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The
Treaty of Public Accord
The Treaty of Public Accord was signed
on 28 April. Since then, there has been a parade of
ceremonial signings, including, in late May, a special
event for intellectuals and leaders of the mass
media. Its explicit application to the press seems
minimal, but there is a general cast to the document and
to the technique of its legitimation which seems
significant for the direction of the media in the future.
We publish relevant provisions from
the official version. There has been little public
definition of what “special role” should belong
to the mass media in achieving the objectives of the
Treaty. A Commission on Conciliation has been
established which will point fingers at those who violate
the Treaty. First Deputy Premier Oleg Soskovets
will head the Commission.
Before adoption of the accord, its
relationship to the mass media drew criticism from Gyorgy
Shakhnazarov. Shakhnazarov was a confidant of
Gorbachev and a glasnost supporter. Writing in
Rabochaya Tribuna, the political scientist considers it
wrong for the media to “monitor” implementation
of an agreement for peace and tranquillity, given, in his
view, that “90% of the mass media, especially radio
and television, is controlled by the Presidential
team.” Shakhnazarov objected to the
establishment of a watch-dog conciliation commission
vested with extensive powers to pass judgment on how
signatories honor their commitments under the agreement.
It is too soon to determine whether
the Treaty is a facade for censorship and control, an
inconsequential piece of theater or an attempt to improve
the public sphere: to place a frame over the range
of debate that ought to occur and, through stability,
encourage an evolution toward a civil society rather than
a radical and violent ratcheting for power.
Excerpts from text, as distributed
by the press service of the president of the Russian
Federation, of the Treaty on Public
Accord (Russian: Dogovor ob obshchestvennom soglasii),
originally signed 26 April in the Kremlin:
Today Russia needs public accord as
never before. The tasks facing society are too
complex and too difficult for its resources to be
dissipated in political antagonism. Dialogue, the
search for points of contact and common ground, and
reasonable compromises must be the basic standard in
public and political life.
It is our common aim to make the
Russian Federation a flourishing state, enjoying a high
level of authority in the international arena, a state
inhabited by free people, proud of their history and
looking towards the future with confidence. This
aim can be achieved only through a public accord that
grows out of respect for the dignity of the human being,
for different political convictions and for national,
cultural and religious traditions.
For the sake of public accord, the
president of the Russian Federation, the Federation
Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian
Federation, the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the
Russian Federation, the Government of the Russian
Federation, the constituent parts of the Russian
Federation, the Public Chamber under the president of the
Russian Federation, political parties, trade unions other
public associations and religious associations
(henceforth referred to as the parties to the treaty),
acting in accordance with the constitution and laws of
the Russian Federation, placing common interests higher
than group, party, departmental and religious interests,
ruling out the possibility that the problems arising in
society can be resolved through violence, whatever form
it may take, conclude the present treaty.
I.
Attaining political stability in society
1. The parties to the treaty pledge to abide
strictly, in their activities, by the primacy of human
rights and freedoms, respect for the rights of peoples,
the principles of democracy, the law-governed state, the
division of powers and federalism.
The parties to the treaty proceed from the view that the
political life of society must develop within the
framework of the Constitution of the Russian Federation.
The parties to the treaty consider that the only
amendments that should be made to the constitution are
those that will be conducive to stabilizing the situation
in society. To this end, the parties to the treaty
will make use of conciliation procedures when drawing up
proposals. The parties to the treaty consider the
main areas for amending the constitution to be:
strengthening human rights guarantees; improving the
system for the division of powers; local self-government;
and the development of federalism.
The parties to the treaty undertake not to initiate
political campaigns in favor of holding early elections,
not envisaged by the constitution, to the federal bodies
of power.
2. The Federation Council and
the State Duma undertake to pass, in the near future,
legislation on elections, laws on the referendum,
parties, citizens’ right of association and laws
laying down the procedure for staging rallies,
processions and demonstrations.
3. The parties to the treaty
pledge to take all necessary measures to ensure stability
within the country, without which it is impossible to
emerge from the economic crisis.
The organizers of rallies and
demonstrations, and local bodies of power and
law-enforcement bodies accept moral and political, as
well as legal, responsibility for ensuring that these
actions are peaceful in nature and that they are
conducted in strict accordance with current legislation.
4. The parties to the treaty
consider that the president of the Russian Federation and
the leaders of federal state bodies must maintain a
constant dialogue with society, political parties,
movements and other public associations.
5. The parties to the treaty
consider that the grandeur of Russian history, with its
heroic and tragic pages, obliges one to avoid simplified
or insulting appraisals of the past and to prevent the
distortion of historical fact.
6. The parties to the treaty
pledge to do their utmost to promote the strengthening of
Russia’s international authority and defence
capability, and the conducting of a unified foreign
policy for the country.
III. Consolidating the federal structure
1. The president of the
Russian Federation, the Federation Council, the State
Duma and the Government and the constituent parts of the
Russian Federation pledge to adopt measures to:
—
strengthen the unity of the Russian Federation’s
economic, political and legal space;
— organize and support a unified labor market
through rigorous observance of labor legislation and
of international treaties and conventions concluded
by the Russian Federation;
— coordinate the activities of the bodies of
power of the constituent parts of the federation
regarding the accomplishment of tasks that are beyond
the scope of individual regions, and harmonize the
actions of federal bodies of power and the bodies of
power of the constituent parts of the federation
regarding the accomplishment of national tasks;
— compensate the regions if the federal bodies
of power, within the limits of their jurisdiction,
take decisions that lead to a diminution of the
revenue or an increase in the expenditure of the
regional budgets.
2. The Federation Council and the State Duma
pledge, within the current year, to pass federal laws: on
a more detailed delimitation of the objects of
jurisdiction and powers between the Russian Federation
and its constituent parts; on general principles for
organizing the representative and executive power of the
constituent parts of the federation.
3. The parties to the treaty
stress that it is possible for the constituent parts of
the federation to exercise their rights only if the state
integrity of Russia and its political, economic and legal
unity is ensured.
4. The parties to the treaty
acknowledge the need to extend the economic independence
of the constituent parts of the federation by
strengthening the tax base of their budgets and by
federal guarantees of a per capita minimum of budget
support for a region from the federal grant fund.
The constituent parts of the
federation confirm their responsibility for collecting
federal taxes on their territory and forwarding the money
to the federal budget.
5. In order to strengthen local
self-government, the Federation Council and the State
Duma pledge to draw up and pass federal laws that
establish:
—
general principles for the organization of local
self-government bodies;
— guarantees of the independence of the local
self-government bodies in dealing with matters of
local importance;
— support for local self-government by an
independent tax base and by the right to fix norms
for payments to its own budget, given guarantees of a
budgetary minimum from the state;
— the right of local self-government bodies to
take part in tackling pan-regional and pan-Russian
problems.
IV.
Ethnic relations
1. The parties to the
treaty undertake:
— to
support the equal rights of all peoples to their
ethnic development;
— to support ethnic cultures and languages;
— to support ethnic associations, unions,
societies and other ethnic and cultural groups;
— to provide for the development of a
multiethnic Russian society in which there is
dialogue, peaceful settlement of conflicts, where no
territorial claims are made within the state and
where force is not used to settle disputes, expect
where this becomes a necessary measure by the state
following a violation of human rights;
— to set up the mechanisms needed to implement
the Law on the Rehabilitation of Repressed Peoples.
2. The parties to the treaty are called upon to
observe strictly the principle that the base of power
throughout the Russian Federation is its multiethnic
people. No single ethnic group has an exclusive
right to control territory, the institutions of power or
resources.
3. The parties to the treaty
stress the need to protect the interests of minority
peoples. The implementation of socioeconomic
changes in areas where they have traditionally resided
should be accompanied by a range of measures to preserve
the cultural, historical and natural environment of these
peoples.
4. The parties to the treaty
deem it necessary to heighten state and public monitoring
of the observance of human rights in the sphere of ethnic
relations and to prevent and curb any manifestations of
discrimination along ethnic, racial and religious lines.
5. The state authorities
recognize their obligation actively to protect the rights
and interests of Russians living in other states, to
accept and accommodate Russians who are compelled to
resettle in Russia, providing them with comprehensive
support.
V. The safety of the citizen and society
1. The parties to the treaty
regard ensuring the personal safety of citizens and the
fight against organized crime and corruption as a task of
the utmost importance.
The Federation Council and the State
Duma pledge during the current year to create the
necessary legislation, including that required to
strengthen the law-enforcement bodies.
2. The parties to the treaty, in
line with the Constitution of the Russian Federation,
oppose the creation by political parties, movements and
public associations of any armed and paramilitary
formations, and favor their immediate disbandment should
such formations exist.
3. The parties to the treaty
consider attempts to draw the power structures of the
state into supporting political programs and demands to
be unlawful and immoral.
4. The parties to the treaty
consider an urgent task the working out of specific
measures in the following areas:
—
strengthening and raising the efficiency of the work
of the state’s power structures in accordance
with the real demands for ensuring the security of
the citizen and the state;
— providing legal and material backup for the
work of the state’s power structures and
establishing civil control over them, including the
reform of legal proceedings in the military, shaping
personnel policy and ensuring the openness of budget
expenditure in accordance with international norms;
— ensuring rigid control over the movement of
freight and individuals across borders with the
purpose of eliminating the illegal export of material
and cultural treasures, and the import of weapons,
drugs and ecologically dangerous cargoes;
— creating the necessary material conditions and
stepping up the responsibility of the law-enforcement
bodies for ensuring legality and law and order;
— improving the environment in ecologically
unfavorable areas.
5. In order to formulate an agreed state policy in
the sphere of security the parties to the treaty consider
it advisable that the chairmen of the Federation Council
and the State Duma should participate in the work of the
Russian Federation Security Council and that the chairmen
of the corresponding committees of Federal Assembly
chambers should be recruited to work in interdepartmental
commissions of the Federation Council.
6. The bodies of state power
provide for the possibility of participation by the
political parties, movements, public associations in
working out a concept for national security.
VI. Morality, science, education and culture
1. The parties to the treaty
stress that love for the fatherland, freedom and moral
duty to society, creative labor, all the values common to
the whole of mankind, spiritual and moral traditions of
the multiethnic people of the Russian Federation should
become the basis for its revival. The parties to
the treaty pledge to uphold, in word and deed, the norms
of moral behavior in politics, the economy and public
life. A special role in this belongs to the mass
media, education, scientific and cultural institutions,
to religious organizations, the efforts of which should
be supported by the state and society.
2. The parties to the treaty
pledge to conduct an agreed policy in the field of the
moral, spiritual, cultural, patriotic and aesthetic
education of children and young people. To seek out
the possibilities for stimulating the creativity of
children and young people, physical education and sport,
for organizing leisure activities for children and
teenagers, for which the relevant actions of public
associations and other organizations should be
encouraged.
3. Bodies of state power in
constituent parts of the federation pledge to assist in
preserving the system of free, complete secondary,
secondary specialized and vocational and technical
education, as well as not to permit the existing level of
financing for higher education to be reduced; to
encourage the creation of nonstate higher education
establishments to train specialists for vitally important
spheres of the economy, public life, science, culture and
education.
4. The treaty signatories will
take all necessary measures to overcome the crisis in
science in our country. Scientific potential
accumulated is the property of Russian society.
Federal bodies of power pledge that
they will seek funds to finance scientific and cultural
establishments to a sufficient level.
5. The Federation Council and
State Duma undertake to adopt laws which will secure tax
and other privileges for scientific, cultural,
educational and public health establishments and
organizations for veterans and the disabled as well as a
law on charity work and charitable organizations.
6. Parties to the treaty
undertake to assist in the creation of a nationwide fund
to support Russian talent, whose activities will be
financed by state forces and public, commercial and other
structures.
7. Federal power bodies
undertake to draw up an all-Russian programma to secure
cultural and other links with ethnic Russians living
abroad and their public associations.
VII. On the implementation of the present treaty
The president of the Russian
Federation will hold regular meetings with
representatives of organizations and establishments which
have signed the treaty to discuss the most important
issues connected with implementing the present treaty.
A Conciliation Commission is being set
up to carry out coordination work on a permanent
basis. The commission consists of plenipotentiary
representatives of the president of the Russian
Federation, the Government, the Federation Council, the
State Duma, the Public Chamber under the president of the
Russian Federation, the political parties, the trade
unions, other public associations and the Cossacks.
The Conciliation Commission organizes
the work of conferences, “round tables” and
temporary working groups made up of representatives of
the parties to the treaty and prepares questions for
meetings with the president of the Russian Federation.
Appendices and protocols will be drawn
up to develop the treaty; they will make its individual
provisions more specific and will be an integral part of
the treaty after they have been signed by the parties to
the treaty.
The parties to the treaty stress that
this treaty must be implemented strictly on the basis of
the existing constitution and laws of the Russian
Federation.
VIII. The responsibility of the parties which
have signed the present treaty
The parties which have signed the
present treaty acknowledge their great responsibility to
society for fulfilling the commitments which they have
undertaken.
The Conciliation Commission monitors
the observation of the provisions set out in this treaty.
Full information is to be made
available so that the mass media can cover fulfillment of
the treaty by its signatories.
IX. The procedure for signing the treaty
The treaty is being signed by the
president of the Russian Federation, the chairman of the
Federation Council of the Federal Assembly, the chairman
of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly, the chairman
of the Government, heads of republics, heads of
administrations, leaders of representative bodies of
power in the constituent parts of the Russian Federation
or their plenipotentiary representatives, and by leaders
of groups, political parties and public associations
represented in the State Duma, trade unions and their
associations, religious associations, the Public Chamber
under the president of the Russian Federation, and by
leaders of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the
Cossacks—after which the treaty is open for signing
by others.
X. The duration of the treaty and conditions
under which others can join it
This treaty is being concluded for
a period of two years and can be extended with the
consent of the signatories.
The treaty is open for signing by
representatives of public associations throughout the
period of its validity.
XI. Final provisions
The parties to the treaty are
unanimous that the establishment of public accord in
Russia is a process in which all forces in society which
adhere to the principles of this treaty are invited to
take an active part.
The parties to the treaty appeal to
all constructive forces of the Russian Federation to
support this treaty and assist in its
implementation. The parties to the treaty express
confidence that in two years problems can be overcome,
the country can be brought out of economic crisis, the
life of Russians can be improved and the prerequisites
for a growth in prosperity can be created.
This treaty was presented for signing on 28th April
1994.
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