus provide support for extremist groups (http://narodru.ru/article13793.html).
Such a combustible mix of issues would be difficult to manage at the best of times, but during a high-profile election season, it may be beyond the capacity of any political regime to do so, except by the use of measures that no one would characterize as democratic.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Window on Eurasia: Russia’s Muslims Seek Expanded Political Role in Upcoming Election Season
Paul Goble
Vienna, November 5 – Just as Russian nationalists are raising their voices in this electoral season because of uncertainties about the future, so too the leaders of the Russian Federation’s 20-million plus ethnic Muslim community are positioning themselves albeit in different ways to press for a greater voice in their country’s future.
Three developments over the long holiday weekend in Russia highlight this potentially important trend, one that has been largely ignored because of the more visible public protests of the Russian nationalists and because of legal prohibitions against the formation of ethnic or religious parties.
The first of these events, the Third All-Russian Muslim Forum -- the first was in 1917; the second, last year, both in Nizhniy Novgorod -- attracted not only leaders of the Islamic community from around the country but also administration and parliamentary officials and journalists.
The full extent of its deliberations has not yet been reported – Russian media were largely shut down over the weekend – but several of the comments reported so far suggest that this forum reflects rising Muslim anger about the way things are going in Russia and a greater willingness by that community to get involved politically.
Government representatives made it clear that they understand that time is now on the side of the Muslims. Veniamin Popov, the former special representative to the Organization of the Islamic Conference and current head of the Partnership of Civilizations Center, was the most explicit.
He pointedly noted that “the demographic clock is working for Muslims” both in Russia and in the rest of the world (http://www.islam.ru/, November 1).
In addition to announcing the establishment of a new website about Muslims in Russia and an expanded journalistic operation, Muslims at this meeting called for re-creating a country-wide Ulema Council to guide the spiritual life of the faithful (http://www.islamnn.ru/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1922).
Were such a body to be established – and one existed for a brief period after the 1917 revolution – it would constitute a powerful challenge to the existing system of Muslim Spiritual Directorates (MSDs), institutions that have given the Russian government since the 18th century significant control over the religious lives of Muslims.
Because this meeting was organized by the Union of Muftis of Russia (SMR) which is often been at odds with both the government and the pro-Kremlin Central MSD in Ufa, it is far from clear whether such a council will be created anytime soon and just how much an impact it might have.
But the discussion of this issue at this meeting in Moscow suggests that ever more Muslims in the Russian Federation back the idea and, what is certainly more important, are prepared to speak out about it, despite the opposition of many pro-regime MSD leaders and even more Russian government officials.
The second event was the Congress of the Peoples of Tatarstan, whose sessions attracted more than 700 delegates from the 115 nationalities and 66 national-cultural associations of that Middle Volga Republic. Among the speakers were Tatarstan’s President Mintimir Shaimiyev and State Council Chairman Farid Mukhametshin.
Shaimiyev described how inter-ethnic relations in Tatarstan have stabilized since the first such meeting 13 years ago, but he complained that Moscow’s policies in this area for the country as a whole were limited by its lack of “a special organ” devoted to them (http://www.rian.ru/politics/20071103/86557212.htm).
As usual, Shaimiyev adopted a middle course, suggesting that such a body could exist within the regional affairs ministry. But the congress itself suffered no such inhibition and pointedly adopted a resolution calling for the setting up a separate agency to oversee nationality policies (http://www.rian.ru/politics/20071103/86562667.html).
Perhaps not surprisingly given the division of responsibilities between the two leaders, Mukhametshin was far more explicit in his remarks about what he sees as Moscow’s shortcomings in dealing with the Tatars and other non-Russians and what he would like to see happen next (http://www.rian.ru/politics/20071103/86562554.html).
Specifically, the State Council head called for setting up a federal television station to treat the problems of and broadcast in the languages of the non-Russian peoples, having federal subjects play a role equal to Moscow’s in nationality policy, and ratifying the European Charter on Regional Languages.
To much fanfare, he continued, the Russian Federation signed that accord in 2001, but in the years since, the Kremlin has not pushed for its ratification. One of the major reasons is that the Charter would provide the basis for Tatarstan to use the Latin script rather than the Cyrillic for its language.
But however many challenges to Moscow these meetings represent, it is the third event – a statement about the elections by prominent Muslim businessman Adalet Dzhabiyev -- that is perhaps most indicative of the thinking of many Muslims there given rising tide of Islamophobia and the failure of the government, to counter it.
Dzhabiyev, who was the founding president of Russia’s first Islamic bank until Moscow closed it without explanation at the end of last year, has frequently spoken out on a wide variety of sometimes-controversial social and political issues in which his fellow believers are involved (http://www.islam.ru/pressclub/vslux/adjah/).
And now that some political groups both within the Islamic community and abroad are urging that their followers not take part in what increasingly appear to be less than fully free elections, Dzhabiyev has weighted in seven reasons why he says Muslims must vote (http://www.islamnews.ru/index.php?name=News&op=view&sid=7983).
First, he says, Russia’s Muslims must not allow “the restoration of totalitarianism,” a trend he suggests is growing and that can only be countered by greater civic activism of all kinds. Second, voting in the parliamentary elections will help reduce “the diktat” of the executive branch over the legislative one.
Third, by voting, Muslims can make it obvious to all officials that “arbitrary actions” by the police and judicial officials will entail real political costs. Fourth, voting will also help to ensure that Muslims will have the same rights as other Russians regarding where they live.
Fifth, by taking part in the elections, Dzhabiyev continues, Muslims will help to “guarantee the equal rights” of all confessions, not just their own. Sixth, they will help to secure social justice. And seventh, they will by their actions help to demonstrate “the necessity of inter-ethnic and inter-religious dialogue” to the political establishment.
Dzhabiyev’s arguments concerning what voting alone can do for the Muslim community of the Russian Federation are almost certainly overly optimistic, but they are nonetheless likely to help to undercut the calls of some to protest what is taking place in that country’s political system by staying home.
And perhaps most important, his underlying suggestion that Muslims must display greater political activism and more civic courage in order to protect their rights could lead more of them to do more in that regard than simply cast their votes either this winter or next spring.
Vienna, November 5 – Just as Russian nationalists are raising their voices in this electoral season because of uncertainties about the future, so too the leaders of the Russian Federation’s 20-million plus ethnic Muslim community are positioning themselves albeit in different ways to press for a greater voice in their country’s future.
Three developments over the long holiday weekend in Russia highlight this potentially important trend, one that has been largely ignored because of the more visible public protests of the Russian nationalists and because of legal prohibitions against the formation of ethnic or religious parties.
The first of these events, the Third All-Russian Muslim Forum -- the first was in 1917; the second, last year, both in Nizhniy Novgorod -- attracted not only leaders of the Islamic community from around the country but also administration and parliamentary officials and journalists.
The full extent of its deliberations has not yet been reported – Russian media were largely shut down over the weekend – but several of the comments reported so far suggest that this forum reflects rising Muslim anger about the way things are going in Russia and a greater willingness by that community to get involved politically.
Government representatives made it clear that they understand that time is now on the side of the Muslims. Veniamin Popov, the former special representative to the Organization of the Islamic Conference and current head of the Partnership of Civilizations Center, was the most explicit.
He pointedly noted that “the demographic clock is working for Muslims” both in Russia and in the rest of the world (http://www.islam.ru/, November 1).
In addition to announcing the establishment of a new website about Muslims in Russia and an expanded journalistic operation, Muslims at this meeting called for re-creating a country-wide Ulema Council to guide the spiritual life of the faithful (http://www.islamnn.ru/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1922).
Were such a body to be established – and one existed for a brief period after the 1917 revolution – it would constitute a powerful challenge to the existing system of Muslim Spiritual Directorates (MSDs), institutions that have given the Russian government since the 18th century significant control over the religious lives of Muslims.
Because this meeting was organized by the Union of Muftis of Russia (SMR) which is often been at odds with both the government and the pro-Kremlin Central MSD in Ufa, it is far from clear whether such a council will be created anytime soon and just how much an impact it might have.
But the discussion of this issue at this meeting in Moscow suggests that ever more Muslims in the Russian Federation back the idea and, what is certainly more important, are prepared to speak out about it, despite the opposition of many pro-regime MSD leaders and even more Russian government officials.
The second event was the Congress of the Peoples of Tatarstan, whose sessions attracted more than 700 delegates from the 115 nationalities and 66 national-cultural associations of that Middle Volga Republic. Among the speakers were Tatarstan’s President Mintimir Shaimiyev and State Council Chairman Farid Mukhametshin.
Shaimiyev described how inter-ethnic relations in Tatarstan have stabilized since the first such meeting 13 years ago, but he complained that Moscow’s policies in this area for the country as a whole were limited by its lack of “a special organ” devoted to them (http://www.rian.ru/politics/20071103/86557212.htm).
As usual, Shaimiyev adopted a middle course, suggesting that such a body could exist within the regional affairs ministry. But the congress itself suffered no such inhibition and pointedly adopted a resolution calling for the setting up a separate agency to oversee nationality policies (http://www.rian.ru/politics/20071103/86562667.html).
Perhaps not surprisingly given the division of responsibilities between the two leaders, Mukhametshin was far more explicit in his remarks about what he sees as Moscow’s shortcomings in dealing with the Tatars and other non-Russians and what he would like to see happen next (http://www.rian.ru/politics/20071103/86562554.html).
Specifically, the State Council head called for setting up a federal television station to treat the problems of and broadcast in the languages of the non-Russian peoples, having federal subjects play a role equal to Moscow’s in nationality policy, and ratifying the European Charter on Regional Languages.
To much fanfare, he continued, the Russian Federation signed that accord in 2001, but in the years since, the Kremlin has not pushed for its ratification. One of the major reasons is that the Charter would provide the basis for Tatarstan to use the Latin script rather than the Cyrillic for its language.
But however many challenges to Moscow these meetings represent, it is the third event – a statement about the elections by prominent Muslim businessman Adalet Dzhabiyev -- that is perhaps most indicative of the thinking of many Muslims there given rising tide of Islamophobia and the failure of the government, to counter it.
Dzhabiyev, who was the founding president of Russia’s first Islamic bank until Moscow closed it without explanation at the end of last year, has frequently spoken out on a wide variety of sometimes-controversial social and political issues in which his fellow believers are involved (http://www.islam.ru/pressclub/vslux/adjah/).
And now that some political groups both within the Islamic community and abroad are urging that their followers not take part in what increasingly appear to be less than fully free elections, Dzhabiyev has weighted in seven reasons why he says Muslims must vote (http://www.islamnews.ru/index.php?name=News&op=view&sid=7983).
First, he says, Russia’s Muslims must not allow “the restoration of totalitarianism,” a trend he suggests is growing and that can only be countered by greater civic activism of all kinds. Second, voting in the parliamentary elections will help reduce “the diktat” of the executive branch over the legislative one.
Third, by voting, Muslims can make it obvious to all officials that “arbitrary actions” by the police and judicial officials will entail real political costs. Fourth, voting will also help to ensure that Muslims will have the same rights as other Russians regarding where they live.
Fifth, by taking part in the elections, Dzhabiyev continues, Muslims will help to “guarantee the equal rights” of all confessions, not just their own. Sixth, they will help to secure social justice. And seventh, they will by their actions help to demonstrate “the necessity of inter-ethnic and inter-religious dialogue” to the political establishment.
Dzhabiyev’s arguments concerning what voting alone can do for the Muslim community of the Russian Federation are almost certainly overly optimistic, but they are nonetheless likely to help to undercut the calls of some to protest what is taking place in that country’s political system by staying home.
And perhaps most important, his underlying suggestion that Muslims must display greater political activism and more civic courage in order to protect their rights could lead more of them to do more in that regard than simply cast their votes either this winter or next spring.
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