RUSSIA'S DEFENSE AUTHORITIES OPTIMISTIC ABOUT FUTURE OF ALTERNATIVE SERVICE PROGRAMS MOSCOW, December 15 (RIA Novosti) - Defense officials in Russia say they have got the institute of alternative civilian service up and running now. Colonel General Vasily Smirnov, Head of the Mobilization Department of the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff, said at an online conference Wednesday that he and his colleagues believed "the institute of alternative civilian service has been developing quite successfully. The first experience of implementing the federal law on alternative civilian service has shown that its provisions promote to a sufficient degree the realization of citizens' constitutional right to the replacement of draft military service with alternative civilian service and [that they] have no flaws or contradictions." His statement comes just two weeks before the end of the three-month draft campaign, going on since September 1. According to General Smirnov, the number of Russian draftees opting for civilian service is not very large. "In the fall of 2004, 616 citizens filed applications for the replacement of draft military service with alternative civilian service. These applications are currently under consideration," the official said. He indicated that not all of the applicants would be enlisted for alternative service programs as some of these people had legitimate grounds for draft exemption or postponement. Draft dodging, too, has been showing a downward tendency lately, although the number of dodgers is still rather high, Vasily Smirnov said. According to reports submitted to the General Staff, 3,182 fewer young men dodged draft in the spring of 2004 than in 2003, he said. "On the face of it, some progress has been made in solving this problem: the number of draft dodgers is displaying a tendency toward shrinking, but in fact, it still remains rather high," he remarked. "It has to be noted that this phenomenon [draft dodging] has to this day retained its acuteness, its wide scale, its strongly pronounced negativism, and it continues to complicate the conduct of conscription-related events," General Smirnov pointed out. He cited Defense Ministry statistics indicating that 21,000 draft-age men skipped this year's drafting campaign (as of December 10, 2004), against 25,200 in 2003. General Smirnov expressed confidence that through joint effort on the part of local government bodies, drafting committees and law-enforcement agencies, the number of draft dodgers would be brought down by the end of this year's campaign. Sergei Krivenko, secretary of the coalition For Democratic Alternative Civilian Service, said early on that about a thousand Russian draftees would be enlisted for alternative service in the spring and winter of 2004 and that there was no chance they would be sent to army units or to Chechnya. Most will just remain where they are, and will be working at a military plant or a nursing home, he said, adding that the main problem for alternative service was the lack of jobs. According to Mr. Krivenko, 59 draftees are involved in alternative civilian service programs at the moment, with almost all of them affiliated with the Jehovah's Witnesses religious sect. "They serve in their residence areas, for the most part," he said. The majority is working for welfare institutions, such as nursing homes, but there are also a few sent to military plants and construction sites, he reported. | 
