- MOSCOW - Humiliated and brutalized
by violent hazing and sexual abuse, young men conscripted into Russia's
army are running away in record numbers.
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- Last week, the military executed two more deserters who
had fled their base in southern Russia. Authorities said the men went on
a rampage and killed two police officers.
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- According to Moscow, about 5,000 soldiers run away every
year. But Soldiers' Mothers, an organization that defends the rights of
military personnel, believes the figure is closer to 40,000.
-
- "Some of them, they are just ordinary young people
who are leaving the army because they are afraid for their lives,"
says Ida Kuklina, who speaks for the group.
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- Most of the deserters are young conscripts, many just
18, who can't stand the torture and sexual abuse that is rampant in the
ranks, she says. Their stories are recounted in letters that are piled
on her desk.
-
- Anna Fedeeva's son Alexei, for instance, ran away from
his barracks and lived on the streets in Moscow because he couldn't stand
it any longer. She eventually found him, sick and confused. He's now in
a psychiatric hospital.
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- Ida Kuklina
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- "He left because he was beaten with metal objects,"
she says. "Now I don't know what's going to happen to him, but his
life is broken."
-
- The abuse, combined with budget problems that leave soldiers
poorly equipped and badly paid, has plunged morale in the military.
-
- "The conditions are appalling," says military
analyst Pavel Fengelhauer. "The food is terrible. It's like a prison,
but the inmates have guns."
-
- After turning 18, all men in Russia must serve two years
in the military. To try to reduce desertions and violence, the country's
parliament has approved a bill to give recruits the option of community
service instead.
-
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- Written by CBC News Online staff http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/06/23/deserters_020623
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