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Тhis publication initiates a Year-Book edition series of the Institute of Human Rights and comprises the research-works by its staff- and Trustees Board members. All of the contributions had been obtained within the early post-establishment months as scientific and methodological structure. And accordingly, each material is not only an investigation of any acute problem of legal protection, but also a certain message to the Institute to indicate a strategic vector of its further development.

The book is divided into three sections, each to represent its own discriminate position on human rights situations in Russia and the World today.

Year 2001 is Russia's five-year membership anniversary in the Council of Europe, and it is most significant for Institute of Hunan Rights as an appointee by the Council of Europe to hold an international conference devoted to the jubilee in spring 2001. Anyway, each of the Year-Book selections will refer to the CE legislative base, the European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms, the European Court on Human Rights and the CE-activated mechanisms of the man's legal protection. Russia's entry into the Council of Europe is the prominent landmark of national human rights movement. The CE human rights protection experience is to benefit the Planet. Its basic convention theses will be cited by many national legislations. Consequently, we decided to name the present publication after its first section.

In eventful commemoration the Year-Book's first section will present a progress story of human rights development in the Soviet Union and Russia and record the cooperation with national and international organisations - primarily the Council of Europe.

The section is opened by a historical essay of the Institute's Trustees Board Chairman, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary A.L.Adamishin, ex-foreign minister of the USSR (1986-90) and Russia (1992-94) - the man who might be christened an initiator of the Soviet human rights laws: freedom of mass media, social and political organisations, religion, emmigration and immigration.

The article by the Deputy Director of All-European Cooperation Department of the Foreign Ministry of Russia A.I.Vladychenko summarises Russia's five-year membership in the Council of Europe. It gives a comprehensive historical narration of Russia's evolution from a CE youngling into a mature associate in the New European construction and that with her clearly-defined position to monitor pan-European developments.

The Human Rights Commissioner of the Fussian Federation O.O.Mironov is bringing forth a thorough analysis of Russia's commitments, adopted on entering the Council of Europe. The Author affirms that since 1996 it has been a long and arduous way to implement the European legal norms into Russia's legislation.

Russia's commitments before the Council of Europe and their implementation are closely viewed in the article "Russia and Council of Europe: Actual Problems of Reciprocality" by M.S.Savin, Head of the IHR Centre of Sociological Studies and Nonitoring. Despite the diversity of minds on Russia's CE membership the public polls have demonstrated that the Russian general opinion is quite positive about the CE human rights protection mechanisms as being the most efficient.

"Ombudsman To Expose Power Abuses" is a no-ambiguity title, given to a speech selection by the CE Human Rights High Commissioner A.Hil-Robles, regarding the principles, origin and development of the European most respected human rights protection body.

The Year-Book's second section is revising the actual problems of theory and practice, pertaining to legal protection of a person in up-to-date social environment. It is opened by an article "Strategy of Sustainable Development and Human Rights" by A.D.Ursul, Doctor of Philisophy and Professor of the Russian Academy of State Service at President's of Russian Federation.

F.M.Rudinsky summarises the historic, economic and scientific developments of Russia and the World in XX Century. His conclusion: "The logic of human rights development makes one hopeful that the human rights and their protection ideas will further prevail in XXI Century."

Our reader who is interested in any basic legislation problems as protection of ecological civil rights, the access to eco-information and, most important, its application norms will be satisfied by I.G.Kirst's detailed analysis of "Ecology and Human Rights".

It is the most signifficant feature of today that so many of the Russian acting politicians are showing great concern with the human rights situation. The IHR Trustees Board member and Kemerovo Governor A.G.Tuleyev subjects the Federal Human Rights Maintenamce and Protection Conception draft to an in-depth analysis in his outline entitled "Highest Value - Who Is To Preserve It?". The above document whatever its failings is an essential political fundament for establishment of an Ombudsman post in Russia. Its importance is stressed, too, in the article of the IHR Deputy Director S.B.Zangheyeva "Human Rights of Regional Aspects". Meanwhile, the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma of Russian Federation I.M.Hakamada dwells on "The Corruption World", seeing its origin in the swollen and overstaffed officialdom.

The third section is a distinctive intercultural, intercontinental and interconfessional dialogue about the history and nature of human rights as universal value.

Along with the individualistic European treatment, there might be a need of some other specific approach to numan rights, the more so in the national conditions of developing democracies. This is pointed out by the General Secretary of International Organisation of Francophones B.Butros-Gali in his address.

Y.I.Malevich will bring the spirit of polemics into his article "The Non-Western (Pacific) Tradition of Human Rights". The author's substantial logical and historical analysis results in conclusion that the newly-emerging industrial nations ought to follow the basic human rights theory of European pattern. The reader to seek a serious knowledge of the historiography of human rights on the European continent would largely profit by referring to L.I.Zakharova's work "Human Rights: Evolution of Ideas".

Moslem viewpoints on the nature of human rights is represented by the leading Moslem lawyer L.R.Sukiyanen in his "Fundamentals of Human Rights in Islam". He comes to an assertion that notwithstanding the differences between the Islamic and the majority of non-Moslem nations, a world dialogue of relative scientific character would facilitate the mutual understanding. It is further maintained by another Moslem jurist Doctor of Philosophy G.Baltanova in her investigation of feminime rights in Islam, "If the Mohammadans should ever master all the Islam-pledged rights, their humanistic experience could largely benefit the rest of the world. And only the ignorance of people, including the Moslem women themselves, does not allow them to gain its advantage."

In the article of the IHR Trustees Booard Member Doctor of juridical sciences and Deputy to the Federal Assembly of Russian Federation V.I.Elookhin "Russian Orthodox Church and Islam For Russia's Revival" the importance of national policy in present-day Russia for preservation of civil and communal peace is quite emphatic. In his message the President of World Cultural Foundation and the IHR Board Member F.Mayor talks about the tradition of cultural dialogue at earlier education level.

Doctor of Philological Sciences Professor A.O.Kolykhalova offers an article "The Language and Human Rights in Modern World", substantiating the point of view that the bilingualism can considerably expand the horizons of personality socialisation and make the way of thinking more syncretic-styled.

Our Editorial Board is open for cooperation with collegues in Russia and abroad and will proffer the platform for different expressions on the most urgent theoretical, methodological and practical human rights issues. Our main goal is to throw the objective and impartial highlight on vital problems. We trust that these ideas won't just remain a food-for-thought bibliography, but will by all means be implemental in changing the human rights situation in this country.

Chairman of the Board of Directors
of the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization
"Human Rights Institute",
Doctor of Philosophical Sciences
K.H.Kalandarov

Тalking of the human rights in the Soviet Union we must start with admitting that all of us could then see it wasn't all about right in that domain. The State was all-powerful, wretched would be the man, if he was not one of the "nomenklatura" - ruling party. With the perestroika came a feeling that much could be remedied. Accordingly, we took up the Western term - "human rights" as arms.

It would be hard to ascertain what had played the major role in preparing the unprecedented problematic makings of human rights in Russia. At the top I would place our domestic political collisions. Then there was a pressure from the West - the human rights problems were levelled up to those of desarmament and settlement of regional conflicts. The third factor is the domestic liberalisation. The people could not help feeling it was impossible to live in a civilised society along with keeping, by various sources, from 1.5 to 5 million people at psychiatric cliniques. It is no more secret that the lunatic asylum would be practiced as substitution for a forced exile or a firing squad.

In 1985 came Gorbachov. We at the Foreign Ministry for the first time in the agency's history created the Humanitarian Cooperation Department. We ventured to create a new legal base for a few issues as emmigration from the USSR, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, problems of psychiatric treatment. The stumbling block was institution of the "state secret". Those having had whatever minor access to any would ever lose any possibility of going abroad.

About freedom of press - I can remember the struggling there was about for publishing houses. All of them were state monopoly, and generally hard to access. We suggested the idea of their "de-amalgamation". There was quite a fight, too, to give our Bohemians some loosening-up - let them be at liberty to leave the country, for one thing.

Thereafter new laws on human rights (freedom of media, social and political organisations, religiou freedom, immigration and emmigration) came up. We oriented on international documents and, perhaps finally, on the common sense. But further on there appeared that shrewish system of dilution, dissolution, castration... Once I made a report about the reforms in cultural liberalisation to the Secretariate. As a result of a strong discussion nearly half of what we had proposed was spared. Nevertheless, for me the national restructuring and human rights formation time was "the star years" period. There was no gap between your shoulds and woulds at the time.

There has been quite a breakthrough in some arenas now, as for instance in that freedom of speech, now bordering on the anarchy. But remembering the fact that the no-war de-population of Russia is occuring at a rate of 1.5 million a year and what part of our population live below poverty line - how can one talk about human rights if the major right - right to welfare is never guaranteed.

Оn 28 February 1996 the Russian Federation joined the Council of Europe - the organisation called to unite all the Europeans in the name of protecting the civil society and democracy, supremacy of the law and human rights principles. Presently, estimating the results of cooperation with the CE a bolder judgement of the right choice could not be helped.

Russia as a full and equal member has got a free access to the broad spectre of CE development projects, primarily in human rights. We have got a real chance to take over the European technologies of proven efficiency in democratic society management and to invite the CE expertise to develop national legal norms at their "eurocompatibility" angle. It is under its bilateral and multilateral cooperation programmes that the comparing of ideas and enhancement of professional training of Russian state servants, law-enforcement officers, judges and others is now going on.

Consequently, this participant country of multi-million population and Eurasian territorial, cultural and historical background has added the Council of Europe another principal dimension.

The five-year dialogue between Russia and the CE has not ever been smooth and unfloundered. The most dramatic of moments appeared in April 2000, as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) had deprived the Russian Delegation of a voting right in connection with Chechnya events. Furthermore, it called upon the CE member-states to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against our Chechnya "behaviour" and totally questioned the Russia's membership.

It is but natural that the Russian side went to meet the legal concern of the Council of Europe. And it is not without a prompt from Strassbourg, that the post of a special representative of the President of Russian Federation on promotion of human and civil rights and freedoms in Chechnya with appointment of Mr.V.A.Kalamanov has been established. Since last June his Bureau has been joined by the profficient CE expert consultants, too.

In March 2001 the Joint State Duma-and-PACE expert team started its work aiming at scrutinising the Russian and Strassbourg MPs' advices to further normalise the situation in the Chechen Republic. The team-work as an unprecedented mechanism is a vivid evidence of the mutually recovered trust.

The Russian Fewderation has been active in following her policy line of expanding the organisation and making it really pan-european. And not without our support - especially as in the case of Azerbaidjan and Armenia simultanious adoption - the number of CE members was increased from 39 to 43. Practically, all the new-comers are CIS members - Russia's dual partnership.

One of the key tasks will be "de-freezing" the Belarus's application to enter the Council of Europe. Keeping Belarus in a CE "waiting-room" will by no means help strengthening the democratic tendencies in that country.

Yugoslavia is on upcoming to Strassbourg. And it is essential that its adoption procedure should not be politicised.

Our dialogue with the Council of Europe will follow a top priority line to use its capacities for protection of the Russian-speaking population in Latvia and Estonia. And the PACE has called on Riga to ratify a frame convention on protection of minorities, and also recommended to adopt a national law on minorities and to establish a related state body.

Russia's active participation in the CE legal treaty acts is another most important vehicle of her integration into a unified European legal space, and that work has had a major progress. Today's Russia is a participant of 40 European conventions, including the European Human Rights Convention to have rendered our citizens a unique chance of appeal to the European Court on human rights in Strassbourg.

Now the time would be up for a chance to ratify the "Protocol-6" to the European Convention of human rights to abolish the death penalty in peace-time. Of course, it is no simple document, but its ratification is a commitment we had taken on entering the Council of Europe, and it has to be fulfilled. It should not be forgotten that there are only two countries on the European continent - Russia and Turkey - that have not stopped death sentencing. The importance that the Council of Europe attaches to the legitimite prohibition of a death penalty is evidenced by the fact that the CE will more frequently raise the problem not only before the member-states, but also before the observer-countries. Now Russia should orientate more on developing the CE new conventional and legal acts, primarily in matters of the conventions reacting to the new XXI-Century Europe challenges of computer crimes, political corruption etc.

It is most important for the Russian Federation that the Council of Europe stay ever true to its original vocation to be no tutor, but a supporter of European countries in the spirit of partnership and non-alienation. Russia will by all means facilitate the enhancenent of the European role played by this organisation - the abutment of European architecture and the essential instrument to maintain stability and confidence on the continent.

Five years have already passed since the time when Russia joined the Council of Europe (February 28, 1996) and acceded to the Charter of this organization and other fundamental documents. One of the major steps towards the implementation of the obligations accepted at the moment of joining this organization was the ratification by the Russian Federation on May 5, 1998 of the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Protocols to it, which for the first time gave to Russian citizens the right to address individual complaints to the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg. Russia joined simultaneously the European Convention on the Prevention of Tortures and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The Frame Convention on the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter of Local Government were ratified. Thus, the basis for the implementation of the basic norms and standards of the European law was laid in the Russian Federation.

The conditions - recommendations of Russia's accession to the Council of Europe are listed in the PACE Resolution № 193 (1996) of January 25, 1996. Its provisions are in general of a recommendatory character. However, the Resolution № 193 is basically an appendix to the legally binding Resolution of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe 96/2 of February 8, 1996 with the proposal to Russia to join the organization.

Russia's plans and obligations regarding the improvement of its legislation and bringing it into line with the European standards were formulated in the special Address to the Council of Europe in February, 1995, which was signed by President B.N.Yeltsin, the Prime minister V.S. Chernomyrdin and the then Chairperons of the Federal Assembly Chambers V.Shumeiko and I.Rybkin. In the appendix to the Address - "Comments on the Elaboration and to the Plans of Improvement of the Legal Order in Russia" an analysis of the improvement of the Russian legislation and law implementation practices was presented in accordance with the Council of Europe standards. The principal idea of the Address and the appendix to it was that the Russian Federation took up precise and unambiguous guarantees of the implementation of the recommendations put forward by the European organization. Thus from the point of view of international law they became legally binding for Russia.

A number of the obligations was mainly of a political character and was probably determined by the situation that existed at the time of Russia's accession to the Сouncil of Еurope (including those on the withdrawal of the 14th Army from Moldova, on putting an end to the first Chechen war, etc.). At the same time most recommendations are formulated in a precise manner from the legal point of view, their implementation can be controlled quite easily, as they concern concrete measures aimed at bringing the Russian legislation into line with the European norms.

A significant number of the Council of Europe requirements was supposed to be implemented by Russia within a year after the accession to this organization. In particular, it was necessary to ratify the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedom and the Protocols to it №№ 1, 2, 4, 7, 9, 10 and 11 as well as a number of other European conventions; to reform the Office of Public Prosecutor; to adopt a law on the Commissioner on Human Rights; to make changes to the laws on national minorities, on fundamental political freedoms, on the freedom of conscience; to improve the conditions under which prisoners are kept in jails and to bring the penitentiary institutions within the terms of reference of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation; to introduce a moratorium on the execution of death sentences from the date of the accession to the Council of Europe and to abolish death penalty within three years after ratifying the Protocol № 6 to the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms; to lift all prohibitions on the freedom of movement and choice of a place of residence; to recognize legislatively the right of citizens to address individual complaints to the Council of Europe controlling bodies and the compulsory jurisdiction of the European Court.

Ratifying and coming into force of the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms1 in the Russian Federation resulted in the necessity to make corresponding changes in the domestic legislation with the purpose of bringing it into line with the rights guaranteed by the international document. If one could argue about the extent to which the obligations taken up by Russia on February 28, 1996 in accordance with the PACE recommendations were facultative, there are no questions concerning the Convention: according to the Article 15 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation it is an integral component of the state legal system and in case of contradiction between its norms and the domestic legislation norms the Convention provisions should be applied2 . Both the Council of Europe experts and Russian lawyers formulated the basic criteria determining the necessity of adopting or making changes to legislative acts of the Russian Federation so that they would meet the Convention provisions3 .

The principal obligations, which were taken up by the Russian Federation when it joined the Council of Europe and which have not been implemented up to now, as follows from the analysis of all the mentioned documents, are the following.

Ratifying the Protocol № 6 to the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (on the abolition of death penalty);

Making modifications and amendments to the Law " On the Militia " with the purpose of preventing militiamen from the possible use of force and specific means falling under the definition of tortures, inhuman and degrading treatment;

Reviewing the present functions of the Office of General Prosecutor and the Federal Security bodies with the purpose of bringing the activities of these bodies into line with the generally recognized European standards;

Adopting a new Criminal Procedure Code;

Adopting a Law on the Alternative Civil Service;

Safeguarding the constitutional right to the freedom of movement and the choice of a place of residence;

Making the amendments to the Federal Law " On the Investigative and Detective Activities", which would allow to determine precisely the procedures of dealing with the information obtained as a result of the telephone conversations interception;

Improving the legislation on the freedom of conscience with the primary purpose of preventing the discrimination between citizens belonging to different religious confessions.

The necessity of taking urgent measures to bring the Russian legislation into line with the European standards was repeatedly emphasized during scientific conferences, seminars, in scholarly publications4. In the resolution of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly adopted on March 7, 2001 " On the cooperation with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe " it was noted that the State Duma thinks it necessary to activate the work aimed at reforming the Russian Federation legal system, Russia's adhering to the Council of Europe legal documents as well as improving the Russian Federation legislation in accordance with the standards set in the specified documents. The Russian Federation Government is recommended to strengthen the control over the implementation the Council of Europe conventions to which the Russian Federation is a signatory. The State Duma committees are charged with speeding up the consideration of the relevant legislative drafts.

A comprehensive analysis of the issue of Russia's implementing the obligations taken up at the time of joining the Council of Europe and ratifying the fundamental European conventions gives an ambiguous picture of the state of affairs in this area.

Though one can state that a great deal has been done since 1996 to incorporate the European law norms into the Russian legislation, there still remain a number of problems of principle complicated from both the legal and political points of view to be able to speak with confidence about Russia's complete adhesion to the European legal field and Russia's adoption of the rules of the game unequivocally recognized by all the Member States of the Council of Europe. It is obvious that we are still far away from the point when every court and every judge taking a decision on this or that case will be guided not only by the Russian law norms but also by the European conventions, by the case law of the European Court and other bodies of the Council of Europe.

At a present stage Russia faces the question of where it belongs in Europe and in the world. Whether it should return to the old methods, ideals and values, to the authoritarian and totalitarian models under the slogan of "the Russian originality " and specific national features. This is a course that, as the 20th century showed, leads to an impasse, to the deterioration of living conditions of the people and to self-isolation or whether it should turn towards Europe with no reservations to proceed along the way of adaptation of democratic ideals and values, according to which human rights and freedoms are essential. The participation in the Council of Europe, the implementation of the accepted obligations, which demand responsibility, is to a certain extent a criterion to determine which of the options will be chosen.

1 I would like to draw attention to the fact that from the domestic legislation perspective Russia ratified the Convention on March 30, 1998 (the Federal law on its ratification was adopted). From the international law perspective the Convention came into force in the Russian Federation on May 5, 1998, on the day of handing the official ratification document in Strasbourg.

2 In accordance with the Constitution and the Federal law "On International Treaties" international treaties of the Russian Federation are an integral part of its legal system. If an international treaty sets rules other than those envisaged by a Russian Federation law then the international treaty rules are to be applied (point 4 of the Article 15 of the Constitution). In accordance with the point 1-"b" of the Article 15 of the Law on International Treaties the treaties on fundamental human and civil rights and freedoms are to be ratified in the form of a federal law.

The Russian Federation is a signatory to the Vienna Convention on the Law of International Treaties. The Article 27 of the Convention stipulates a principle according to which obligations arising from international treaties should be implemented no matter what the domestic legislation provisions are. In case of a collision between international treaty and domestic legislation norms the norms established by the international treaty are to be applied.

3 See Human Right in Russia and the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: Materials of the International Scientific and Practical Conference on October 29-30, 1996, Saratov, 1997; European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Legislation and Law Implementation Practice of the Russian Federation. Comparative Analysis. Strasbourg, 1997.

4 See S.A.Glotov. Constitutional and Legal Problems of the Cooperation between Russian and the Council of Europe in the Human Rights Area. Saratov, 1999; S.A.Gorshkova. Human Rights Standards of the Council of Europe and Russian Legislation. Moscow, 2001.

Alvaro Gil-ROBLES

The idea of establishing an ombudsman institution belongs to Sweden, so that is why the first ombudsman institute was created in that country. All ombudsmen are proud of the fact that the native country of ombudsman institute is Sweden. The institute was constantly developing. But there is a question, why does the institute of Scandinavian origin, connected with Scandinavian political system, take its development only in Scandinavia and then suddenly expand its activity in different countries of the world? I think that the ombudsman institute is developing in the result of deep crisis of traditional democracy, that happened after the World War II in Europe. There was a necessity of restoration of European countries and political institutions of Europe. Besides, there was a crisis of traditional liberalism in the 19th century, so the society applied for help to the State. People wanted the State to play the concrete role in their life. They wanted the State to uphold the education, health protection. The society required social policy, which would implement the principle of equality, solidarity. That would give the chance to make life better, to make people be closer to the culture and economic resources. The consequence of this political conception is that the State intrudes on a lot of spheres of social life of the people. The more services there are in the State , the more the State intrudes on the life of the people, and the more people depend on the State , on the authorities. This situation, when people depend on the State, a lot of conflicts happen between them. National authority try to be separate from the society and not to listen to its opinion. The authority creates its own needs for functioning. If the State is not under the control, it keeps away from the society and becomes despotic. Such authority has no respect to the people, and the officials think that they are the masters of the power and should not be held accountable to anyone.

When analysing the problems pertinent to Russia's entry into the Council of Europe, it should be pointed out, that its admission procedure had taken quite short of four years, as the war in Chechnya made the member-countries have it suspended in February 1996 for another seven months. The process of entry roused a very controversial public reaction as was clearly demonstrated by the public opinion polls of the later decade.

Among general mistrust and disbelief there was even more restrain on the part of national human rights activists. The reason could be accounted for unpreparedness of Russia to measure up to the CE high standards, or to meet its requirements. Indeed, it was feared that her entry would entail degradation of the very standards.

The doubts were particularly high after the initial CE-Russia contacts. Answering the question of whether Russia would succeed in becoming the full and equal CE member within 1 to 2 years only 30 percent of the participants in the "Russia and European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms" seminar in December 1992 gave an affirmative reply.

With the date of entry coming near, however, the earlier bad prognoses transformed and took shape of more positive expectations. It had become possible owing to noticeably more coordinated positions of the various political forces, notably the President and factions of the State Duma.

In connection with the Russia's admission the CU Parliamentary Assembly adopted 20 recommendations imposing serious commitments upon Russia. But regardless of much controversy caused by that imposition the very fact of admission was a testimony of her recognition as democratic state.

Among the commitments and obligations fulfilled it would not be out of place to mention Russia's participation in the CE conventional and legal acts and establishment of a human rights commissioner status in the Russian Federation.

Of course, the accomplishment of commitments in not an end in itself. It still requires more efforts to modify the human rights situation which remains complicated. In fact, the violation of human rights, and that not infrequently of mass character and gross nature, will be observed occurring nationwide in many social groups of Russia. To secure a steady progress in human rights there is quite a job yet to do.

That might appear paradoxal, but according to public opinion polls of two years later a number of the commitments supporters has remarkably dwindled as the 5-year stay in the Council of Europe revealed the bulk of complex problems Russia has had to tackle.

The opinion polls gave a clear picture of Russia's discontent with the reasons not hard to discern. The matter causing her strongest dislike of the commitments is, primarily, their large number to make their implementation unrealistic within the time alloted, the commitments practically unrealisable in the area of disarmament and security (what is quite outside the CE's competency altogether), lack of those emerging from the European Public Charter.

Besides, the ratification of European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms by State Duma on 20 February 1998 has rendered the Russian citizens an opportunity to seek protection of their rights in the CE. But that opportunity will be rather limited by certain provisions in the CE judicial system. By a rigid rule under the system, the citizen can only address the European Court after having exhausted all the national means of protection. It is no mere chance that over 20,000 out of 30,000 individual appeals to the EC failed to pass a prior verification for investigation.

There is no doubt that further development of relations between Russia and the CE will be dependable on many factors. Naturally, Russia would expect a more comprehensive and active assistance from the CE side. Likewise, Russia should be apt at facing critical valuations of her power structures for violations in the area of human rights. What would be solely unacceptable to Russia is a policy of double standards to be practiced by the top CE echelons in her regard.

The confrontation of humanity and nature as a an aggravating global problem of civilisation, will bring real hazards to the existence of mankind and every human being in as nearly as 21 Century by a would-be nuclear, ecology or any other likely disaster. An answer to the mankind's classical question in favour of "to be" for the human civilisation lies in a no-delay package solution of numerous global problems by developing a related reciprocality strategy of Millennium III on a basis of new forms (ways) that would help to balance the conflicting claims of the world population and the nature.

The conception of sustainable development (SD) strategy, adopted by the UNO Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, supported by the related national documents and promoted by nearly all of UNO member-states, can be pespectively viewed as a new civilisation strategy. The sustainable development is understood to be a governable social advancement to ensure a nature-friendly, survivable and progressive development of civilisation.

The adoption of the SD-strategy will imply a gradual transition to a systemed and targeted self-organisation of a society in its major activity spheres. In that sense the sustainable development should be measurable by at least 3 criteria, such as economic efficiency, ecological safety and social justice. Accordingly, to be in line with the sustainable development it will be essential for a new human rights system to comprehend in its basic setting all the mentioned spheres and general aims of the new paradigm of civilisation.

It is but natural that the SD-transition would be progressive only on cardinal re-orienting in priority values (including the area of human rights and freedoms) and with forming a noosheric consciousness. The priority mechanism to make transfomations would be really implementable with a new 21-century-model education system, not only performing a function of imparting the knowledge, experience and culture by the past and present generations to the future ones, but a function of preparing the man for advance actions to hold up a civilisation survival in conditions of global crisis and SD-transition. The pre-instruction as an SD-education system should, firstly, develop more rapidly as compared to other, material aspects of social activity. Secondly, the new model's 'outward advancement' aspect should be closely linked with an 'inward advancement' aspect, as the education will orient on a futurology, the never-ending fundamental values and aims and the on-coming noospheric culture favourable to a civilisation's survival and its posterior SD-stability.

In general the traditional idea of humanism outside the new civilisation development strategy involuntarily pre-supposes that the mankind's extensive development will be endless. However, the biosphere has already put its rigid ecology and resourse limits on the traditional humanism. The idea of humanism, perhaps first time in centuries, will have to undergo cardinal changes. Those changes logically evolve from SD-principles defined by Rio de Janeiro UNICED Declaration, which observance would allow the mankind and the biosphere to survive. The humanism must transform under the principle views of preserving the biosphere. So long as it was a matter of preserving the civilisation and mankind without giving any care to the biosphere, it was that kind of humanism when all was dedicated to Man. But it is quite obvious now that there should be no more destroying the biosphere, and the humanism (including the human rights) has to be approached and differentiated as mostly ecologised.

In perspectives of sustainable development the mankind will be a major protagonist of ecological interaction in the biosphere as ecosystem, who does not destroy the environment, but as far as possible adapts himself to biospheric cycles and submits the society to biospheric laws. Thus the idea of humanism will assume an ecosystem character. The humanism will become, in a sense, a biospheric, or ecological humanism. There lies its distinction from the traditional humanism, that focused on the man, his abilities, rights, freedoms and expansion of its essence capacities.

We can say that the UNCED is the first to have taken a crucial decision to consolidate the mankind's actions for its survival in biosphere. Prior to that, even with the UNO, other international organisations and treaties available the real development of nations had been, in fact, doing without any joint strategy on the world level. To implement the model of sustainable development the mankind needs not only to unite, but to monitor the global socio-ecological development.

However, it has never been a general understanding that the need to adopt a new civilisation paradigm and world progress strategy is so much urgent. There are some people to be resoning that up to now the world development has been spontaneous, and the spontaneity would push the mankind to progressive advancement without any necessary annihilation of the living majority. So the on-coming development, despite the planet's population growth, industrial expansion, shortage of resourses, environmental contamination and the like, would nevertheless come up to some kind of a new spontaneous revolution, as it had happened millennia ago, say, in transition period from gathering to cattle-breeding and husbandry.

And for all those local cataclysms and even ecological catastrophe whatsoever, the partial survival of mankind is quite possible to start a new turn of history for millenia to come. So no strategic decisions, that might infringe traditional rights, freedoms and growing demands of the present generations for the sake of posterity need be taken.

We must say that such resoning would be very short-sighted. The modern development is fraught with serious consequences. If we should intend to preserve the mankind in its present positive features, without apprehending its eco-mutant regeneration, if at all, we would have to take measures for its survival.

The unique feature of our planet is that there exists a highly-developed life on it, unobserved anywhere else out in the Universe. The preservation of bios and noos is now becoming a matter of the human concern. The planet's living beings form their own habitat and sustain its stability, creating optimal conditions for own existence, i.e. the stability of biospere is provided by its natural communities.

Preserving them the man will be able to live in full concord with function and evolution laws of the bioshere, whereas destroying the latter in interests of some accelerated economic progress, he would be nearing an ecological catastrophe and, finally, his own end.

The biospheric and ecological treatment of the world development, briefly stated above, should replace the presently-practicable resource-oriented approach, leading to destruction of the planetary ecology niche. Instead of an environmental destruction, ensuing the strategy of economic growth and annihilation of other forms of life, there should be adopted the strategy of co-survival and preservation of both mankind and bios - civilisation and biosphere.

What are the perspectives of the human rights in the XXI century?

There are reasons to suppose that human rights will be developed at the international level. Human rights are also the possibilities that will allow people to survive in the conditions of different catastrophes, such as atomic, hunger, pollution and so on.

The appearance of new world hazards can lead to the appearance of new human rights. Now we can say about the creation of the fourth generation of human rights. I suppose that the rights connected with biology, genetics will be fulfilled in the XXI century. The development of biology led to the possibilities of experiments on human genetics. There are some kind of legal and moral standards that must not lead to the destruction of the human race. The standards of international and national law will be developed. We suppose that different human rights institutions will be also developed. I hope that people will take human rights more serious. And a big role is given to the education in the sphere of human rights.

I suppose that in the connection of science development and agriculture development there will be a lot of possibilities to exercise human rights. Probably the development in the sphere of medicine will help to liquidate AIDS and Cancer in the XXI century. That are the most serious problems in the sphere of human rights connected with the health protection.

But we should pay our attention to the problems of economic development. Many of the scientists suppose that China will become one of the powerful state of the world and its potential will be higher than the potential of the USA. Today the dollar is a universally recognized currency, but the amount of produced dollars does not coincide with the national resources of the USA. This situation can cause a world crisis. If the financial crisis happens it will lead to the economic and social disfranchisement. This crisis will increase mass hunger, unemployment, people will lose their money. We see the international criminality and drug trafficking is gaining strength. International criminal groups are stronger than many of the states today.

I would like to draw your attention to the problem of environment protection in the XXI century. The document "Agenda on the XXI century" was passed at the international conference in Rio. This document makes provision for soil erosion prevention, sea and ocean protection, and annihilation and liquidation of toxic production.

There exists a problem of death penalty. In XXI century the torture was legal, but today in developed countries it is supposed to be a crime. The death penalty contradicts human rights conception. Only tyrannical regimes use the death penalty to exterminate their enemies. We suppose that penitentiary system must be more human, the imprisonment must not be a torture.

It is known that about 400 AES in the world give 17 % of energy. Probably, the human race will find new ways to get the energy and may be it will be connected with the discovery in the sphere of astronomy, and that will lead to the appearance of a new right - the right to accessible and safe energy.

But the most important question is whether will the human race be able to avoid a new world war and regional conflicts in the XXI century? There exist places of the international intensity, they are: Near East, Kosovo, Chechnia… But the main problem is the contradiction between the developed countries and the countries dependent on the developed ones. About 50% of the dependent countries do not get the support which the West countries must give in accordance with the UN decisions. The main kind must solve this problem.

As for Russia, it is in a very difficult situation now. Our country accepted the universal human rights conception, passed Human Rights Declaration of 1991and a number of democratic laws. And it is important to point out the progress made in the sphere of human rights as freedom of speech. (But not the right to freedom of expressing one's opinion through the mass media). We can see the forming of multi-party system and democratic electoral right. But at the same time we witness the disintegration of our country. Tadjikistan, Chechnia, Russian refugees - that is the price of our democratic freedoms. What we see now in the sphere of economic, social and cultural human rights is: poverty, problems with free education, people do not get their salary, criminality is flourishing. If Russia rejects the capitalist way of living, it will be possible to say about better life in Russia, about serious changes in the country.

As it is said in the Constitution of Russian Federation, the human being and his rights are the high value (clause 21). All state institutions have to exercise human rights. And all decisions made by the officials must be made taking into account human rights. Every State must ensure good level of living of its people.

On the way of development of human rights in the XXI century, there could be a lot of problems, the solving of which depends on policy of large states, on progressive international and political organizations.

The mankind will be able to overcome the difficulties, if it takes the human rights conception as the basis. This conception says that the rights and freedoms of human being are the high value and are above any kind of authority. Seeing the way the human rights had been developed last centuries we can hope that human rights will domain in the XXI century.

The Ostankino fire that had inflicted a heavy damage to the famous TV tower, thus involuntarily "violating" the right of Moscow and suburban audiences to obtain information and depriving them of showcast and communication services, has highlighted an issue of the Federal security itself. The event has shown up both vulnerability and incapability of the Federal authorities to cope with the like emergencies, or to master up protection of all the subjects of informational relations. As a matter of fact, by the law the authorities can be responsible for state secrets alone, while the matters of informational protection and security are entirely thrown on the public lap.

To protect interests of the legal subjects and for the better maintenance of informational security in Russia there is a strong need of definite legislative acts on the basis of reciprocal actions by the involved structures and co-ordination mechanisms. And keeping in mind that the informational security is a precondition and a key component of the national security as a whole, its urgent handling is so much essential. Nowadays there are a number of security problems awaiting solution to set things going.

What are those problems?

Firstly, the lack of a common system of informative selection and the deficiency of decision-making on high level;

Secondly, the lack of due cooperation between the existing structures liable to handle security problems, as the agencies in its charge will now and again replace the state's interests with the vested ones of their own in quest for more power.

Thirdly, the deficiency of a system to effect security control and supervision from on high and by the general public and civilians, what will very often let the topical and long-overdue solutions languish in disregard.

Strenghtening the national security, including the information, is a number-one priority in Russia today. It is clear that keeping along the line of the former law-making policy and practice with rudimental or no conception of media legislation at all will invalidate the Constitution-declared civil rights and make the building of a law-based state and an information-oriented society in Russia no easy task.

The informational security is based on a freedom to obtain information and on a prohibitive principle of the right (What isn't forbidden will be permitted.). It is clearly defined in international legal acts, the RF Constitution and in a number of federal statutes. Under direct limitations the RF Constitution numbers all the cases included in Declaration of Rights and Freedoms of the Man and Citizen.

What is to be done next to improve the situation in Russia?

Proceeding from the principle that the international law is prior to a national jurisdiction, a universal document to list and define the liable-to-limitation rights and freedoms ought to be finalised, adopted and legally-supported with corresponding amendments to be eventually introduced into the RF Constitution and the international acts. It is unequivocally stated in the above mentioned documents that all the limitations to be imposed on international rights and freedoms shall be defined and determined solely by the law.

The limitations should be applied in the three cases, namely:

• for protection of personal interests;
• to maintain the social stability;
• in interests of national defense and security.

The recent analysis of the existent legislation has revealed its principal shortcomings - contradictoriness, high-flying declarations, "white blanks" and nominal discrepancies. Besides, there are over 30 types of secrets that in fact will just hamper the citizens to take advantage of the guaranteed informational rights and freedoms.

Of late, there have been futile attempts to harmonise the situation. So in the 1995 Federal Law on Information and its Protection the entire information of restricted access has been organized in two divisions - state secret and confidential information. But strange as it may appear, in the 1966 Federal Law on International Information Sharing the state secret was re-classified being considered a type of the confidential information. That definition jumble has survived up to date, transmogrifying into a reference of the so-called "other legal safeguards of information" which could only mean further extension of the restricted list.

We reasonably believe that for a proper arrangement of that matter it would be wise to formulate a specifically detailed list of confidential information, the scope of its interrelations within strictly defined limits of compartmentalized responsibility of the in-charge officials for its disclosure. We also think it advisable that the information of restricted access be grouped in two big divisions, as

• state secret;
• confidential information, including that which disclosure might invade privacy and/or endanger personal immunity, commercial secret, professional secret and corporate secret.

The legal interrelations in each particular case should be detailed and regulated by a specific case law on the subject.

The Constitution provides certain types of no-restriction information, in particular that on the environment. Indeed, the authorities must expose and divulge such data, else in cases involving the jeopardy to human health and life they could be answerable to the law for its undisclosure, withholding or concealment. Meanwhile, there are a few exceptions when in fact the Constitution authorizes the confidential gathering and filing of information on individuals under domestic crime detection, or loyalty investigation in the state security cases. The exhaustive list of such cases should now be established and given the legal foundation.

Among the mentioned types of information there are a few that cannot be considered confidential, but could be subjected to restriction, or limitation on diffusion in force of its negative influence on public morals. To mention but a few, those are the defiled advertising, or the notorious show by parapsychologists and occult organisations, rendering harmful effects on human subconsciousness through mass media by special technologies (cadre 25) or techniques (psi-generators). And although the restrictions are unequivocally embodied in the Constitution, there is not a legislation to formulate the criteria, verification expertise norms, restriction mechanisms and diffusion classification, related to such information.

The legal relation problems arising in the handling of computer networks and systems should be the major concern of an on-coming legislation project. The particulars of law violations in this area are given in the RF Penal Code (Chapter 27 Articles 272 to 274). But its precision-lacking wording, deficient investigative mechanisms, inadequate technical base, shortage of qualified personnel and insufficient law enforcement experience to investigate the related crimes will make the current implementation of the above PC articles quite questionable.

Until the nation in its authorities gets a strategic realisation of an integral national policy, its understanding and broad public support in cooperation and with effective control by all civil strata neither info-minded society, nor law-based state in Russia will ever prevail.

Today Russian economics is based on completely old technology and because of the strong influence exerted by the human being is highly dangerous for environment.

The understanding that all hopes for absolutization of property to the means of production and privatization as self-sufficient panacea of rational using of natural resources will not be fulfilled. The structure of Russian economics does not let restore it and reach the standards of the end of the eighties - beginning of the nineties. It will lead to more ecological degradation and environment pollution than it was before.

The Constitution of Russian Federation gives us the right to safe and clear environment, and excess to the ecological information. It is forbidden to refer to such information with the limited excess documents concerning the extraordinary situations, ecological, meteorological , demographical and other kinds of information, necessary for safeguarding of national security. Information about environment protection, antimonopoly legislation violation, realization of products that can bring harm to health of the people, and other violations of legislation.

But, unfortunately, our "ecological" rights are only announced. One of the obvious violation is the settlement, financing and realization of projects that did not undergo the examination.

The rights of the people to environment protection are given in "The environment protection" Law of the Russian Federation.

The powers of social organizations almost coincide with the powers of people , but the social organizations have the right to demand the making an examination and recommend their own representatives for taking part in it.

In "Ecological examination" Federal Law gives the interpretation of the term "ecological examination" in this way: "ecological examination" is the establishment of conformity of the agricultural or any other activity with the ecological standards and the estimation of the possibility to realize the concrete project". The most important principle of the examination is the presumption of potential danger to ecology of any agricultural or other activity that is to be realized. The projects of the Russian Federation normative and non-normative legal laws that can bring harm to the environment are to undergo the examination.

The conclusion is that not only the planned construction projects, but also the act projects of the Authority, including laws of the Russian Federation, Presidential Decrees, can be examined.

It is very important to support the Federal Conception Draft, as it is the first project where the attempt to assess the condition of the country, and to determine the priorities of human rights was made. This document contains the recommendations on setting up an Ombudsman on human rights and an Ombudsman on child's affairs at each subject of the Russian Federation. The experience of Sweden and FRG shows the effectiveness of their activity. It is important to say that new Rules of Kemerovo region make provision for setting an Ombudsman on human rights in Kuzbass.

This document contains an offer to pay greater attention to the problems of disabled persons. The authors underline that there is no chance for disabled persons in our education system to get the education as the able-bodied men do. It also concerns the Higher Education system in Russia. But it should be remarked that we have an experience of creating DP study groups at the law department. The lecturers who work with such students mark the higher level of intellectual capabilities. And as a result the country will get the skilled workers and the disabled person find their place in life.

The authors of this document say that the majority of the human rights violations have happened in the social-economical sphere of employment, salary payment, habitation and so on. At the same time they maintain that the process of safeguarding the social-economic human rights is long, difficult and distantly aimed at the social-economic progress. In other words our generation would spend the life-time on this progress to be started, but never have an opportunity to see the results of it.

We find such approach wrong and unjust. People want to live and enjoy this life. They deserve better life than that they have now, waiting for the salary for several months. Also we think that this conception is Utopia, as people would hardly be waiting for the results of this process. It will lead to the social protest.

We strongly believe that this conception must be aimed not only at the future life, but at the problems that exist today, the problems that need to be solved now. The authors single out the social groups that need human rights protection first: migrants, army servicemen, children and inmate convicts who also need human rights protection and others. But these authors did not mention about the human rights protection of students. Young people who are our new generation, our children and our future have to survive in this life, because the money they have is not enough to buy food, pay for living in the student hostel. Many students can not rely upon their parents, as those do not have enough money to pay tuition fee. Some students work, taking care of the territory around buildings, some of them work as watchmen, some girl-students embarking the night business.

We think that the state should take care of students no less than it takes care of the people who are in the isolation wards. Besides, a special document should be created that makes provision for crediting when getting the higher or specialized secondary education.

The authors are concerned with the violation of women rights. They say that women practically have no vocations in federal and regional authorities and the state.

But we suppose, people chose those candidates they want to see as their leaders. And the sex shall be no obstacle.

The authors of this project insist on refusal from the death penalty , as it will be the step to the humanization of our society. When Russia became a member of Council of Europe, the death penalty law was temporarily stopped, and Russia signed a Treaty. According to it, Russia is to strike the death penalty off the Criminal Code. We find this step premature. Should the death penalty be abolished, criminals would kill without fear to be sentenced to the capital punishment. We think that death penalty must exist untill the terror is eradicated. It is enough to remind the acts of terror, happened in Moscow and in other towns of Russia, as a result of those acts the buildings were blown up and many people died. Is it possible to be human to these terrorists?

It should be noted that the death penalty still exists in many democratic countries and no one can say that one of these countries is uncivilized.

The Project contains the interpretation of the rights of nations to self-determination. We are against this interpretation, as it says that the federal subject can be excluded from the state only after both sides sign the treaty in consent. We affirm that that is inapplicable to the Russian Federation. In accordance with our Constitution, State secures its territorial integrity, and a federal state is based on the state integrity. So, we can say that the federal nations could the Russian Federation neither theoretically nor practically.

As to the national relations, we must make that point clear. For many years the policy of our country has been based on more favouring the interests of various nations and the protection of the national minority interests. The same approach we find in the Federal Conception, where the interests of Russian people are not taken in account. We suppose that this problem should be declared and only then we could solve this problem.

There are a number of good programs that could be realized in Russia, but, unfortunately, they are simply words on paper and will not work. And in order that this Federal Conception be realized it is important that this conception should meet the national requirements.

Russia has stepped into the 21st century with a new President and renovated hopes that those ideas to protect human rights as the highest value of a civil society will triumph. By President of the Russian Federation V.V.Putin's Directive the 89 regional subjects with their own stratum of local laws will have to re-examine the entire legal basis and have it harmonised with Federal Legislation. Same might apply to the legal relations, touching a human rights institution as separate legal branch. The existing normative and legal mechanism needs overhauling, and a draft Federal Concept of Human Rights and Freedoms Promotion and Protection will seem to be quite timely to appear on today's legal scene of Russia.

The faults and drawbacks in the current legislation mechanism of human rights protection are not yet surmounted. As a matter of fact, in accordance with the proposed draft Concept the ombudsman institution as legal nucleus of the human rights system will ever again render the regional authorities that chance of being the sole arbiter to handle human rights. Judge for yourself: the decision to appoint an ombudsman in the Federal subject is to be taken either by Governor, or by a local legislative enactment; the ombudsman candidate nomination be initiated by local authorities; financing of the ombudsman's activity in Federal subjects be locally-budgeted as well. In that way the ombudsman would be just another branch, 'pocketed' by the local leadership.

When President created 7 Federal Districts to strengthen "the vertical of power" it was hoped in the regions that the order would be restored. By the President's virtue, the ombudsmen is to control the local human rights situation, on the one hand, and to protect people from the arbitrariness of local authorities, on the other. The local ombudsmen can and must maintain both down- and upright links between the President and the population. They must consolidate the public confidence in Russia's President, the bright future and justice, that might be meaningful of an ombudsman to be a kind of spiritual ecologist.

The ecology of human spirit might be a novel dimension to the state security to be given a special ranking in the National State Security Concept of Russia today. The rebellious spirit of Russia and a revolutionary situation would be topics, cautiously evaded by all, starting from Governors and the Duma Members to general population. The Civil War is wanted by none. Nor is it wanted by the patriots of Russia, loving their Motherland, deeply concerned about her future fate and wishing to revive her as Super Power.

Undoubtedly, there is a need of an ombudsman in every subject territory of today's Russia. The ombudsman must champion an idea of Russia's revival - the national idea of the Russian people. The ombudsman must be a combatant for the President's course, destined to save his people from genocide and extinction.

The Ombudsman must be a true defender of the popular rights of the humiliated, insulted and bereaved majority, hopeless of any bright and happy future. The ombudsman must do his best to revive the popular enthusiastic zeal as a powerful creative factor.

I hink that creation of the Institute of Human Rights under the auspices of the Human Rights Commissioner in the Russian Federation O.O.Mironocv is a very important event for development of liberalism in this country. "Human rights" is by no means just a florid combination of words - the human rights must be ralised. It is necessary to adopt legal acts, to create a free economy, and in the end to generate the citizens who would be courageous to face up the State in defence of their legal interests. Therefore I will fully appreciate the emergence of the Human Rights Institute as a special organisation to promote human rights affairs in Russia.

Whenever our big authorities fail to cope with so many obliged commitments, their immediate instinctive move will be to shun the public wrath by arranging a sideshow, or as mostly experienced, by producing a gay-coloured sham in a kind of that factory dummy boss. Punching its puffed-up sides the hands would give vent to their anger steam, never to vex those on high with a qestion - now what earthly good are you, anyway? There have been so many likely dummies throughout our national history - from the kulaks and saboteurs to negligent economy functionaries. Now the antireformists are creating another pet-hate monster - the Corruption Myth.

To go strong the Mith has to be backed by stout and irrefutable facts - otherwise who is to believe it? Indeed, the corruption in Russia has become a real plague, outgrown onto a federal scale and with hot money turnover by far surpassing the national budget. Indeed, it is drawing an endless chain of both present and imminent troubles stretching out beyond the horizon. Meanwhile, as to its reasons and, consequently, the methods of combatting it the Myth will bring along its own irrealistic interpretation.

To begin with handy commonplace assertions terming the corruption as "the reforms' negative concequences", as an ugly, but unavoidable companion of a market economy. Henceforth the Myth's new saying - talk of the market, and the corruption is sure to appear! But the above asserions are only to make us forget that the Soviet Union was corrupt throughout. True, such word wasn't then popular. We used to say "blat" (or "pull") as the Soviet for "corruption".

All of us, both common men and officials, were mutually involved in that claw-me-and-I-will-claw-thee system, and that was the only no-failure social mechanism of that epoch. But it was a corruption, if only of a non-pecuniary, natural and tacit form. In fact, it is even boring to go on proving that. As to the top officialdom, it could do without any apparent corruption, as they were in possession of all and everything, being proprietors of the wealthy state machine that did not need any "greasing" by the impoverished population. And it is worth to look back if only to interrogate, why on having particularly changed our country will be remaining the same in that domain?

The dummies to be mobbed should have familiar faces and significant positions in economic and political super elite, as that would casually add the anticorruption fighters more moral weight - let those around see how far they could fling that weight, whatever high-powered and well-to-do their opponents might be. Hence the Myth's main fighting strategy: take them bad boys away to give room to better ones!

But in fact, the Russian corruption has quite another countenace, although that does not necessarily amnesty the highly-placed bribers. It has the countenance of a common man, dwarfed by the swollen army of voracious bureaucrats - big, middle and small.

For the duties of Saint George to slay that terrible dragon of corruption the Mith would qualify a law-enforcement system. And that would be another illusion. The police force is effective only as standing in arms against occasional violations, but it would be powerless to combat what has become a life norm. Even if we should mobilise quite a good number of men in iniform to keep a close watch on the entire army of officials, that would be of a singular result - the shrewd corruptionists would raise their tariffs to buy off the watchers!

We must be aware that the corruption technologies are well-advanced and equipped with many scams and schemes of "contracts" and "payment documents". Any contract would be in apparent order - clear and lawfull. In the meantime that project undemanded would never leave a dusty shelf, but amazingly, that never translated into evidence. The Mith is stubbornly trying to thrust the gibberish that the first cause of corruption rests in a market system which is to blame. But it must be emphasised that a true market and the corruption are inversely related - it is never the market to give birth to corruption, but ever the corruption to kill the market, as in the latter case all the business relations between the major players won't be governed by free market principles, but bossed by the bureaucrat in charge at his own selfish discretion. Under corruption pressure the market becomes a dead fiction play on a clumsily-decorated stage with the protagonists feigning a market behaviour.

The Myth won't go further than counting money in others' pockets - how much have those ungodly profiteered unfaily? And that would be enough for the Myth to gain its ends. As soon as the corruption became the only instrument of economic management, the officials would likely be both active and inactive, following their vested interests and missed chances. And that would be just a focus of it, the true economic losses being off the frame.

Can the corruption be conquered? If the victory is to mean a full and final extermination, I would say, "No, it cannot". It would be similar as to erradicate all the deseases, to forbid the hurricanes and typhoons, or to make all humans immortal. It is impossible to liquidate that human evil. So long as the bureaucracy survives, there is soil for power abuses. So long as the money continues to exist, it will tempt people and cause them to stumble. And the sporadic crackdown attempts on it would be of no big avail. Even in the Stalin time of total terror and sleuthing atmosphere the corruption can have survived.

Indeed, what renders some countries vulnerable and defenceless before that calamity, as it is known to be there in others (outside the brackets, though) without frustrating their social and economic process? To understand let us compare how the market and the bureaucracy do work. They play, so to say, different level fields. Private firms are self-sufficient. They are never overstaffed. Every staff member performs his duty within vested responsibility. The higher the position - the greater the responsibility.

Meanwhile, the state structures live at taxpayers' expense - and that's the long and the short of it. They could be absolute bancrupt, but never acknowledge that. The principle of their existence is subordinated by a major disbalance between the measure of power and the degree of personal responsibility. Every bureaucrat whatever small is the vehicle of Power.

It can be affirmed, therefore, that the corruption is a functional by-product of a state apparatus. Mentioning a well-known Parkinson's law about beaucracy tending to self-expansion, I would dare to augment it by maintaining that the bureaucracy's corruptness aggravates on progressing in that tendency.

In some countries the corruption would appear in a form of occasional, if boisterous, rows. On a closer scrutiny of foreign state management experience we can see the common picture. Those authorities are not to rule, but to manage. Preciseky, as a first class manager runs and controls a corporation never minding the ownership. In the same manner, those authorities are no owners of the state, but it is the civil society to control them. And in force of this the authorities' actions are transparent. The state's functioning is public-oriented - it is performing the duties bestowed upon and unmanageable by the society.

With us it is quite different. A real number of our national officialdom by far exceeds the middle class - the main motive power of a free market economy. It is not the market that overexpanded, but on the contrary, the bureaucracy has limited it all over, made it submissive and labour-forced.

How high should be the remuniration of a state servant? No lesser than that of a success business manager, perhaps. But there being so many, they are paid a meager pittance. That they do not deserve more is another matter, since they will bear no responsibility, be unprofficient and function as errand boys and girls. But all the same their scanty salary can never provide a decent living unless they go about peddling any administrative resource.

It won't be hard to understand why the drive against corruption is so often a favourite trump card of nearly all political rivals in their election games. Indeed, the corruption is a deadly public enemy, and it is a death or life war. There would be no need for the politicians to elaborate explanations: just be metal-voiced and show your determination - and the elector is yours.

But it is amazing that so many big politicians under anticorruption banner should so persistently avoid looking at primitive roots of that phenomenon. Neither "Fatherland All Russia", nor communists, nor that "Apple" in tandem with Mr.Boldyrev in person - none goes beyong the original Mith only to reduce it to opposition of men - good and bad, honest and dishonest. That political logic cannot develop anything else but an image of vulgar confrontation of clans contending for a better place under the sun, with the one most successful in obtaining the killer libel materials to be on top.

However, there is none to further as natural the idea that the corruption has nothing to do with the wholesome economic development, nor with social justice, nor triumph of the right. I can see only one reson. Owing to our historical specifics we are unable to get rid of that medieval reverence before authority as before the Almighty - omnipotent and omnicompetent. So what now that we should be bold enough to defame the President? In the innermost of soul we are not yet citizens, but subjects to emjoy the rights condescended by the authority. Indeed, we will call Russia now a state, now a country, ignorant of the nominal distinction.

Along with numerous metamorphoses our country remains the same. The state fetichism will unite and make us all related - both those associated with authority and those never involved. Could the authority ever waive its sacred halo? Could it ever be simple-hearted, affectionate, open-minded and diligent like that good old nursemaid? And, in the meantime, that it be primarily oriented to our needs, listen to our remarks and, to put it roughly, know its niche? But this idea, so natural and prevailing with the men of a free society, has never passed through our soul filters.

What could be done now that the reform of power, as a guarantor to exterminate corruption, is a matter of some indefinitely distant future? Meanwhile that our law men and volunteers may be hunting down some titled corruptionists, we should come down to earth and focus on how it is going on. About the nature of a bribe. There is a clear enough reason for it to be taken.But why to be given? By law and order, it is no lesser crime, that too. Scrutinising a number of cases we can find that despite the variety all of them are generally motivated and modelled. The bribe giver is to get something, or to get rid of something, and it is to be urgent at that, and giving a bribe cannot be helped as the problem seems to have no other alternative.

I can see three convergent lines of action. It is necessary that there be an alternative to the bribe - reliable, accessible, supported by the right and the law. There is a need of a network of human rights protection centres as special branch of legal public service - both professional and social for low-income groups. There is a need of judicial reform to enhance the production in court. Then the best consequence of any encounter with a corruptionist would be no promise to "favour", but immediate application for court action. That would change the public psyche and behaviour what is very important in busting the the corruption encourager of bureaucracy. And it should be public-minded, too, as fighting the monstre of corruption will be only successful, when it is publicly-supported and socially-energized.

The second line of war on coruption is to clearify and adjust the standards ruling our mode of life. We must make the rules observable by making them generally suitable. The present Russian legislation won't facilitate adequate standards. Strict following of the current officious prescripts would make any business initiatives impossible. Harmonizing the legislation is a vast, painstaking and extremely labour-consuming job, but it is urgent. Also, if we are to declare a total war on bribery we must start with clearing the turbid waters of our economy harbouring the cirruption big fish.

The third line should touch the state apparatus. To make it more compact and efficient there should be no more stalling till a radical reform of power comes about. It is enough to have a look at that squeeky-wheeled, awkward and sluggish State machine to detect faulty performance of its ill-designed components. Every now and then the important decisions are languishing, not because they are deliberately retarded, but because it is a normal here routine of handling papers on a long way through the upstair corridors and labirynths of power. And the most urgent thing is an official staff reduction with considerable raise in salary of those remained on payroll.

As soon as the three lines have converged, we will have all our fair mind to say that Russia is really about to outlive the corruption.

The World Conference on human rights took place in Vienna when the World Declaration of human rights of 1948 and the conception of fundamental human rights that belong to every human being, was under criticism. This conference confirmed the universality of human rights and took a step to admit that the relations between the state and its people are not the matter only of this state and its national jurisdiction.

Being scientist, journalist, politician and diplomat I paid great attention to human rights issue. I was a member of different non-governmental organizations which were occupied with human rights issues. For some time I was a member of Experts Commission of International Labor Organization, worked in UNESCO in the sphere of human rights. I supported the suggestion of President of Senegal Leopold Sengor to elaborate an African human rights charter. Later on this charter was passed. That charter contained the rights not only of every human being (in separate), but also the rights of peoples.

Thanks to such experience I can say that I know the peculiarities of human rights matters, and the way of work in the sphere of human rights in countries of "the third world". I should say that there exist the most difficult situations in the sphere of human rights not in Europe and North America, but in Mohammedan world, that is in China, South-East Asia, Africa and in some Latin America countries. All these regions are the large geographic and demographic part of the world. Here there is the religious, cultural and economic intolerance, that causes some difficulties in the exercising of universal human rights.

On the 14th of May, in 1993, before the World Conference on human rights in Vienna, a group of members of human rights department under the authority of Carter center in Atlanta paid me a visit. Before the conference in Vienna, the former president Jimmy Carter held a meeting of experts, where the "Atlantic application" was elaborated. The representatives of Jimmy Carter gave me the ideas of this application, where the main point was the suggestion to settle "UN High Commissioner on human rights". He is to rule the human rights activity in the world.

I objected to that suggestion and explained that I did not want to start working with bureaucracy again. I had a sad experience in work with so to say "Human Rights Center" in Geneva. And I should say that every attempt "to co-ordinate" will be considered by the countries of "the third world" as some kind of pressure on them, that will cause the difficulties to make progress in the sphere of human rights. The title "High Commissioner" was implemented in the period of British colonialism and we should forget it.

I explained the representatives that there was no need to implement a new post, that could lead not only to the wastes of money, but also to the negative reaction of people in different countries. I also doubted the universality of human rights. The exercising of human rights should be a slow process.

I think that only the non-governmental organizations and Western world could be interested in this suggestion. I told that a lot of countries apply for help to go over to democracy to UN. But I told them: " If I settle a special representative of Secretary General on democratization issues, we will lose the hope to make progress. And I think that such approach could cause only suspicion".

My guests were very surprised. Then they left after continuous debates. But I knew that their opinion would be dominant.

Problem of the Human Rights for the young democratic states is the key problem of establishment of the sovereignty. There is a necessity of the essential analysis of the theoretical approaches of the different interpretations of the problem in order to solve the problem of the Human Rights. Now we live in the conditions of the multy-poles world, where the USA is the leader. On the other hand, the world community aspires to the multipolar device. It is obvious, that the second world leader will become the REPUBLIC of CHINA or conglomerate of the states in the Asia Pacific Ocean Region. The important factor of the development of the Аsia Pacific Ocean Region is the deep historical traditions, and also great attention of the countries of region to processes of formation and establishing of the modern concept of the Human Rights in the international relations.

The Human Rights are not the final result of moral development of the society. They help to understand human dignity. The sufficient number of the concepts concerning human dignity is not based on the concept of the human rights.

The human rights in western understanding were generated of the XIX - XX of century as a set of social methods connected with the specific concepts of human dignity, which originally has appeared in modern western society in reply to the social and political changes which have occurred in the modern states and in modern capitalist market economy..

The numerous supporters of the traditional concept of the human rights aspire to prove, that in all societies there was a concept of the human rights. Thus the scholars try to explain the differences with the Western interpretations of the human rights from the linguistic positions.

The essential characteristic of the human rights in Islam is that they are the duties connected with the divine authority and give the power from this. Whatever rights exist, they are consequence either actions or occupied position, but not the fact of existence of a reasonable creature. It is often that the human rights are not the obligations to others, but only the duties to satisfy needs of the governors.

Some authors try to prove the existence of the human rights in the traditional Africa, saying that there are some concrete limits of ruling or true distribution in the economical and political spheres. But it is far from the nature of the human rights. The human rights in the Africa were usually based on the position in the community, on the family or social status and on the prosperity.

There was no term of "right" in the Chinese language at all, yet it was not required to enter it into language, for translation of western concept in the end of the XIX century. The traditional Chinese doctrine is expressed in the number of duties of the governors, which Chinese authors call " various approaches to the human rights ". It is the alternative approach to a problem of human dignity, which does not include the human rights.

The concept of " the human rights " of former Soviet Union is amazingly similar to the traditional non-western concept. The most important thing in the Soviet approach is the merge of the rights and duties. One Soviet scholar affirmed, that: " the social importance and the value of each man is determined by that how he exercises his rights and executes duties ". There existed the real analogies between the rights of the Soviet people and the international standards of the human rights, but the Soviet people did not have the human rights in the meaning of " human rights".

The key distinction between the modern and traditional approaches to the problem of human dignity is the increasing role of individualism in the modern approach to the human rights.

In liberal democracy of the western world the unique storehouse of the human rights is the person. The social model of the traditional concept is a small community based on groups of the large families. The similar communities can be justified only in case there exist extremely limited resources and dangerous environment, that does not give an individual chance to survive. Economic, social, and cultural changes destroying traditional communities often deleted support and protection, which "would justify", or " would give the compensation for " absence of the individual human rights. Capitalism and industrialization have brought the human rights, which, under the concrete circumstances, play the most important role in protection of human dignity.

For achievement of the majority of the purposes put before the developing countries, the human rights are more effective approach rather than traditional or more modern strategies of the rights without a humanitarian orientation.

Human rights are certain norms of behavior for the individual, society, and state. They serve to regulate public interaction between many individuals with different needs and goals to prevent possible conflict of their interests. Human rights ideas have been formed for a prolonged period of time in the social activity of humans. The volume of the rights that belonged to the individual at different historical stages has varied.

The primitive society elaborated rules of mutual aid and mutual protection under the conditions of the human fight against the severe forces of nature. These norms came to be known as "mononorms" since they were syncretic in character and could not be classified as norms of religion, morality, or customary law. Mononorms reflected primitive equality, which, on the one hand, provided everyone an equal status, but, on the other hand, strictly subordinated the individual to the community. However, the very fact of the crystallization of the mononorms testified to the fact that primitive people started to view themselves as a whole and realized the necessity to preserve and develop their community. It manifested a grand evolution of mankind that came out of the animal kingdom.

With the disintegration of the primitive society simultaneously with the class formation legal norms started to appear. However, the formation of legal systems connected with major social divisions of labor and the appearance of the privileged high class did not testify to the evolution of human rights ideas yet. Violent means of governance were applied to the majority of the population, and only the representatives of the governing class could enjoy their freedom.

Hegel studied the socio-political life of mankind in the framework of which the absolute idea turns from the subjective into the objective Spirit (Geist) and finds its expression in the institutions of the family, society, and state. He viewed the progress in the realization of freedom as the purpose of the human society development. In the work "Philosophy of Law" Hegel showed that the world history in its development is characterized by the progress of reason and freedom. In Eastern despotic societies no one but the ruler was free, in the ancient Greco-Roman world the number of free people was considerably higher, and in the German Christian society in which Hegel lived, there already appeared some of the features of what is known today as civil society where all citizens are free.

Hegel's space of freedom expanded simultaneously with the establishment of the slave-holding democracies in the ancient Greek polises and with the dissemination of natural law ideas. All inhabitants who were citizens possessed equal political rights now. In Solon's constitution in the 6th century B.C. some of the democratic features were reflected and the right to call state officials to account was established.

Ancient Romans contributed significantly to developing civil liberties. They further developed natural law ideas based on reason inherent in humans. Ancient Romans were the first to introduce in practice the division of powers, which is the mechanism of the state governance necessary for safeguarding individual rights and liberties.

In the Medieval feudal society the first attempts were undertaken to limit the monarchical power. The great Charter of Liberties signed by the King John in 1215 set up a new system of interaction between the monarch and major barons by establishing a committee of 25 barons who exercised control functions with regard to the king. One of the Charter's articles declared the presumption of innocence for the free people: from now on they could be imprisoned only on the verdict based on the laws of the country.

The formation of the bourgeois system in England resulted in adopting a number of progressive normative documents relating to human rights and the division of powers mechanism extremely important for their effective protection. The 1628 Petition of Right submitted by the English Parliament to the King Carl I obligated the monarch to protect his subjects from the arbitrary rule of the king's officials. The Petition described the conditions on which new taxes could be levied - only on the common consent reflected in a parliamentary act. It also declared that no one had the rights to commit anyone to death contrary to the rules and liberties of the country.

The 1679 Habeas Corpus Act manifested a noticeable advancement in the evolution of human rights ideas. It included a number of legal guarantees of the security of person, introduced the notion of the "proper procedure" and the presumption of innocence principle. From now on anyone who considered himself wrongly arrested could request the court to issue a "Habeas Corpus" order. If such an order was issued the petitioner was brought into court. If the arrest was declared unjustified, the petitioner was freed and could not be arerested again under the same accusation.

The 1689 Bill of Rights adopted in England after the Glorious Revolution actively contributed to establishing the constitutional monarchy. It declared the Parliament's supreme power in the legislative sphere and further developed human rights ideals by proclaiming the freedom of speech and discussion in Parliament, the freedom of election to Parliament, the right of subjects to petition the Queen.

Ideas of ancient thinkers and 17th century English legislators were further developed in the European Enlightenment philosophy. The English philosopher John Locke interpreted the rule of law notion as a state based on natural law rulings and on the division of powers into the legislative, executive, and federative branches. Locke is viewed as the founder of liberalism because he was one of the first who wrote about the primacy of the citizen' s rights and called the state his servant. According to Locke, the power of the state established for the protection of citizens' rights is limited by these very rights. Thus citizens preserve the right of rebellion against the state authorities if the latter start acting contrary to the initial goals, and the rulers are held accountable to the people.

The outstanding 17th century French jurist Charles Montesquieu also studied the division of powers idea the realization of which is a primary condition for the effective human rights protection. In his work "De l'esprit des lois" he singled out a number of factors that regulate relations within society - popular spirit, as he called it. Montesquieu considered climatic conditions as one of the factors and he commented on the division of powers in England in this light. He noted rather ironically that the English needed the division of powers in order not to lay all the blame for the poor weather conditions on one person in power. However, Montesquieu viewed quite seriously the political freedoms of the citizen as a direct consequence of the division of powers mechanism at work.

Doctrines of Locke and Montesquieu based on the division of powers and the protection of citizens' rights and freedoms along with the ideas reflected in the normative documents of the early bourgeois society in England were later developed in the New World during the struggle of North American colonies against their mother country (the 1776 Declaration of Independence and the 1787 US Constitution). Ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers, English and American normative acts mentioned above exerted a noticeable influence on the constitutional legislation of the revolutionary France (the Declarations on Rights and Freedoms of the Citizen adopted in 1789 and 1793).

In the 1776 Declaration of Independence the Founding Fathers declared it a duty of the state to protect inalienable natural rights of the individual such as life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. The Declaration voiced the idea of a great democratic republic and although the declared equality applied in reality to the white men-landowners only, this historical document was very important. The former British colonies turned into independent states, the principles of popular sovereignty and self-determination were declared, the people were given the right to change or even throw down the government that violated those rights. The US Constitution introduced the division of powers mechanism, but did not provide a list of the individual's inalienable rights. The 1791 Bill of Rights compensated for this deficiency. The Bill was composed of the first ten Amendments to the US Constitution, which were aimed at limiting the power of the state in its interaction with the individual. It forbade the US Congress to adopt laws infringing upon the freedom of speech, press, religion, meetings, and demonstrations. The Bill obligated the state to protect personal rights of citizens such as the security of person, the inviolability of one's abode, papers, and property; it also set up the jury system.

The 1789 Declarations on Rights and Freedoms of the Citizen pointed out to the "ignorance or oblivion of natural, sacred and inalienable human rights" as the primary causes of public misfortunes. The Declaration reflected two principal natural law ideas such as personal freedom ( the security of person, freedom of thought, speech, press, and religion, security of private property, etc.) and the sovereignty of the people. The logic of the revolutionary fight brought the French Convent to adopt a more radical Declaration on Rights and Freedoms of the Citizen in 1793, which comprised the people's right to rebellion.

At the end of the 19th-beginning of the 20th century Russian philosophers also pondered over the two basic natural law concepts such as personal freedom and sovereignty of the people. Boris Chicherin believed that political freedom of the individual is rendered in practice in the publicity of governance and legal proceedings, in establishing representative institutions from the local up to the supreme power level. He viewed the United States as a vivid illustration of it. Konstantin Kavelin dwelled upon the passive character of the Russian personality and echoed Chicherin in that the state should contribute to developing personal freedom, which would result in the formation of civil society and representative institutions in Russia. Nicolay Berdyaev pointed out to the lamentable absence of the "taste for popular governance" in the Russian people: neither of the first two Dumas had come to be regarded as indispensable in the public opinion to make impossible their dissolution. Berdyaev was convinced that forming civil society would be of paramount importance for future reforms in Russia. According to him, it was no use operating the notions of a "class" or the "intelligentsia". In Berdyaev's view every Russian should realize first that he was a personality and a member of the nation. Being a deeply religious man Berdyaev believed that man becomes a personality in his unity with God.

Human rights ideas have been developed throughout the centuries in the framework of the discussion between advocates of the natural law doctrine and positivists. The 20th century has witnessed wide popularity of the positivist interpretation of the natural law theory and considerable progress in the international law regulation in the human rights area.

The foundations of international cooperation in the sphere of human rights were laid in the UN Charter. Article I of the Charter declares that one of the UN purposes is international cooperation in "promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion". Article 55 also stipulates that the United Nations shall promote "universal respect and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all".

In 1945 after the adoption of the UN Charter the goal of elaborating an international bill of human rights was set. On December 10, 1948 the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It proclaimed the right to life, liberty and the security of person. All basic human rights were declared there, primarily civil and political as well as the right to work, to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being, the right to education, the right to participate in the cultural life of community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits, the right to the protection of the author's moral and material interests. The Universal Declaration is not legally binding, however, as many jurists believe, its stipulations have gradually become part of the international customary law.

Human rights set forth in the 1948 Universal Declaration were further codified as a result of the UN activities in this domain. In 1966 the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights were adopted by the UN General Assembly. During more than 50 years that have passed since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights a number of very important documents have been elaborated in the human rights area such as the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the 1973 International Convention on the Elimination of the Crime of Apartheid and Punishment for It, the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the 1984 Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child.

In conformity with the conventions adopted within the UN framework special organs were set up to control their implementation. These are the Committee on the the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (since 1970), the Human Rights Committee (since 1976), the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (since 1982), the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (since 1985), the Committee Against Torture (since 1988), the Committee on the Rights of the Child (since 1990) and some others.

The 1975"Helsinki Final Act contributed significantly to consolidating the notion of human rights in the international law lexicon. Among the 10 principles guiding relations between the participating states there was a principle of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It was proclaimed that the participating states would "promote and encourage the effective exercise of civil, political, economic, social, cultural and other rights and freedoms all of which derive from the inherent dignity of the human person and are essential for his free and full development".

The ratification by the Russian Federation of the 1950 European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its Protocols on May 5, 1998 manifested Russia's progress towards the implementation of international human rights standards. It gave Russian citizens and all persons under the Russian Federation jurisdiction an opportunity to appeal against the decisions of national judicial institutions in the European Court for Human Rights located in Strasbourg.

Entering the third millennium humanity starts to perceive itself as a whole and evolution of human rights ideas results in the transformation of the states' community into one human community. This gradual transformation finds expression in the growing attention towards humanitarian problems, towards human rights issues. However, international cooperation in the human rights sphere is characterized today by the two conflicting tendencies. On the one hand, the sovereignty of states is still considered inviolable (Article 2(7) of the UN Charter); on the other hand, states are slowly moving towards a more global legal order (Article 2(2) on the states' obligation to cooperate; Chapter VII on the collective security; some moderately successful efforts undertaken by the International Tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia in the field of international criminal adjudication).

International cooperation in the human rights area at the actual stage calls for the revision of the methods used. It is time to give up the ideological polemics and double standards when the attitude towards human rights violations is not determined by the gravity of the violations, but by the state of bilateral political relations, that is by political considerations. In order to guarantee the objectivity and impartiality while considering human rights issues international control organs could employ more widely independent experts and special rapporteurs who do not represent a state, but act in their personal capacity. The improvement of the criteria for considering individual complaints sent to the international control organs is another promising direction for action in depoliticizing human rights issues. Individual complaints cannot be politically motivated. During the nomination of international human rights officials certain requirements regarding personal qualities should be advanced, in particular being conscientious and impartial, which is already implemented while nominating the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human Rights Commissioner of the Council of Europe.

The discussion between advocates of the natural law and positivist theories is to be continued. The latter quite justly point out to the fact that the principal role in safeguarding human rights still belongs to the state. However, the role of public movements, NGOs and popular diplomacy becomes more significant. The interaction between state and public institutions seems to be very important and promising in the noble cause of protecting human rights and freedoms.

The investigation of the human rights - is a new branch of Moslem legal science, which works it out in comparative method. The comparative method is caused by that fact that Moslem world takes the accusations brought to Islam of human rights violation as a reproach to the Shariat.

The role of human being in his relation with the State, embodiment of human rights and freedoms in legal system in the whole, the term of the subjective right in the relation with the objective right - these are the criteria which define the specific part of legal system.

The normative part of the Shariat comprises two main groups of rules of conduct. First group concerns the cult, the exercising by the true believers of their religious duties, the second group regulates their relations. The main sources of the Shariat - the Koran and the Sunna contain the cult regulations that are given in a wide range and it makes an impression that the Shariat is a system of duties. In the sphere of mundane behaviour of Moslems, the Shariat has another approach: these sources make provision for concrete regulations.

According to the western positivist conception the right is the standard, formulated by the human being. This standard can not define the nature of universal human rights and freedoms. Such criteria is God's will, which can not be under the subjective interests. The western liberal conception tells that the securing of human rights is the defense against any kind of infringements by the State. But the Islam consider the power as the institute, closely connected with the Shariat and playing the leading role in the realization of its regulations, including the human rights and freedoms.

While elaborating the human rights conception the traditional Moslem law notions and categories are used. All the subjective rights are classified into three categories: the rights of Allah, the rights given to the individual persons and the mixed rights that meet both the divine and the individual interests. The Alas rights belong to the public rights, and the rights of individuals belong to the private rights. The Moslem law divide all human action in obligatory, approving, and the actions, that are forbidden and reprehensible.

The conception of "the Shariat aims" estimates any subjective right in accordance with the values which will be realized with the help of this subjective right. There are five aims - they are : Religion, Life, Reason, continuation of mankind, property. All these aims are successive in the hierarchical order.

So, the Islamic human rights conception, on its high level, is subordinated to the religious idea. The status of an individual in the Shariat is based first of all on the subordination to Allah will. The term "mukallaf" stands for "burdened". But this "burden" is the responsibility before Allah not only for performing the duties, but for the proper using of the given rights in the framework of Shariat.

Despite a special view on some serious questions, the modern Islamic approach to human rights has a lot of common with the world standards which are testified by the Human Rights Declaration of Islam, passed at the Islamic conference in Cairo in 1990. This Declaration says that people of the world are equal, because they all believe in God, and only faith in God can make the human dignity higher. Practically the regulations of this declaration do not contradict the international legal acts on human rights, which make provision for specific exercising of these rights according to national and religious peculiarities. Indeed, cultural differences make the modern view on this problem richer.

The human rights as natural aspirations of life are in the focus of today's world political development, and it would appear to leave no room for the confrontation thereabout. In fact, the dialogue between the Western and Islamic civilisations will commonly take shape of mutual claims and assaults. None of the issues may be so attractive and overgrown with so great a number of inventions, misunderstanding, false interpretations and miscomprehension as the issue of feminine status in Islam. Polygamy and feudal-beyish treatment of the woman, her deprivation of civil rights and her slavery, fanciful rumours about harems and odalisques, arbitrariness of the man - all that has mingled up in the mind of the Western and the Russian common man into general chaos. Meanwhile, it is quite incomprehensible for either Russian or Western individual, why the womanfolk of traditionist Islamic communities should so stubbornly adhere to Islamic norms and would even struggle to revive their traditions and Moslem rules.

Doctor Saleha Mahmood, the chief editor of a Moslem minorities world journal of Saudi Arabia and a delegate to the 4th World Conference of Women in Beijing, writes that the resolution and other final documents of the Conference have contained an implicit idea that the religion and traditional institutions are blocking the way to better conditions of women. Customarily, the conservative Moslem countries will ever be instanced. Given that, exclaims the author, it remains yet to be understood why the Moslem women themselves will so persistently oppose the Western-style modernisation, offered by the very Western Democracy. Why, even as an immigrant in a Western country, should the Moslem woman observe the custom of parda, a symbol of rightlessness and humiliation for both the European and the Russian woman?

The subject of a woman status in an Islamic society is so inexhaustable in historical and socio-economic aspects, that we could venture to just outline a few principal, or key issues of that comlex problem. Our reference to it is caused not only by its actuality in a context of the dialogue between different civilisations, but also by a personal life experience in the authentic Moslem environment, where many myths about emancipation and freedom of the Western and submission of the Moslem woman have been shattered. So, for instance, one of the most widely spread in the non-Moslem world popular scares is an image of the mahr, or kalym as a trade deal. Meanwhile, the mahr is just another proof of the bridegroom's wealth and a guarantee of a welfare he can provide his wife with. The mahr becomes the wife's property she is free to dispose of at her own discretion. Besides, it remains her possession after the divorse and will continue to be her means of subsistence and rear support to bring up children till their teens.

Prior to embarking on the issue of feminine rights in Islam, however, we should make a reservation that there exist the classiacal Islamic doctrine (theory) and its various local interpretations (practice), which may differ with a country, its customs and level of socio-economic and cultural development, state of development of the very Moslem women who generally have a very poor idea of the Islamic doctrine and their own rights and duties. The American "Moslem World" testifies that polical developments in many Islamic countries is alienated from the Islamic ideals and throughout correlated by practical reality in those countries. Thus the social policy in relation to women is defined by the tribal and patriarchal customs that will commonly contradict the Islam. Doctor Haifa, a she-researcher of Saudi Arabia, affirms that there is no conflict between the Islamic doctrine and the process of social modernisation, including modernisation of the woman status. But there would be a conflict between the Islamic doctrine and the obsolete traditions of Moslem peoples, inconsistent with the Islam and development needs of Moslem countries. Indeed, adherence to the archaic and obsolescent customs will make the woman their very hostage, whereas both the Islam and the Sharia give her broad social and family rights. A secluded family life and compulsion in matters of matrimony, job selection, education and career is contrary to the Islamic doctrine which initially and inequivocally proclaims the equality of Man and Woman.

Women's strife for their rights in Islamic countries ought to be started with implementing the rights and freedoms laid down in the Islam and the Sharia. It should be referred to a detailed article "The Moslem Women and Divorse in England" by British she-researcher L.Caroll, who writes that the Moslem women, immigrant-residents of the second and third generations in European countries, are quite less Islam-doctrinated than their counterparts in Asia and the Far East, and therefore they will be more arbitrable by their parents and eventually by their husbands in family affairs, career and way of life, and consequently subjected to a greater serfdom.

The Islamic doctrine will maintain that unlike the Western positive right the Mohammedan right is originated by the Almighty alone, that the principle norms and rights are laid down in the Koran and Sunna and, consequently, they are true, eternal and absolute. There is no contradiction between the modern Western concept of Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Sharia. Indeed, a concept of human rights is viewed by the present Moslem theorists and fakihs (law scholars) as having initially been contained in the Islamic doctrine since its origin and expansion, while the Western world came to realising that important idea fourteen centuries thereafter.

The Islam formulates the basic human rights and freedoms: rights to life, religion, private property, human dignity and liberty life. The human rights, as given by Allah, are superhuman and supersocial, and the State must protect and defend them. As it is written by the prominent Russian jurist L.Suyukeyinen, the Western liberal conception rationalises the consolidation of human rights as their protection from a State's encroachnment, while the Islam regards any authority as a guarantor to see to that the Sharia prescripts, involving the human rights, be exactly observed.

A unique dialectics of human rights and duties is a particular feature of the Islamic doctrine. The human rights in Islam are sacred. As they are given the Man from the above, they will bear a character of prescripts, transfiguring into norms and duties of life claims, health protection and suicide abhorence. The right to rest transforms into a duty to refresh oneself so as not to ruin one's body and mind with exhaustion. As an instance, it can be referred to a hadith of Prophet Mohammad in the "Sahih" anthology by al-Buhari. It is said of a man who would exhaust himself with intentional fasting only to cause the Prophet's reproval, as there should be the time to work and to rest. The right to work is transformed into a duty to work so as to provide oneself, the family and the society a better-off living. The right to create the family transforms into a duty for all the sensible members of society to start a family - the Islam will disapprove of celibacy.

The Islamic dialectical conception of human rights and duties proceeds from the principles of moderation and temperance in human rights application. Neither neglective nor excessive application is appreciated. This interposition and moderateness of human rights is maintained by that the Islam will impose four kinds of duties before God, before oneself, before other people and before any creation of God. The man's rights are but his right over himself and his duty before himself, substantiated by his rights and duties before God, society, family and all the living Nature. One of the most eminent ideologists in the present-time Moslem world al-Maududi says that "the Sharia implicitly declares that the human rights are superlative". Thus the human rights will appear as the man's duties before himself. This conclusion is substantiated by a most magnificent of Prophet's hadiths wherein He says: "Thy body has the right to thee, thy eye has the right to thee, thy wife has the right to thee, a casual has the right to thee". It is said in another analogous hadith: "Thy Lord has the right to thee, thy soul has the right to thee, thy family has the right to thee."

The Moslem conception is unique by ascertaining from the start the absolute equality of man and woman, and the numerous ayats of Koran could be cited to corroborate it: "And whoever will do good of the men and women, those who have believed will enter Paradise." (Koran, 4:124, 40:40, 16:97).

But every reasonable man might raise objections when confronted with a question of the men-women equality in Islam. What could be said of a real equality whatsoever as the daughter shall inherit a share twice as small as the son's, as a testimony of two woman-witnesses in Court would be equalled to that of one man, as the man should cover his body knees-to-waist, whereas the woman could never expose but face, hands and feet? And isn't that the very Koran to say: "And the women have the same rights (over the men) as their duties (before the men), but the men's are a degree higher." (Koran, 2:128)

Here we will have to go over to the next dialectical conception of Islam which concerns the categories of the general and the individual. The man and the woman as all humans in general are equal, but they are distinct. The distinction appears in their physical, biological, psychological, social and economic characteristics which by no means should lead to inequality and disparity in rights. The fundamental anatomic and physiological unlikeness of men and women is to induce the following forms of differency which are functional - they perform different family and social functions, while the woman in Islam performs the fundamental reproductive function which consists in giving birth and bringing up children. The man and the woman differ socially in a sense that the woman takes an insider care of the family, while the man is to take up its rear support. Apropos of this, says the Koran: "The men are responsible for the women, as Allah distinguishes them from each other, and because the men will spend of their wealth to keep up the family". (Koran, 4:34)

The dissimilarity of men and women is insurmountable, and in that sense the feminine equality ideologists in the Moslem world with Moslem women themselves in the foreground will radically disagree with extreme feminists. Indeed, they believe that any attempts to disregard the distinction will unfavourably tell on the very women. According to the Islamic concept the men and the women are distinct, but they supplement each other, as if forming the whole they once emerged from. Thus the idea of complimentarity is affirmed in Islam.

Are there any Islam-motivated taboos for women? No, there are not. The woman has the right to work both in and out of house in any enterprise. But as we said, the Islam does not appreciate the exhaustion and double-engagement for women. The woman's housekeeping work is equalled to the man's work, or even higher in a moral sense. Meanwhile, the man is to work out of house. The domestic labour of the woman is paid for by her husband, as according to the Sharia the woman can even demand from her husband the recovery for a baby nursing.

The man has no right to make any claims on the property of his mother, wife, sister or daughter. Any of them is free to dispose of it at her own discretion, while any has the right to demand support from the family manfolk. So after the father's death the family care will go onto the elder son who is to support his sisters. It is to understand the difference in legacy sharing by a son and a daughter.

With all the natural distinction the men and women are indiscriminately and absolutely equal in the spiritual domain. And as the Koran distinguishes the men and women the mundanity, it does never distinguish them in matters of the faith - self-perfection, responsibility for their deeds, striving for knowledge, education and culture, as well as in performance of religious duties.

The Kingdom of Morocco's Minister of Wakufs and Islam al-Mdagri says in his article "Validity of the rights and conditions for their application" that there has been a misunderstanding between the Western and the Islamic protagonists in human rights. This mutual misunderstanding will have its effect that both parties deprive themselves of chances to use each other's positive experience. Meanwhile, as far as the human rights are concerned both the Sharia and the Western positive right have more resemblance than difference. Arriving at mutual understanding could benefit both parties with each other's theory and practical experience much more than it is being done now.

The authors of an article about the Mohammedan divorse in Canada write that the idea of a matrimonial contract dates back to the origin of Islam. Under the agreement the woman has a right to define all the duties to be fulfilled by her husband. And only the ignorance of people, including the Moslem women themselves, does not allow them to gain its advantage. If the Mohammadans should ever master all the Islam-pledged rights, their humanistic experience could largely benefit the rest of the world.

As we have said the Western judicial system being the creation of Man, the Sharia is the creation of God. But for all their difference both systems in question of human rights are pointed to benefit the Man, which means that there could be no fundamental discord and no room for waging confrontation as it has commonly happened.

By the UNESCO founders, the peace and security depend on the intelectual solidarity of people. It is by the spiritual and intelectual solidarity that we could pave the way into the future.

Now that so many countries will try to unite and integrate generally on the basis of economic agreements, we might say, "They are wrong!" Money will separate. The money is not necessarily sufficient to move ahead. Nor is the political development, either. Indeed, the moral and intelectual solidarity is the basic moment to unite us.

To profit by education means to be ahead of, to forsee and monitor the events. We will give education so that every man could be a citizen in the true sense of the word. The ethic and national are ever-lasting values. In my view, the education in a changing world will depend on what the values we possess and could impart the outer world with.

We have to realise that the military aspects of history need not be accentuated so much, nor feelings of hatred and frustration be any more fostered.

We will urge our children to be solidarity-minded. We will tell them they must show tolerance. But how should they show it, as we are intolerant to each other? What they hear from their school teachers is quite opposite to what they can see and learn from TV and other mass media. Therefore I would say that there could only be two ways, or aspects of education - by love and affection.

We should form our children's idea of the outer and present world they live in and cost of the welfare they enjoy. They must know that there are people excluded from the development process, and how that would have occurred. They must understand what poverty and illiteracy are. They must understand where the roots of radicalism, cruelty and violence come from. They must know that global image.

We are on the brink of a century - one so delightful as to its technologies, if terrible as to its qualities of life. We must abandon that wrong state of things on entering a new century and leave behind that time of Death on entering the century of Life.

Just let us try to dialogue, let us extirpate that culture of Outrage and try to civilise the culture of Love.

Olga A. KOLYKHALOVA,
Doctor of Philosophical Sciences, Professor

The political and social upheavals in the contemporary world have advanced to the forefront the problem of language as a necessary factor for securing social stability. Common ecological and humanistic values must penetrate national cultures, become basic for life in the twenty-first century. In conformity with the concept of stable development adopted by the UNO in 1992, social harmony in the twenty-first century is possible on the basis of new values, a new level of mutual understanding between the representatives of various ethnic and social groups.

The United Nations Charter is the legal framework for cooperation between states in the area of the rights of man. It strengthens the principle of nondiscrimination on the basis of the characteristics of race, language, sex and religion. International cooperation itself in the area of the rights of man in conformity with the United Nations Charter consists "in the encouragement and development of respect for the rights of man and fundamental freedoms." (3, 1) The common human values relected in the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man (1948), in the International Pact on Civil and Political Rights (1966), the International Pact on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966) and other documents on the rights of man entirely encourage the cultural, linguistic and religious autonomy of peoples. Every religion, every language and every culture presumes respect for the dignity of man. This system of values unifies the entire world. Without their articulation, one cannot aspire to participation in international contacts on the basis of equality. The world conference on the rights of man emphasizes all states' responsibility in conformity with the United Nations Charter to develop and encourage respect for the rights of man and basic freedoms for all regardless of race, sex, language and religion. In contemporary international law great significance is given to the linguistic problems of various population groups (including peoples and nations) and individuals. In this context the issues acquire special relevance connected with such groups as the citizens of other states (foreigners), persons without citizenship (apatridy), persons with dual citizenship (bipatridy), refugees and forced settlers, people suffering from the crimes of genocide, apartheid and all forms of discrimination. No less important is the resolution of the problem of the preservation, study, expression and transmission to descendants of their own cultures, history, language, religion, tradition and customs by small peoples, national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities.

All the cited problems are relevant not only on a global, but also a regional level. The respective rights and freedoms of man are regulated by the American Convention on the Rights of Man (1969), the African Charter of the Rights of Man and Peoples (1981) and other documents. There have been many attempts to replace the natural diversity of mankind's languages with one. This was a goal of the Enlightenment, while in the second half of the nineteenth century there were supporters of artificial languages like Esperanto. The concept of the contemporary nation-state was the source of inspiration for those devoted to the idea of eliminating linguistic diversity. A common language is often considered a necessary tie to form new nations.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that frequently the selection of a common national language is seen as a necessary prerequisite for any modernization of society. Regardless of which language is chosen, full equivalency in translation is the main requirement for it. It must be able to express the concepts and nuances needed in contemporary civilization. But this preference for a language capable of being fully translated has an undesirable side effect, the destruction of small languages that seem uncontemporary and useless. The processes of standardization that are going on in the area of language may be compared with the impoverishment of the special diversity of the planet's animal and vegetable world. In later years there has been more consciousness of the importance of biological diversification, but the voices of the defenders of linguistic and cultural diversity have become rather stronger recently. Still the problem of linguistic diversity has not yet received the support of the broad community, the idea that the "ecology of language" requires no less attention than the ecology of nature. And indeed between them there is a certain similarity. First, all manifestations of the existing reality of our time are the result of long processes. If we are to speak of biological diversity, that is millions of years, but of linguistic, this is a period of it 100,000 years. It is not easy to restore the natural diversity that has been lost. It depends on the achievements of bioengineering and linguistic design and construction. Second, a no less important feature of the similarity is the fact that both linguistic and natural diversity are functionally important. The existence to the present day of thousands of languages reflects the need for adaptation to the different natural and social conditions. Languages are the result of progressive specialization and subtle adaptation to the changing world. In order to understand the character of this adaptation, it is necessary to compare two theories that concern the relationship between language and the world. One of them, known as the theory of cartography, asserts that there is one world, but it consists of a multiplicity of parts and that each language develops its own set of conventional marks (labels) for these parts. In conformity with this theory, linguistic differences have an external character and all languages have fully reciprocal equivalents in translation.

According to the second theory, the vision of a picture of the world and its various parts in the majority of cases is formed and maintained by the factor of language. The bearers of the different languages, consequently, perceive the world differently, and the various linguistic systems by many paths mark out and sift out the diverse aspects of a multidimensional reality.

If we accept this concept, any language can be seen as a working model of a world so complex that the single chance to comprehend it involves examining it from the greatest number of points of view possible. If we consider any language the result of a long history of mankind's efforts to understand the world, we perhaps will understand better why linguistic diversity is sooner an aid rather than a hindrance on the path of progress. The different perception of reality by various linguistic systems is transferred by various means. This could be the lack of convergence of vocabulary, differences in information, transferred grammatically, or, finally, a different understanding of the boundary that separates the literal statement from the metaphor. The ecological problem provides an example of the fruitfulness of linguistic diversity. The Western languages lack the means to express different aspects of the surrounding environment. If an ordinary inhabitant of a country of the West can name only a few edible plants, many hundreds of them are familiar to the Indians of South America. This illustrates the danger of linguistic and cultural uniformity and shows how necessary the different approaches (and this means different languages also) for the resolution of the ecological tasks facing the world are. The anthrocentrism and abstractionism existing in Western languages imply a fractured view of the world, in contrast to other languages, which perceive it as a single entity.

The need to surmount the linguistic and cultural barriers that have become sharper in recent decades as a result of the strengthening of the processes of integration may be accomplished by various means. The result of linguistic interaction primarily depends on the social conditions of contact. "A language does not overcome its rivals on the strength of its internal qualities, and therefore its bearers are more likely to be people of culture or business." But one must observe that the language of the more developed culture is not always dominant (or victorious).

It is understood that a genuine contact between languages occurs through the bilingualism of the individual. One must observe that multilingual situations are rarely balanced. Social and ethnic conditions prevent two languages from existing symmetrically in the same society. This explains the rarity and instability of balanced bilingualism. A balanced bilingual situation would be possible if a majority of some society's members fully mastered both languages, actively using them in any situation, easily passing from one language to another without mixing up the different linguistic systems.

According to the current contemporary scholars, the possession of two languages exceeds the ordinary person's psychological abilities. As a rule, in the linguistic consciousness of the ordinary person the separate features and structure of the new language are erroneously assimilated with the similar characteristics of the native (or basic, dominant) language. The interference (imposition) of the two language systems, their partial identification and blending most often result from this. In the individual's speech one observes a tendency to select one language or the other on the basis of the theme and situation of the discourse, the purpose of the communication. The functional specialization of language therefore occurs in individual speech.

The influence of one language on another during the process of interaction can assume special forms. For example, fashion, prestigious images, and social standards influence the formation of the speaker's attitude toward a language, its styles, dialects, and simple speech, i.e. their linguistic ideals. This dependence appears in the typological similarity of the standard stylistic systems of the corresponding languages. In a situation of stylistic influence the similarity of the contexts in which the language exists is mostly cultural and ideological. This is the basis for the formation of the phenomenon that has become a characteristic of the late twentieth century, the so-called cultural bilingualism. It is characterized by mass (and massive) borrowings, which penetrate the consciousness of the bilingual (and on a broader enters the language) from above, through the interpreters, important journalists, ideologists, and politicians, i.e. those who master a prestigious foreign language as a result of numerous cultural contacts. In this instance the second language becomes a mark of elite status, being part of the chosen, belonging to a definite circle. It is the basis for working out a specific jargon, tonal and stylistic originality that consciously cultivates and reproduces the current elite stratum. Cultural bilingualism is impossible without a means of mass information and communication, that produces and prints definite bilingual, semi-manufactured products and stereotypes that become widespread among the broad masses of the population. At the present time an even larger number of scholars are having doubts about the relatively positive quality of the means of communications. These doubts are rooted in the fact that the vital contact with truly significant cultural phenomena is lost and full-bodied mastery of information prevented by the forms for adaptation and simplification. An active relationship with the information is superseded by passive consumption, regulated and standardized perception. The means of communication under the mask of mass enlightenment have begun to formulate a unified world-view, average models of the world by means of the introduction into the consciousness of people of non-systemic knowledge, and amounts of specially collected and carefully organized pieces of information. Besides, the information saturation is replaced by its amusement, which, undoubtedly, any information. An oversimplified version of the world is formed, which facilitates the growth of social infantilism. The processes of communication are connected with the transfer of information and sufficient understanding. In the structure of the processes of communication the rules and norms for using the language, the means for performing the communications function, have special significance. The selection of a language presumes the existence of different means of communication. The general linguistic situation also has special significance. This is evident in the context of a bilingual culture. In multilingual states widespread is the myth of the close connection between linguistic pluralism and separatism. But it is important to emphasize that the multilingualism does not in itself lead to disintegration, but speculation on an ethnic autonomy, backed up in language differences. In some countries the myth of a multiplicity of languages is used as an excuse for repression against the bearers of small ethnic groups languages.

The idea that a single language can be a unifying factor is the same myth. As a matter of fact, the communality of a language as such does not lead to unification, if the other socioeconomic factors that stimulate integration are not active in the respective ethnic groups. The problems connected with multilingualism in a society are never recent; they began centuries ago. A number of causes are historically responsible for the formation of a multilingual environment in many regions of our planet. It is enough to remember the life of the people of the great empires (the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman). The Soviet Union remains, obviously, the apex of multilingualism.

In the last years an unprecedented integration has occurred in the world economy; essentially, thanks to the electronic means of mass information a mono- cultural expanse has taken shape in the world. The influence of artificial languages, the languages derived from the computerization of the various spheres of human activity, has created a unique cultural area. These and other similar processes confront socio-linguistics with a set of totally new problems.

The sociological aspects surrounding the inclusion of the languages of international discourse in a system of nations are acquiring great significance. In socio-linguistic systems the languages are considered languages of international discourse since, being a reflection of mankind's achievements, they fulfill their social functions to the maximum extent. One must also consider the fact that over many centuries the world association was Europeanized because of a number of political and economic causes. Therefore the languages through which western culture arose have been dominant, although socio-linguistic movements in the direction of other languages may occur in the future. In recent years, for example, Arabic and Chinese have become languages of international discourse like English, German, Russian and French.

The absence of a scientifically - based analysis of the social context of foreign language instruction, the social and pedagogical functions of the studied languages, and the characteristics of language policy may lead to the construction of ideal methodological models. For example, with all the blamelessness it was impossible to refurbish the of foreign language instruction in the USSR as related to practice because the political ideologies and socioeconomic factors prevented extensive intercultural communication in the languages being studied. In the early 1990s the socio-cultural context of the study of foreign languages essentially changed in the countries of the CIS. These countries' gradual transformation into an open society stimulated the hectic development of international collaboration on various levels. This found its reflection in the creation of joint enterprises, the appearance of affiliates of foreign universities, and specialists' participation in various international projects. All this significantly influenced the social character of syncretism. It is not accidental that the study of the phenomenon of bilingualism has acquired vital importance in later years in psycholinguistics.

On a theoretical plane the interest of psychologists has been prompted by the fact that on the data of bilingualism it is possible to more successfully advance along the path of the experimental examination of a whole number of theories in understanding the language and speech. On the other side the psychology, especially neuropsychology, cannot adequately evaluate and correctly perceive the many facts of a person's speech and thought activities without an analysis of the special features of the bilingual's thinking.

There is no doubt about the need for bilingual studies from the general pedagogical standpoint. With few exceptions the methods, or to be more exact, models for the foreign language instruction of adults and children are not fully satisfactory from the psychologists' and linguistics' point of view. This is prompted by the fact that the distinctions in types of organizations of the nervous system of individuals, their psycho-physiological and cognitive peculiarities were not considered when the models were worked out. On the contrary, the style of instruction, as a rule, was planned for some average person-outside of the limitiations of sex, age, type of national culture, and rival language. This leads to a situation where the person who possesses the means and desire to study, will nevertheless attain mediocre or simply unsatisfactory results from the incompatible nature of the style of education with his individual style. The role of the assessment of individuality is emphasized in such new, but such rapidly developing areas as computer instruction: new terms like student's model and user-modelling have been introduced. It is known that individuals are not the only possessors of the above-mentioned characteristics. They can also characterize definite groups of people (ethnics, the indigenous population of some regions or emigrants, status of the foreign language as a scholarly subject and recognition of the clear need to master one of the languages of international discourse. Then origin of the original language boom touched almost all of the CIS countries age groups.

On the whole the following social characteristics may be attributed to second languages of instruction:

(1) The studied language has a range of social functions.

(2) The language has social prestige by the expansion of its functionality in world communications and politics.

(3) The language is a valuable instrument to implement the individual's personal plans.

(4) The studied language is significant for society, different social groups and individuals in terms of values; in other words, the values associated with the particular language are significant. As a result the language is seen as an instrument for cognition of the value potential of the bearers' culture.

The fundamentally new communications situation forces us to rethink some basic issues of individual multilingualism (bilingualism) connected with the process of the person's socialization. On the whole the socialization of the individual involves the formation of the personality, the person's mastery of the material and spiritual cultural, and his time's standards of life and behavior. In the given process the language acts not only as a connecting link, but also as a prerequisite for all facets of socialization. Mastering the cultural and linguistic values is , essentially, a two-fold process.

The horizons of socialization are significantly broader in conditions of bilingualism; often completely new, dissimilar cultural strata are drawn into the orbit of human interests. So two persons to have developed at the junction of Russian and American culture or Russian and Chinese culture will view the world differently. The style of their thought has the representatives of various cultural traditions). These peculiarities are connected for the most part with people's specific cerebral organization and their right or left lobar asymmetries.

Recent studies have appeared that describe the exceptional types of hemispheric response: the right hemisphere, left hemisphere and combined. The structure of the hemispheric asymmetry, i.e. the preponderant predisposition to one or the other type of information processing, is not only a matter of speech. It is correlated with the adaptive abilities and character of the individual or even a whole number of groups. The possible ties between the specific organization of the hemispheres of the brain and the type of culture is being discussed.

The problem of bilingualism is a special interest from the philosophic point of view. The philosophic approach to the problem of bilingualism permits us to see the functions of bilingualism, not only in terms of the ability of nations and cultures to communicate with one another, but the significant expansion of the potential, the resources for verbal thought. If we presume that the thought is an operation of comprehension, then it is not to be doubted that the wealth, versatility of human thought is formed in a bilingual environment. This fact is explained by the idea that language and thought are one. Accordingly, the variability and multi-significance of language must lead to variations in thought. And if bilingualism contributes to the multifaceted nature of the thought, and improves its heuristic function, then, obviously the bilingual environment should be purposely preconditioned.

In general and on die whole the verbalization of one or the other thought is possible on the basis of different languages. In a number of cases, however, the problem of an exact expression of an idea may result. Then a relatively precise way of expressing the thought by means of a most widespread language acquired the status of a scientific term, which passes into another language. Numerous examples both from the history of science and contemporary practice can illustrate this.

Our planet is endless and diverse, and a single language, however complete or beautiful, cannot prevail and is not sufficient to describe it. Zen realized this truth in philosophy, where the impossibility of the conceptual expression of the reality of being is fundamental. But this is an extreme point of view. In reality we may tackle this problem by the utilization of the resources of various languages on the principle of objectivism. But one must emphasize that there is very little work on the problems of bilingualism. Moreover these works are needed both from the point of view of philosophy and sociology and linguistics and psychology.

Actually, the examination of the traditional philosophic problems has to change. This is connected with the comprehension of the phenomenon of consciousness, the relationship of language and thought, knowledge and understanding within the dichotomous structure of linguistic consciousness in which two linguistic systems co-exist and interact. An analysis of the interference between various linguistic systems, the mutual correlation of concepts, categories, and means of thought can lead to qualitatively new moments in the discovery of the essence not only of the human theoretical mastery of reality, but the social and cultural development of mankind. The contemporary world in abundance provides the man with new opportunities for the expansion of dialogue, cooperation and mutual understanding on a number of important issues. And among them, undoubtedly, are the problems of stable development, the formation of an ecological culture. Without linguistic communication this is impossible.