Òåìà: Russian Visa Denied to Human Rights Activist | Dear friends, | | I enclose information about the refusal by the Russian Foreign Ministry to | issue a visa for Reverend Terasawa, a buddhist monk who has worked actively | for many years to promote human rights in Russia and a peaceful settlement | to the ongoing conflict in Chechnya. Monks from his order, Nipponzan | Myohoji, in Moscow asked me to distribute the enclosed message with further | details. Protest letters to the Russian government, President and Foreign | Ministry are welcome - please see addresses below. | | Best wishes, | Chris Hunter | | -Foreign Minister Igor Ivanova, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, | Smolenskaya-Sennaya Square 32/34, Moscow, Russian Federation | -Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, Government of the Russian Federation, | Krasnopresnenskaya Naberezhnaya 2, Moscow, Russian Federation | -President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin, 103132 Moscow, Russian Federation | | | | For the attention of: | -all Russian and international NGOs, | -intergovernmental organisations, | -Russian and international mass media. | | APPEAL | | Dangerous precedent in Russia- Reverend Junsei Terasawa, a Japanese Buddhist | monk, was recently officially denied a Russian visa by the Russian Ministry | of Foreign Affairs. This was because of his speech against the ongoing war | in Chechnya at the UN Commission for Human Rights in Geneva April 2000. | | Reverend Junsei Terasawa, a Japanese citizen, born in 1950, is a Buddhist | monk and Teacher of several small communities in Moscow and other parts of | Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia and the Caucasus. He has been periodically | staying in Russia for almost ten years, and has received Russian visas | dozens of times, upon the invitation of various Russian Buddhist | organisations. Rev. Terasawa is quite well-known among the various circles | of society; orientalists, human rights activists, politicians, writers, | cultural and social activists; as a distinguished Buddhist teacher, pilgrim, | peacemaker and human rights advocate. He is also known for promoting | inter-cultural & inter-religious links, and as a deeply spiritual person, | eager and open for communication. In the 70-s and 80-s, before he came to | Russia, he lived in Western Europe for a significant period, and became well | known there as a Buddhist activist and participant in the peace movement. | When staying in Russia, Reverend Terasawa protested against violence since | the very start of the first Chechen military campaign, regularly taking part | in meetings and pickets against the war, along with his disciples. He was | also active in organising inter-religious joint prayers for peace and was | one of the chief initiators of The March of Mothers' Compassion "For Life" | from Moscow to Grozniy in 1995. He frequently visited the conflict zone. | | On 27 April, 2000, the Buddhist order of Nipponzan Myohoji applied for the | invitation for further issue of the three-months' multiple Russian visa for | Mr. Junsei Terasawa. The order was registered on 02/04/1997 at the Dept. of | Justice, Moscow, ¹ 613; and at the Dept. of Consular Service, The Ministry | of Foreign Affairs, RF, ¹ 25020. The term of the issue of the invitation | expected expired on 18 May, 2000, but it was prolonged twice. | | Finally, on 6 June 2000, Mr. D.Zakharov, Attache at the Dept. of Consular | Service, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, informed of an "official | denial" in issuing a visa for Japanese citizen Mr.Terasawa Junsei. The | official also explained that Mr. Terasawa was not marked in any of the | penalty lists of the MFA, thus being "clean" as far as the visa regime is | concerned. Furthermore, the invitation had already been issued on 16 May | 2000. Nevertheless, the invitation was retained upon the instruction of the | Federal Security Service of Russia, as the aforementioned person was on a | certain so-called "closed list of the FSB" (FSB is the new name for the | KGB). Thus, no official or other reasons for the denial were disclosed. | | The reasons are evident, however. The fact is that being a representative of | the NGO 'International Peace Bureau', Rev. Terasawa participated in the | 56-th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, held from 20 March to 28 | April, 2000, in Geneva. This Commission is the supreme international board | for human rights in all countries of the world. Junsei Terasawa took | advantage of his right to speak out, which every NGO representative | accredited has, and made an oral statement at this Commission against the | war in Chechnya. In that statement, as well as during talks with members of | various delegations, he spoke the truth about the facts of war crimes | committed against the peaceful population and about clear violations of | human rights in Chechnya since the beginning of the present-day war there. | As a religious and spiritual person and simply a man and citizen, and for | reasons of conscience and compassion for the innocent victims of this | tragedy, Reverend Terasawa raised his voice for their human rights. He also | assisted the Chechen representatives at the UN Commission in expressing | their peaceful proposals for a cessation of bloodshed. | | The official Russian delegation in Geneva was annoyed by that position and | activity, considering it to be "support for terrorists and separatists". At | the same time, on 25 April 2000, resolution 2000/58 was adopted at the UN | Commission for Human Rights in Geneva by the overwhelming majority of | delegates from many countries of the world. The resolution clearly condemned | the Government of the Russian Federation for their grave violations of human | rights in the Chechen Republic. | | Evidently, it was entirely due to these circumstances that the Russian | authorities took measures in return, as a kind of revenge on Rev. Terasawa. | Such steps are practised in authoritarian states only, and were typical for | the former Soviet Union, but are in no way acceptable for countries which | claim to be part of the democratic European community. | | We must consider the fact that all the numerous actions and activities | against the war in Chechnya conducted in Russia by Reverend Terasawa, and | even his arrest and five days' detainment in a filtration camp in Chechnya | in 1995 (where he and his disciples had their finger prints taken), were | not followed by any restrictions for his stay in Russia. Only after the | country has become generally gripped in the hands of the security services, | has such a diplomatic revenge been able to occur, in return for the open | condemnation of grave violations of human rights in Russia on the | international arena. | | We call on all organisations and institutions, all those of good will in | Russia and abroad, to raise their voices for the legal right of Reverend | Junsei Terasawa to the unobstructed entrance into the Russian Federation. | We request everyone to take all steps possible for his official | rehabilitation and the restoration of Justice. | | Today, the rights and freedom of a single person are concerned; tomorrow - | the same may happen to everyone… | | | 8 June, 2000 The Buddhist order of Nipponzan Myohoji | | For further and detailed information and papers, please, contact us at: | (+7-095) 466-09-78 (tel/fax) | | or mail us to: | 16-49, 1-st Tverskoy-Yamskoy pereulok, 125047, Moscow, RUSSIA | (For Felix Shvedovskiy) | | |_________ earthradioTV.com - Alternative News Portal for ecology, politics & consciousness. mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] earthradioTV.com MIRROR SITES: USA http://www.earthradioTV.com/ CZECH http://mujweb.cz/www/ecologynews/ UK http://members.tripod.co.uk/ecologynews/ Canada http://www.ecologynews.com <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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