How the anti-cult movement has participated to fuel Russian anti-Ukraine rhetoric

Anti-Cults – Since the Maidan events in 2014, when then President Yakunovich was forced to resign after huge protests in the streets of Ukraine, the pan-European Anti-cult movement, led by the European Federation of Centers of Research and Information on Sectarianism (FECRIS), has been participating in the Russian propaganda machine that finally led to the current war.

In 2013, after Ukraine had been on a pro-European trajectory some years and was about to sign an association agreement with the EU which would have more closely integrated political and economic ties between the EU and Ukraine, Putin’s forces pressurised Yakunovich to scuttle the agreement. Yakunovich, who was known as a pro-Russian corrupted leader, caved in and that started what has been called the Maidan revolution in Ukraine.

Counting on religious forces against the West

The Maidan revolution represented a major threat in the mind of Putin, who then started a propaganda machine to discredit the new authorities. Since then, the Russian rhetoric against Ukraine’s new democratic forces in power, which were definitely not pro-Russian, included accusations of being neo-Nazis, but also to be puppets of Western democracies hiding an anti-Russian agenda. For his propaganda, he counted largely on his “religious forces”, mainly the Russian Orthodox Church, which still had quite an important influence in Ukraine.

The Russian Orthodox Church’s main leaders, such as Patriarch Kirill, have always backed Putin’s efforts to get the rid of pro-European forces in Ukraine, accusing them of persecuting Ukrainian Orthodox members affiliated to the Moscow Patriarchate (which might have been true to some extent, as the opposite was true in Russian controlled-occupied territories in Ukraine), but also to threaten the “Old-Rus’” unity[1], and are still doing so as we could see recently when Patriarch Kirill accused those who oppose Putin’s war in Ukraine to be the “forces of evil”.

Alexander Dvorkin, the “sectologist”

Patriarch Kirill and Vladimir Putin could also count on the “anti-cult” movement, which in Russia was led by Vice-President of FECRIS Alexander Dvorkin, a Russian-Orthodox theologian who was often presented as an expert in “sectology” by Russian authorities. FECRIS is a French anti-cult organization with pan-European influence. The French government provides the majority of FECRIS’ funding, and in fact it was founded by a French anticult association called UNADFI (National Union of Associations for the Defense of Families and Individuals against cults) in 1994.

At the very beginning of the new Ukrainian government that had been elected after Yakunovich’s resignation, on April 30, 2014 Alexander Dvorkin was interviewed by radio Voice of Russia, the main Russian Governmental Radio (that a few months later changed its name to Radio Sputnik). Dvorkin, introduced as an “anti-cult activist and Vice-President of the European Federation of Centers of Research and Information on Sectarianism, which is the umbrella organization for anti-cult groups in Europe”, was asked to comment on the “hidden religious agenda behind Maidan and the Ukrainian crisis”. He then forwarded the Russian State propaganda in a very interesting way[2].

Greek Catholics, Baptists and other so-called “Cults” targeted

In that interview, Dvorkin first accused the Uniate Church, also known as Greek Catholics, to be behind the revolution: “There are several religious groups and several religious cults which play quite a prominent role in those events. First of all, the Uniate church…played a very prominent and a very, I’d say, violent role for lots of Uniate priests who preached there in all their liturgical vestments…” When the interviewer asked Dvorkin what the Vatican could do, as it had called for “the necessity of returning to peace developments in Ukraine”, Dvorkin’s answer was to explain it could do nothing, because the Vatican was now led by Jesuits, which had become very much pro-Marxist and in favor of revolution through the centuries, adding: “Well, the present Pope Francis, he is not really pro-revolutionary, but the way he behaves shows that he accepted part of this legacy”.

Alexander Dvorkin with Bulgarian Orthodox Church Clergy discussing about Ukraine on July 17, 2019

Then Dvorkin goes after the Baptists, accusing them of playing an important part in the Maidan and to be very nationalistic in Ukraine. He further goes into accusing then Prime Minister Yatsenyuk to be a “hidden Scientologist”, while pretending to be Uniate: “There were a lot of media reports which called him Scientologist… If he would have been an open Scientologist, it would have been very bad. But still, at least you would know what to expect from him. But when a person, actually Yatsenyuk, called himself a Greek Catholic Uniate [while being a Scientologist], and there was a Uniate priest that confirmed that he was Uniate, I believe this is very dangerous.” Then in an interesting conspiracy theory manner, he extrapolated on the fact that this was a way for CIA to control him, using Scientology techniques in order to “control his behavior and control his actions”.

Last but not least, Dvorkin led an attack on what he calls “neo-paganism”, which he accused of being tied into neo-Nazis, a rhetoric that has taken a very important significance in current Russian propaganda, as we can see with the “Denazification” advocated today by Putin to justify the war in Ukraine.

Gerry Amstrong’s love letters to Putin

Dvorkin is of course not the only member of FECRIS to have participated to the Russian anti-West propaganda. Amongst others, a Canadian supporter/member of FECRIS, Gerry Amstrong, wrote two letters to Putin which have been published, one on the Russian Orthodox Church website “proslavie.ru”[3] and the other on the FECRIS Russian affiliate’s website[4]. Amstrong is a former Canadian Scientologist who became an apostate of the Church of Scientology, and who flew to Canada to avoid a warrant arrest after he was convicted by an American court for some of his anti-Scientology activities. In the first letter, published on 2 December 2014, he says that after visiting Russia, “at the invitation of people in the Russian Orthodox Church…I became pro-Russian.” He adds: “I did not become anti-West or anti-US, although I am dead set against the West and the US’s superpower hypocrisy.” Then he praises Putin for having offered asylum to Edward Snowden, and being “highly intelligent, reasonable and presidential.” After complaining about his conviction in the US, he thanks Putin “for whatever officials in your government have done to facilitate my being in Russia and being able to communicate to your citizens” as well as for standing against a European Court of Human Rights decision which had condemned Russia for violating the rights of Scientologists. He then blames the West for its “black propaganda” against the President of Russia.

While this letter does not explicitly mention Ukraine it is written on the eve of the new Ukrainian democratic era and is aligned with the rhetoric of Russia being threatened by Western ideologies and cults, and being the last rampart for maintaining “a moral position” against such.

Gerry Armstrong, Alexander Dvorkin, Thomas Gandow and Luigi Corvaglia at a FECRIS conference in Salekhard, Siberia, on September 29, 2017. In the center, Archbishop Nikolai Chashin.

In his second letter to Vladimir Putin, published on 26 June 2018 on the Russian FECRIS website, Amstrong, introduced on the website as a “Christian activist” and good friend of Mr Dvorkin – who is said to have taken care of the translation of the letter in Russian – starts by congratulating Putin for his re-election. Then, he goes on to congratulate Putin for his actions in occupied Crimea: “Congratulations on the opening of the Crimean bridge for vehicular traffic. I congratulate the whole country on such an amazing achievement. This is a blessing both for Crimea and for the rest of Russia.” He then takes the defense of Putin against the campaign by “the West” writing that it is “dangerous, cruel, hypocritical, unreasonable and based on obvious ideological motives”

The letter goes on: “You know that there are people in Canada and other Western countries who do not believe the smear campaign against you, realize it is wrong, see it as a threat, and even admit that it can be used as a pretext or trigger for nuclear war. On the other hand, it’s easy to see that there are plenty of people out there who want this threat and other similar threats to succeed and grow, and to do so, they plot, act, pay, and get paid to make this threat effective. These are the same people who are running a campaign here to defame you.” Again, this is a conspiracy rhetoric that is of great significance, because it puts the blame of war on the West and its so-called “smear campaign”, that would be the underlying cause of Putin’s obligation to start a war in Ukraine.

USCIRF report on the anti-cult movement in Russia

In 2020, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) published a report called “The Anti-cult Movement and Religious Regulation in Russia and the Former Soviet Union”[5]. The reports explains that “While both the Soviet legacy and the ROC [Russian Orthodox Church] are major influences, current attitudes about and approaches to religious minorities also stem from other factors, including post-Soviet socio-economic developments, the Putin regime’s desire for national unity, individual fears about family security or change generally, and transnational concerns about the perceived dangers from new religious movements (NRMs)”. Ironically enough, it goes to the roots of the anti-cult movement which definitely originate in the West.

The report explains that after 2009, “the rhetoric of the anti-cult movement and the Russian state have converged noticeably over the subsequent decade. Echoing Putin’s concerns about spiritual and moral security, Dvorkin claimed in 2007 that NRMs deliberately ‘inflict damage on Russian patriotic feelings’.” And that’s how the convergence began, and why the Russian Orthodox Church and the Anti-cult movement became key in Putin’s propaganda agenda.

Speaking of Dvorkin the report says: “Dvorkin’s influence has also extended outside of the post-Soviet orbit. In 2009, the same year in which he was appointed head of Russia’s Council of Experts, he also became Vice-President of the European Federation of Research and Information Centers on Sectarianism (FECRIS), a French anti-cult organization with panEuropean influence. The French government provides the majority of FECRIS’ funding and the group regularly spreads negative propaganda about religious minorities, including at international forums like the OSCE Human Dimensions conference. Dvorkin’s center is the primary associate of FECRIS in Russia and receives significant financial support from both the ROC and the Russian government.”

Then in a chapter called “exporting intolerance in Ukraine”, USCIRF goes on: “Russia brought along its restrictive religious regulation framework when it invaded Crimea in 2014, including the symbiosis between anti-cult ideas and national security. The occupation regime in Ukraine frequently has used religious regulations to terrorize the general population as well as to target activists in the Crimean Tatar community.” In its conclusion the USCIRF report makes clear that “Alexander Dvorkin and his associates have carved out influential roles in government and society, shaping the public discourse on religion across numerous countries.”

Donetsk and Luhansk’s fight against so-called cults

Interestingly enough, Donbass pseudo-states Donetsk and Luhansk, have been the only places in the world that makes fighting “cults” a constitutional principle. Bitter-Winter magazine on religious liberty concluded from that and other evidence of their brutal denial of religious liberty, that “what is happening in the pseudo-‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ and ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ is a clear representation of the dystopic Orthodox theocracy Putin’s ideologists have in mind for a ‘Russian World’ whose borders they continuously expand.”[6]

It’s also not the first time that the Anti-cult movement in general, and FECRIS in particular, is linked to nationalistic and pro-war propaganda across Europe. In a report published in July 2005 and signed by a French attorney and Miroslav Jankovic, who later became the OSCE National Legal Officer in Serbia, it was pointed out that the FECRIS representative in Serbia was Colonel Bratislav Petrovic[7].

FECRIS’ past in Serbia

Colonel Bratislava Petrovic

According to the report, Colonel Bratislav Petrovic of the Yugoslav Army was also a neuropsychiatrist. During the Milosevic regime, he headed the Institute for Mental Health and Military Psychology of the Military Academy in Belgrade. From that position, he specialized in the selection and psychological preparation of the soldiers of Milosevic’s army before they were sent to war. Colonel Petrovic was also instrumental in forwarding Milosevic’s propaganda that the Serbs were the victims and not the perpetrators of genocide in Bosnia, contrary to all reliable UN reports on the subject.

The report goes further: “Petrovic is now applying his psychological techniques of indoctrination to target religious minorities. Yet this is not new. In 1993, while ethnic and religious cleansing was underway in Croatia and Bosnia, Petrovic used that same ideology to condemn religious minorities within Serbia, accusing them of being terrorist organizations and conveniently labelling them ‘sects.’”

The report goes on by listing all the so-called cults that were targeted by FECRIS in Serbia: the Baptists, the Nazareens, the Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormons, the Pentecostals, Theosophy, Anthroposophy, Alchemy, Kabala, the Yoga centres, Transcendental Meditation, Karma Center, Shri Chimnoy, Sai Baba, Hare Krishna, Falun Gong, the Rosicrucian Order, the Masons, etc. As you can see, Petrovic was far from falling short of cults to fight against. These were similar to those that have been targeted by Dvorkin and ROC propaganda in Russia in their attempt to justify the protection of “Russian patriotic feelings” and “spiritual security”.

FECRIS backed up by Orthodox leaders and churches in other places

This initiative from FECRIS was backed by the Serbian Orthodox Church, which, through the words of his representative Bishop Porfirije, laid out the need to have “authentic data in exposing sects one by one as groups which are spreading spiritual terror and violence”. Porfirije also stated that the “Fight against this evil will be easier when the Law on religious organizations comes”, referring to a bill that he and Petrovic had tried to get amended. The amendment they filed (but which was rejected) aimed to reduce the rights of minority faiths in Serbia. Again, this is very similar to what happened in Russia, excepting that in Russia the law restricting the rights of religious minorities that had been lobbied for by FECRIS was passed and used extensively against non-violent religious groups.

Interestingly enough, the FECRIS representative in Belarus has a link on the FECRIS website that links directly to the website of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, which is nothing less than a Branch of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Bulgarian Representative of FECRIS, the “Center for Research on New Religious Movements”, publishes on its website calls from the Bulgarian Orthodox Church not to tolerate “non-canonical gatherings”.

Nevertheless, as stated by USCIRF 2020 report: “Dvorkin and his associates do not exercise a monopoly on Orthodox thought and opinion, and dissenting voices within the church [ROC] have criticized the anti-cult movement for relying on discredited theories and non-canonical sources”. Such “dissenting voices” have not been heard amongst FECRIS.

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[1] The Rus’ were an early medieval group, who lived in modern Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and other countries, and are the ancestors of modern Russians and other Eastern European ethnicities.

[2] Interview of Alexander Dvorkin on Voice of Russia, 30 April 2014 in the talk show “Burning point”.

[3] https://pravoslavie.ru/75577.html

[4] https://iriney.ru/poslevoennaya-eklektika/sajentologiya/ostanovit-ochernenie-rossii-otkryitoe-pismo-byivshego-sajentologa-vladimiru-putinu.html

[5] https://www.uscirf.gov/publication/anti-cult-movement-and-religious-regulation-russia-and-former-soviet-union

[6] https://bitterwinter.org/donetsk-and-luhansk-denying-religious-liberty/

[7] Report on “The Repression of Religious Minorities in Serbia: The role played by the European Federation of Centres of Research and Information on Sectarianism (FECRIS)” – 27 July 2005 by Patricia Duval and Miroslav Jankovic.

Report-Serbia-27.07.05Download

Russian opposition “disorganized” - War situation in Russia

How is the war being felt inside the Russian Federation? Read here the impact of the invasion in Russia.

The source for this article chose to maintain anonymity.

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its 6th day, the situation in Russia gets worse and worse. Not only for the opposition but for all Russians. There are “many” people against the war, but most are afraid to speak out, mainly because most people are public servants or work for oligarch-owned companies, and so don’t want to lose their jobs.

“The people who are against the war want to protest but are too afraid to lose their jobs, get jailed, pay fines or just get hardly beaten by the police…”

The number of people arrested in protests against the war and Putin’s regime are already in the thousands, most sources say.

“The Russian opposition is disorganized, as many left the country or were jailed after Alexander Navalny’s return last year.” – “(…) the Russians aren’t really used to self-organization, especially in protest activity.”

As the western sanctions get tougher and tougher, the economic situation in Russia is starting to get desperate.

“Right now many people are storming shops to buy cars, electronics, and other items before the sanctions go into effect.” – Many international corporations have already said that they will stop imports to Russia.

“My friend told me that many people rushed to buy dollars and euros, as the rouble has become insanely volatile, but the Russian banks are having problems providing for the population.”

According to the source, Russians are having issues entering social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. “The Russian state announced that it will slow social media sites on Russian territory as the companies declined to stop calling Russian media outlets reports as “fake news”.

RUSSIA: Jehovah’s Witness deported to… Ukraine (!) after his release

Konstantin Bazhenov was deprived of his citizenship due to his criminal prosecution. See a video report and his testimony in Russian.

In 2021, one of the first Jehovah’s Witnesses that was sent behind bars after the Russian Supreme Court decided to ban the organization was released from prison and deported from Russia. His story is told in this four-minute video. 

As soon as Konstantin Bazhenov left the colony, he was detained and deported to Ukraine because his Russian citizenship was revoked due to criminal prosecution.

It all began on June 12, 2018, when searches took place in Konstantin Bazhenov’s apartment, as well as in 6 other dwellings of believers. After that, he was charged with extremism. As a result, Konstantin and five other believers were sent to the pre-trial detention center.

Konstantin Bazhenov: “The FSB, the investigator and the operatives promised me that if I plead guilty, I will start cooperating with them, they will guarantee me a suspended sentence, and that I will not go to prison.” Konstantin refused to cooperate with the investigator, as this would mean giving up his faith. In total, Konstantin spent almost a year in a pre-trial detention center and waited for a court decision under a ban on certain actions for several more months. The investigation accused him of organizing the activities of an extremist organization.

Konstantin Bazhenov: “The main accusation was based on the fact that in the winter, in January 2018, we held a religious meeting. We read the Bible there, sang spiritual songs, discussed how to live according to biblical principles. The investigator interpreted this religious meeting as if we were holding a meeting of a legal entity banned in Russia.”

On September 19, 2019, the judge announced the sentence: 3.5 years in a penal colony. Three months later, the Court of Appeal upheld this verdict and on February 4, 2020, Bazhenov was sent to a correctional colony.

Konstantin Bazhenov: “On February 8, 2020, I was brought to the correctional colony-3 in the city of Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk Region. I worked at the prison store. I received a lot of letters. The operational officer called me and said: “Bazhenov, we receive 300 letters a year for the entire colony. You alone received more than 300 letters in a month.” He says: “What are you doing? Do you want our inspector to drown in these letters?” Well, I explained that people want to support me, somehow encourage, encourage me.

Jehovah’s Witness sentenced, enprisoned, released and deported

Konstantin spent another 1 year and 3 months in the colony and was released on parole on May 5, 2021.

Konstantin Bazhenov: “It was a happy moment – I saw Irina, my wife, hugged her. The head of the detachment says: “Konstantin, I didn’t expect so many people to be present! I knew that you have brothers and sisters, they write letters to you. But that so many people will come to meet you … “He says:” Yes, you are a happy person!

When the day of the deportation came, Konstantin’s fellow believers gathered to support him. Konstantin Bazhenov: “On May 19, we arrived at the border. They checked our documents, all issued. I was met by brothers and sisters with a poster, flowers. My dear wife, Irina, was present. And it was such a joy, such an unforgettable moment, how we saw each other, how we could hug. As Jehovah promised that he would provide a way out in trials – behold, he provided me with a way out. I left the colony, left the deportation center. Indeed, he pushed away all the barriers and made it possible for my wife and I to meet on the day of our wedding anniversary. Such a happy moment.”

After his release, Konstantin and Irina Bazhenov live in Ukraine.

Over the past 4.5 years, 322 Jehovah’s Witnesses have been imprisoned. As of February 2022, 65 believers are awaiting sentencing behind bars and another 18 are serving sentences in penal colonies. 8 Jehovah’s Witnesses completed their sentences and were released from prison.

“Youth stand up to Violent Extremism” Training Course in Jordan

“Desert Bloom” United Religions Initiative (URI) Cooperation Circle (CC) conducted “Youth stand up to Violent Extremism Training Course” in cooperation with EUROMED EVE Polska – Poland in Jordan, from 12-16 February 2022, – reports Mamoun Khreisat, Regional Coordinator of URI Middle East & North Africa.

The training aimed at building the capacity of youth workers in the field of the prevention of violent extremism while reinforcing global competence and universal morality that promotes values of respect, cultural diversity, continuous improvement and self-confidence to advance a shared respect for human dignity.

The training achieved its main objectives of:

1.      Supporting the professional development of youth workers in the field of P/CVE through non-formal and informal methodologies, tackling the Root Causes of violent radicalization, Radicalization Process, Intercultural Citizenship, Digital & Media Literacy, critical thinking and effective communication.

2.      Fostering youth civic engagement in public life (economic, political and socio-cultural participation), through:

a.      Economic empowerment by building youth entrepreneurial competencies)

b.      Enhancing young people’s engagement in political and public life by developing youth advocacy skills to develop effective youth policy, improve youth access to service, defend youth rights and challenge horizontal inequality.

The project was coordinated by EUROMED EVE Polska (Poland) and hosted and implemented in Jordan by Desert Bloom for Training and Sustainable Development (Jordan). is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.

Thirty youth workers/leaders participated in this training representing the following 9 organizations, out of which are 5 URI CCs:

1.      EUROMED EVE Polska- Poland

2.      Desert Bloom- Jordan (URI CC)

3.      Have A Dream- Egypt (URI CC)

4.      ASSOCIAO MEDESTU – Portugal

5.      BRIDGES-Eastern European Forum for Dialogue- Bulgaria (URI CC)

6.      Beit Ashams for Self-Development – Palestine (represented by Volunteering for Peace CC)

7.      Moroccan Youth Forum for Cultural Exchange & Scientific Research – Morocco (URI CC)

8.      Kalamáris Egyesület- Hungary

9.      Association Euro-Med EVE Tunisia- Tunisia.

The participants along with 5 URI members in Jordan attended the World Interfaith Harmony Week celebration in Madaba, a city well-known for churches, Byzantine and Umayyad-era mosaics, and archeological complexes. We listened to inspirational stories of the deep-rooted cohabitation between Muslims and Christians in Jordan by distinguished religious leaders. Then we visited religious sites the city including the Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist, the mosque of Jesus Christ, St George’s Greek Orthodox Church (which has the oldest mosaic map of Palestine and other biblical sites and important places such as Jerusalem, Gaza, Dead Sea or Nile Delta, it goes back to the 6th century) and Mount Nebo (famous pilgrimage site).

The participants will continue working on PVE, they agreed to develop a practical and user-friendly Toolkit to serve as a guide on building youth resilience to PVE. Also, they launched a Facebook page under the name “United Against Violent Extremism” to serve as a Social Media platform dedicated to preventing violent extremism (VE) through raising awareness of the root causes of VE, and counter extremists and terrorists’ online propaganda.  Please like the page.

Feedback from some participants:

        Even though the topic was harsh, I enjoyed the workshops and we’ve discussed some very important and interesting topics. I liked that we talked and brainstormed about things we don’t usually talk about at home with our friends and family. Here we learned new perspectives and we could share our thoughts with each other.

        The content of the course is quite interesting. I learned a lot.

        I like the diversity of activities and the diversity of participants and their perspectives. I learnt a lot of new information, and got new experiences.

        I liked the activities, the cultural diversity of the group as well as teamwork

        I enjoyed expressing our identities in painting. Also, I liked the religious leaders’ presentations on the occasion of the World Interfaith Harmony Week.

        Interesting and useful course content which opened my mind to a variety of issues in the Middle East and Europe, mobilized me to work and thinking about solving problems that lead to Violent Extremism in a peaceful way through understanding the roots of various problems. I like the diversity of participants and making new friends as well as the accommodation and the delicious local food.

        The training opened many opportunities for developing further projects.

        I appreciate the fact that this training was not only based on lectures, we had hands-on practices and activities

        I liked everything about the course. It was great. I loved the diversity of activities, experiences, culture and getting to know new people from whom I learned a lot.

Source: The United Religions Initiative – Middle East & North Africa Office | Zamzam Commercial Complex, Tela Al-Ali, Ar-Raafah Street, P.O. Box: 942140, Amman 11194 Jordan | Mamoun@uri-mena.org | info@uri-mena.org | www.uri-mena.org  | Follow URI MENA on Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/mena.uri

Sidney Riley and Alexander Gramatikov v/s Lenin

The ancient Christian city of Feodosia, sometimes called Theodosia, in today’s Simferopol and Crimean dioceses is a resort town in present-day southern Ukraine, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Feodosia, in Crimean Tatar: Kefe, is located on the Black Sea coast, 80 km. west of Kerch. It was the center during the Middle Ages of the principality of Theodore (or Gothia, Greek: Γοτθία) – a small principality in the southwestern part of the Crimean peninsula with the capital city of Mangup, which existed from 12 to 15 century. Under the name Kefe, the city became one of the main Ottoman ports in the Black Sea, remaining under Ottoman rule until 1783, when Crimea was conquered by the Russian Empire. In 1802 it was officially renamed Feodosia, a Russian adaptation of the Greek name Theodosia.

One of the oldest streets in the city is Gramatikovskaya – Voykova – Ukrainska. Emanuil Emanuilovich Gramatikov once lived there – a famous Theodosian businessman and the ancestor of the Crimean noble family Gramatikovi. He owned a fish processing plant, many lands, gardens, even post offices, housing and hotel buildings. In Dec. In 1829 the entrepreneur died of the plague. Because he had no children, he bequeathed all his property worth about 5 million rubles to Theodosia. During Emanuil Emanuilovich’s lifetime, the street on which he lived was nameless. But at the end of the 19th century, grateful Theodosians named it after the patron. With the advent of Soviet rule, Gramatikovskaya Street was renamed after the Russian revolutionary from Kerch, Peter Lazarovich Voikov, who died in 1927 from a White Guard bullet. The street kept this name for more than eighty years, but in the autumn of 2003 it changed its name to “Ukrainian”. On the same street was the home of the marine artist I.K. Aivazovski, who in his work, along with the landscape, repeatedly turned to the genre of portraiture. This side of the artist’s work is little studied and poorly described. The portraits of IK Aivazovski in their picturesque dignity are significantly inferior to the marine works of the maestro, but are undoubtedly of historical and memorial interest. In different years the artist painted self-portraits, portraits of relatives and friends, friends and acquaintances, sometimes by special order from certain institutes, organizations and societies, but most often for his own and his family’s memory. These works, mainly concentrated in the collection of the city art gallery, present us strict and businesslike male portraits, such as: “Portrait of A.I. Kaznacheev” 1847 (canvas, oil, 56×46), senator, leader of the nobility in the Tauride province; “Portrait of the poet-fable writer I.A. Krylov” 1894 (canvas, oil, 71×62); “Male Portrait” 1899 (canvas, oil, 47×47), “Portrait of the Artist’s Son-in-Law” 1894 (canvas, oil, 61×48), as well as a group portrait “I.K. Aivazovsky in a friendly circle” 1893 (canvas, oil, 56×81). The latter depicts sitting at the table: I.K. Aivazovsky (with his back to the viewer), to his left G.A. Durante, I.S. Gramatikov, M.H. Lampsi. Stands from left to right: I.V. Durante, K.P. Zioni, A.S. Gramatikov, N.S. Gramatikov. The portrayed are united by a common situation. Some biographical information about those depicted in this portrait can be found in the library of rarities (unique) “Tavrika” in Simferopol. Who were these neighbors of Aivazovsky, so he painted three of them in his unique group portrait?

An excerpt from an article by V. Geiman from the book “Theodosia in the Past”, published in 1918 on the Grammatikovi Charitable Capital, reads as follows: Theodosia, it is appropriate to remember these bright benefactors, because of the carelessly drawn up will, on which swords are now sharpened, spears are broken, and most often endless complaints, petitions and protocols are drawn. We mean Emanuil Gramatikov and his wife Smaragda, who left for charity all their property worth not less than five million rubles. The Gramatikovi family played the role of the leading family in Theodosia throughout the nineteenth century, and only in recent years has this family begun to disappear from the public arena in our city. ”

The ancestor of this family in Russia (in Theodosia) was Emanuil Emanuilovich Gramatikov, author of the said will.

His ancestors once moved to Thessaloniki from Serbia, but is of Bulgarian origin, because a branch of the genus, living until the 20s of the 20th century in Edirne and Aegean Thrace (present-day Northern Greece), due to his Bulgarian identity moved to the Kingdom of Bulgaria (to this day on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria) with the biggest wave of refugees after the Mollov-Kafandaris agreement, and in some documents preserved in the Theodosian Quarantine Archive, Emanuil Gramatikov is called not “Greek”, not even “Serb”, but “Slav”.

He arrived in Russia in 1795, responding to an invitation to the inhabitants of what was then Ottoman Greece to colonize the southern Russian coast. Gramatikov arrives in Akhtiar (Sevastopol), where he begins heavy preparations for naval service. From Sevastopol he moved to Theodosia, where he served until 1809 as a translator at the customs, and then as a clerk in the office of the central quarantine office.

The quarantine cases also contain evidence that Gramatikov was accused of opening a fish processing plant, but apparently without significant consequences, because after the plague epidemic of 1811-1812 his cases were extremely successful and he established strong ties. in the field of supply for the fleet. Emanuil Gramatikov brought from Greece his two brothers, Stavro and Georgi, together with whom he expanded his business. , abandoning in droughts their possessions even at the whim of fate.

Gramatikov died suddenly, of the plague – his death on December 14. 1829 in Simferopol, where he was buried in the Greek church. His wife, Smaragda Dmitrievna, who according to the will was a lifelong user of all property, died in Theodosia on August 19, 1870 and was buried in the Christian cemetery. Her grave was searched several years ago and a massive marble monument has been erected there today. Here it is proposed to transfer the ashes of her husband, a petition for which was presented to His Eminence Dmitry, Archbishop of Tauride and Simferopol.

Representatives of the Gramatikovi family, as already mentioned, have been, for almost 90 years, taking the most active part in the public life of Theodosia. There are no children left after Emmanuel and Emerald. Georgi’s heirs by daughter adopted other surnames, and this name is maintained only by the descendants of Stavro. His sons, Alexander and Ivan, have long held a leading position in the family of Theodosia.

Ivan Stavrovich was the first justice of the peace of the Theodosian District, and was also elected to the First National Assembly on February 18. 1869 and until the dismissal, ie. until 1892, he was twice elected chairman of the World Congress.

Alexander Stavrovich was a member of the Zemstvo, and later from 1884 to 1910, and its permanent chairman, being the main inspirer of the zemstvo and county public life in general for 25 years. His memory is honored by the zemstvo by assigning his name to the zemstvo hospital in the village of Sedem Kladentsi (Sem – Kolodezei), placing his portrait in the hall of the zemstvo assembly, etc. For more than 20 years he was also the trustee of the Grammar Charitable Capital , running it along with another local veteran, Il. Paul. Tamara, also a descendant of a Greek settler and former mayor of Theodosia, Ivan Tamara (former mayor, 1820-1825). The last years of the rule of A. Gramatikov and I. Tamara provoked the beginning of this movement, which is reminded of in 1918 by the incessant newspaper columns, court offices and district administrations and other institutions.

The fertile ground for the creation of all sorts of lawsuits and lawsuits was prepared, unfortunately, by the testators themselves, who incompletely formulated their thoughts on the details of the management of their millions of capital, although this testament is a model of true Christian feat and testifies to the noble designs of these remarkable benefactors.

The will was drawn up in 1825, and was presented in court in 1830 and came into force for the implementation of the charitable plans of the Grammatikovi in 1870.

Thus, by handing over all their property, amounting to 18,000 tenths of land in Theodosia County, including homes and estates in Theodosia, post offices, etc., the testators admitted a significant ambiguity, which provoked later endless disputes.

As can be seen from the text of the will, the supreme supervision of capital affairs was entrusted to the “Greek honorary society”, namely, the rights and obligations of capital management and control of the actions of the two trustees, one of the Grammatikov’s family, the other, a church trustee (epitrope), both elected by the aforementioned society.

The complete impossibility of establishing the content of this term gives fertile ground for all kinds of discord. It is believed that the term “honorary society” was introduced from the Greek islands, where there was once a circular guarantee for the payment of taxes. In addition, at the time of drafting the will, 1825, such a term may have had its meaning, but since then, major reforms have been carried out in the Russian Empire, the liberation from serfdom, the introduction of urban institutions, courts, amended the whole system of public life. “Honorary Society” with today’s date will not be found in any nation, and even if the word was taken in its literal sense, we can hardly consider the same concepts given to this word in 1825 and today. Repeated attempts have been made to interpret this concept, which have not led to a successful result. The county and provincial zemstvos brought the case to the senate, pointing out the absence of an honorary society as a legal entity, the danger of homelessness of the bequeathed property, etc., and asked for the capital to be handed over to him. However, the Senate recognized the zemstvo as an ancillary institution, and the claim was dismissed. Recently, the zemstvo has taken steps before the Ministry to initiate a petition to the Supreme Authority to amend the corresponding item in the spiritual will for the order of capital management. And this petition was left unsatisfied.

Another character is the overall direction of the case with the issuance on August 4, 1915 of the Supreme Order for the transfer of all property to the Greek Church of the Assumption (Holy Introduction to the Virgin). The attempt of the trustees to take possession of the story / clergy was not supported by the notary and judicial institutions, which consider that the said order (order) does not give the right to establish property rights, but refers only to use, according to the conditions clarified in the will. ”, Ie with the help of the honorary society in question.

As a result of all the controversy, in the end, the prevailing view is that an honorary society should be understood as the parish community, which also elects the second trustee from among the church trustees. The controversy continued for some time, during which a group of parishioners found that only censors could participate in the affairs of capital, ie. people with qualifications – enjoying the right to participate in city elections.

Others have explained this controversial paragraph 7 of the instruction on ecclesiastical epitrops in the sense that urban elections should be understood not only as elections in the field of urban self-government, but also as professional, for example, guild urban elections. In previous times, disputes and doubts were resolved by the administration itself, with the ministry recognizing the right to participate only to censors and the provincial government recognizing all parishioners. On August 4, 1915, the administration resigned from its supervisory functions and the most direct supervision over the activities of the parish municipality passed to the diocesan authority in the province. At the same time, the district court, and then the chamber and the senate, recognized as lawful the decree of the society composed of all parishioners of the Greek Vvedenskaya church. Of course, in Soviet times all the capital bequeathed to Christian charity by the Gramatikovi family of Bulgarian origin was expropriated with the rest of the church property. Nowadays, the local population pays tribute to the Grammars philanthropists, because the good should not remain anonymous, but should be popularized for the sole purpose of serving as an example and initiating followers in the exercise of Christian love for God and neighbor.

Another extremely interesting thing is that the wife of Alexander Sergeyevich Gramatikov was Dagmar, niece of General, Bonch-Bruevich, brother of the manager of the affairs of the Sovnarkom V.D. Bonch-Bruevich. Dagmar provided her accommodation for Sydney Reilly’s “work.” During the Civil War, Alexander (Elena Gramatikova’s brother) and Aivazovsky’s son-in-law, Prince Mikeladze Iveriko Davidovich, together bought the schooner Salomet and for some time supplied weapons to Turkey from Wrangel’s Crimean troops from Turkey, exchanging them for grain with smugglers. on the Turkish coast.

Even more unusual is the fate of Alexander Nikolaevich Gramatikov, brother of Ekaterina Nikolaevna Gramatikova, who in her first marriage was married to Aivazovsky’s grandson – Mikhail Latry. His life is intertwined with Vladimir Ulyanov-Lenin and Sidney Riley, the British spy who inspired Fleming to create the literary image of James Bond, Agent 007.

Soviet researchers and archivists made considerable efforts to search for, categorize, and publish letters and documents of VI Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Party and the first leader of the Soviet state. The fifth edition of his collected works contains more than 3,700 letters and telegrams, and the documents found after the publication of this edition are published in Lenin’s collection. The still undiscovered letters of Lenin, whose existence researchers know about, as well as Lenin’s documents stored in the former archives of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism, but unpublished for various reasons, are scrupulously listed in the twelve-volume Biographical Chronicle. Several previously unknown letters have been found by Western scholars in European archives. Due to the above, the new Lenin document, not included in the catalogs, complements the characteristics of the Bolshevik leader. In July 1908, Lenin sent the following letter of recommendation: Gramatikov (“Black”) belongs to the Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party and has worked in the ranks of party organizations. Geneva, July 7, 1908.”

The original of this two-page letter is kept in the Public Archives of Canada in the Andrei Zhuk Foundation (early 1968 in the Austrian capital), established in 1978. In the first decade of the 20th century, A. Zhuk was active. member of the Revolutionary Party of Ukraine (RPU) and the Ukrainian Social Democratic Workers’ Party (URSDRP). During the First World War, he was associated with the Austrian-based Union for the Liberation of Ukraine (SOU). After the revolution, Zhuk lived in Vienna and Lviv. He retained his interest in Ukrainian socialism and the cooperative movement. In the period between the two world wars he did an incredible amount to preserve the archives of the high school and the materials about Ukraine.

But who is Gramatikov, whose political credibility Lenin attests to in his letter? His name, as well as the leader’s letter, are not mentioned in any of the editions of Lenin’s Collected Works or in the Biographical Chronicle. It is not mentioned in the multi-volume History of the CPSU, in the seven editions of the Soviet Encyclopedia, in the various publications with letters from the Mensheviks, or in Soviet or Western research on the pre-revolutionary history of the Social Democratic Party. However, the name Gramatikov appears in the reports of the Paris branch of the “Ohranka” – the tsarist political police, whose archives are kept at the Hoover Institute for War, Peace and Revolution.

According to the report of the “Ohranka”, written 4 months before the writing of Lenin’s recommendation, Alexander Nikolayevich Gramatikov, “of the nobles”, was born in Sevastopol in 1871. In 1896, while studying at Moscow University, he was arrested for political activity . For two years he was forbidden to live in the two capitals, as well as in any university city. In 1899, Gramatikov was arrested again in Tver, after which he was released into his mother’s care due to an unrecorded “nervous disorder”. After some time he moved to Kharkov, where he resumed his studies at the university, as well as his political activities. According to police, in 1905 he was associated with the Bolshevik wing of the Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party, was a member of the party committee in Kharkov and its military organization, actively distributed leaflets in connection with the anniversary of Bloody Sunday. From February 1902 to March 1906 he was detained four times, but each time he was soon released. It is quite probable that Zhuk, who at the same time was connected with the RUP and the USDRP in Kharkov, knew about Gramatikov’s work in the local Bolshevik organization. As in most revolutionary groups, agents of the tsarist political police also infiltrated the Kharkiv Social Democrats. The problem with which Gramatikov, despite frequent arrests, escaped punishment has aroused certain suspicions in Zhuk and other Ukrainian socialists. After the defeat of the 1905 revolution, when Gramatikov, Zhuk, and a number of other Russian intellectuals emigrated, these suspicions probably prompted the Social Democrats to warn Lenin about Gramatikov. Vladimir Ilyich, in his letter of July 7, 1908, stated that he had no reason to doubt the loyalty of his Bolshevik ally.

During this time Gramatikov lived in Brussels. On March 2, 1908, SE Visarionov, director of the political Police Department, asked the Paris branch of the “Ohranka” to confirm the agent’s report that Gramatikov (known as “Black”, “Ivan Petrovich”) lives in Belgium, where he studies the production and application of explosives. As far as no answer was concerned, similar notes were sent on October 25 and December 6, 1911. The last time the Gramatikov family appeared in the archives of the “Ohranka” was in December 1911, when its Paris branch informed Visarionov that the socialist-revolutionary Gushtin is currently living in Paris with Gramatikov. Gushtin, whose real name was NI Metalnikov, was handed over to an agent of the Russian police. Apparently he also gave the information that the party comrades were concerned about the fact that Gramatikov had abandoned revolutionary activity to study philosophy. It is possible that, as a result of their neighborhood, Gramatikov’s personal ties with the SRs and the police have been strengthened. In 1912 or 1913 he returned to St. Petersburg, where he entered the role of a lawyer with a good career and excellent contacts. He dined at the most luxurious restaurants and helped establish the Aviators’ Club, which organized the first air races in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Among his closest friends were Boris Suvorin, the son of the publisher of the conservative newspaper Novo Vreme, and Sidney Rzli, who stole from the St. Petersburg Naval Shipyard where he worked, and apparently not without his help, drawings of German warships for the British intelligence. Riley considered Gramatikov “not only a scientist and thinker, but also a man of character, whose loyalty was beyond suspicion.” According to other sources, Reilly was for some time an agent of the “Ohranka”, as well as Gramatikov himself. This connection would explain the ease with which Gramatikov escaped prison, despite his frequent arrests until 1907 and the metamorphosis of his life after 1911. The change of direction – from the party to the police – as a result of blackmail by the “Ohranka” did not was an unusual phenomenon in the last decade of tsarist Russia.

Gramatikov and Riley crossed paths again in the autumn of 1918, when the great British spy returned to Russia, trying to ignite resistance there against the new regime. Gramatikov, who believed that the government “is in the hands of criminals and the mentally ill released from a mental hospital”, used his previous connections, organized an interview with Riley with General M.D. Bonch-Bruevich, from whom he made his niece Dagmar , a ballerina at the Moscow Art Theater, to allow his friend to use her apartment as a “safe place” where he kept large sums of cash in various currencies. Dagmar introduced him to two charming ladies – actress Elisaveta Otten and CEC secretary Olga Strizhevska, who fell in love with Riley and provided him with passes and secret documents, as Inna Svechenovskaya writes in her book Sex and Soviet Espionage (p. 281). Gramatikov, with the help of Vyacheslav Orlovsky (Vladimir Orlov), who had previously been associated with the pre-revolutionary “security guard” and became a member of the Extraordinary Commission (EC), provided Riley with false documents in the name of Sidney Georgievich Relinsky, allowing him to travel freely. The Soviet side under the guise of a Chekist, as reported by Sayers Michael in his book The Secret War against Soviet Russia, p. 28. Penetrating the Kremlin and the General Staff of the Red Army, Riley was aware of all the activities of the Soviet government. The English spy boasted that the sealed orders to the Red Army “became known in London before they were read in Moscow.”

It is very likely that he connected Riley with the anti-Bolshevik elements in the SR party. Riley, in turn, nominates Gramatikov for the post of interior minister to head the police and finance in the supposed new Provisional Government, in which Boris Savinkov is to become prime minister and General Yudenich the military minister. Schubersky, head of one of Russia’s largest trading companies, was to become Minister of Roads and Communications. Yudenich, Shubersky and Gramatikov – the future interim government had to overcome the anarchy, almost inevitable after such a coup. The above is also supported by the modern English researcher Philip Knightley (Knightley F. Spies of the XX century / Translated with English, M., 1994. p. 62), who describes the main collaborators of the SIS in Russia: Sidney Riley, George Hill, Somerset Maugham, who also worked for the Americans, Paul Dukes, and Robert Bruce Lockhart, an agent of the British Diplomatic Service in Moscow, who, although not a SIS officer, took an active part in espionage in Russia.

Gramatikov and Riley apparently played no part in the assassination of the German ambassador Mirbach and in the SR uprisings in the provincial towns in July 1918. But in August they were at the center of the so-called Lockhart conspiracy against the Bolshevik regime. . With money received from the unofficial representative of the British mission Bruce Lockhart, Riley bribed some Latvian red units to help him capture during a scheduled meeting in Moscow of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (CEC) and the establishment of a military dictatorship of Savinkov. Residents of foreign intelligence services rightly judged that the fate of any conspiracy against the Soviets would largely depend on the position of the Latvians, who at the time were the most capable Red Army unit responsible for guarding the Kremlin. Two young Latvian commanders, who had arrived from Moscow, were brought to Petrograd. They contacted the naval attache at the British Embassy (which had not yet moved to Moscow), Captain Francis Alan Cromy. Their first meeting took place in the restaurant of the French Hotel. The commanders convinced Cromi that there was serious dissatisfaction among the Latvian riflemen with the authorities, that they were ready to go against the government if they had the support of army units. The commander of the 1st Division of the Latvian Riflemen, Eduard Berzin, was also involved in the operation. Lockhart gave them letters of recommendation to the commander of the British troops in Arkhangelsk, General Poole, and accompanying documents on British mission forms with stamps and his signature. (It was assumed that after the arrest of the Soviet government, the Latvian archers through Arkhangelsk on English ships would return to their homeland.)

The meeting of the Bolshevik leadership of the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow was postponed, and on August 28 Riley arrived in Petrograd to consult with Gramatikov on the implementation of the plans for an uprising in the former capital. But, as Gramatikov himself put it; “The fools struck too early.” On August 30, terrorists unrelated to the Reilly network killed M.S. Uritsky in Petrograd and seriously wounded Lenin in Moscow. Felix Dzerzhinsky, whose agents infiltrated Riley’s organization back in June and knew of his odious plans, quickly took advantage of these events as a pretext for Lockhart’s arrest, the search of the British mission in Petrograd and the beginning of the Red Terror. Most surprisingly, Riley and Gramatikov were able to burn their documents and flee the country.

The two conspirators last met in September 1925 in Paris, where Gramatikov spent his second emigration. This man, whom Lenin considered a loyal Bolshevik, again conspired against the Soviet government. Reilly, along with Gramatikov, White General A.P. Kutepov, expert on exposing provocateurs Vladimir Burtsev and British intelligence officer Ernst Boyce, are discussing the possibility of establishing contact with the alleged monarchical, anti-Bolshevik Moscow organization Trust. It was decided that Riley should go to Finland to investigate with the leaders of the Trust the possibility of another uprising. They did not know that the monarchical group had long been arrested by the OGPU. Riley was tricked into entering Soviet territory, and this time the “king of espionage” failed to return.

The fact that Lenin believed and supported a man like Gramatikov, who could really be associated with the tsarist “Ohranka” in pre-revolutionary times, and after 1917 developed a remarkable anti-Soviet career in alliance with his political opponents – the left, like Savinkov , to the right-wing monarchists, may surprise many. Subsequently, Lenin repeatedly proved to be a poor connoisseur of the human soul and the political leanings of his entourage, supporting Roman Malinowski in the Bolshevik Central Committee and defending him when obvious evidence of his affiliation with the “Ohranka”, and then praising that “wonderful Georgian” who became his successor.

Photo: cityscape painting of Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky “Old Feodosia”, oil, canvas, 1839.

ETHIOPIA: The UN needs to investigate massacres of civilians in war and no-war zones

An independent UN inquiry commission needs to investigate the innumerable killings of civilians that have been perpetrated on the margin of the frontal conflict opposing the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) since November 2020, including in the Afar, Amhara, Benishangul and Oromia regions. The EU-Africa Summit in Brussels this week should also address this issue.

In addition to data collection about war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated in the Tigray region, it is urgent to map massacres of civilians of other ethnic groups all over the country, to identify and prosecute the perpetrators. In this regard, the Amhara and Afar regions should be prioritized but tragedies also took place in other places.

After the 3 November 2020 attack of a federal military base in the Tigray region, Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed launched a military offensive in the rebellious region.

During this war, the TPLF troops have killed non-Tigrayan civilians in their own region, invaded parts of the Amhara and Afar regions where they have perpetrated crimes against humanity, and used sexual violence as a war weapon. A few examples.

November 2020: In Maikadra, 600 to 1200 Amhara victims in the Tigray region

Less than a week after the conflict began, a community comprised largely of ethnic Amharas was targeted by a Tigrayan youth group known as “Samri,” close to the TPLF.

On 9 November 2020, at least 717 people in the town of Maikadra (Tigray Region) were brutally murdered in homes they shared with fellow seasonal workers and their families. The victims were largely Amhara.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC) investigated the mass killing and declared in its report: “Before retreating from the advance of the ENDF, the local militia and police security apparatus joined forces with members of the Samri group to carry out door-to-door raids and kill hundreds of people they identified as ethnic ‘Amharas and Wolkait origin’, by  beating them with sticks, stabbing them with knives, machetes and hatchets, and strangling them with ropes’.”

The EHRC then estimated that at least 600 civilians were killed but that the death toll could be higher.

Some other estimates of those killed in Maikadra range as high as 1,200, including bodies discovered in mass graves near Abune Aregwai Church, according to the US 2020 Report Human Rights Report.

August 2021: In two months, 300 cases of sexual violence in the Amhara region

Sexual violence has been used by TPLF combatants as a weapon of war, according to a report prepared by the Amhara Association of America for Amnesty International.

Between August and September, over 300 instances of sexually-based gender violence (SBGV) were reported, including 112 incidents of rape, in the North and South Gondar zones of the Amhara region, though the actual figures are believed to be significantly higher. 

Victims have reported not only the physical and emotional trauma that coincides with sexual violence. They have also faced social stigmatization, venereal diseases and (the threat of) unwanted pregnancy. 

August 2021: Amharas killed in the Oromia region

In August 2021, the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), a splinter group of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) killed more than 200 people in the Oromia region, according to the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Most of them were Amharas, who had often faced similar attacks in the past.

September 2021: In two days, 120 civilians were killed in the Amhara region

In a village 10 km from the town of Dabat (Amhara region), fighters loyal to the TPLF killed 120 civilians over two days, local officials told Reuters.

Chalachew, the Gondar city spokesperson, said that he had visited the burial area in the village and that children, women and elderly were among the dead. He said the killings occurred during the Tigrayan forces’ “short presence” in the area.

January-February 2022: Massacres in other regions

In this year only, about one thousand homes were burnt down in Benishangul-Gumuz, Metekel zone. In the recent past, 300 civilians were killed in the same region, 80 in January 2021 and 220 in December 2020, as reported by Reuters.

In February 2022, 300 Amharas were first killed in Kiramu (Oromia region, Welega zone) and some days later 168 more, according to a governmental source. Moreover, according to the opposition media outlet Ethio 360, a dozen families with children were captured by an OLF rebel group in the Shewa zone, Oromia region, on the road to Addis Abeba, and a number of them were executed.

In the news in February 2022: UN Deputy Secretary-General in the field

In an article of The Ethiopian Herald, Mengisteab Teshome wrote that the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammed, had recently visited towns and villages controlled for a short period by the TPLF.

“The Deputy Secretary-General has observed vandalized and damaged public and private facilities, witnessed mass burial committed by fighters of the terrorist group in Afar and Amhara states; particularly in Kombolcha and South Wollo zone of Amhara State, reported FBC,” he wrote.

In another article of The Ethiopian Herald dated, Solomon Dibaba wrote:

“According to the education sector annual report released by the Ministry of Education in 2021, a total of 7000 schools were destroyed in Amhara and Afar in a single year. Out of this, 455 were destroyed in Afar pushing 88,000 children totally out of school. Through shelling conducted by terrorist TPLF, 240 persons have been killed in a single shelling incident out of which 107 were children.”

A report of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC)

In November 2021, the EHRC published a 33-page well-documented report titled “Amhara region: Redress and recovery for areas in South Gondar and North Wollo zones affected by the conflict/ The violations and abuses may amount to war crimes.”

The report covers the period July-August 2021. The investigation mission held 128 interviews and 21 focus group discussions with survivors, victims, local civil administration and security officials, CSOs and humanitarian organizations.

The Commission found that at least 184 civilians had been killed and many suffered physical and psychological injuries as a result of the war. TPLF fighters were found to have willfully killed scores of civilians in towns and rural areas they captured and systematically committed large scale looting and destruction of public and private properties.

In his conclusions, the EHRC Chief Commissioner called on all parties to the conflict to respect their obligation not to target civilians and civilian buildings. He also recommended that the perpetrators of such violations be held accountable.

Liberia Announces: The Land of Return

Monrovia, Liberia – The Bicentennial Steering Committee has launched Liberia’s 200-year anniversary commemoration as a country and announced the theme and slogan of the Bicentennial event. The event is being celebrated throughout 2022 from January 7 to December 10, 2022, with the official opening ceremony taking place on February 14, 2022.
Liberia was founded in 1822 by free people of African descent from the United States of America.

The theme seeks to memorialize black freedom and nationhood and the determination for self-governance that began 200 years ago, while reconnecting with the diasporas from America and Europe.

According to the Steering Committee, the theme is “Liberia: The Land of Return – Commemorating 200 Years of Freedom and Pan-African Leadership” while the slogan is “The Lone Star Forever, Stronger Together.”

The Steering Committee says this theme signifies three important historical milestones achieved by the country since it was founded in 1822 by free people of African descent and their patrons from the United States.

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Firstly, the theme celebrates Liberia, in West Africa, as the land chosen as a refuge by free people of African descent who endured many years of servitude in the United States, to settle as their home country. Consequently, under the auspices of the American Colonization Society (ACS), many of the free people of colour emigrated from the United States and disembarked on Providence Island in Liberia on January 7, 1822, as their home country.

Secondly, the theme seeks to memorialize black freedom and nationhood and the determination for self-governance that began 200 years ago when Liberia was established in 1822. In an era when people of African descent were seeking freedom and self-determination, the founding of Liberia, “the Black Republic,” which gained independence in 1847 stood as the clear indication that Africans were capable of self-rule.

And thirdly, the theme acknowledges the pivotal Pan-Africanist leadership role that Liberia played, crusading for Africa’s decolonization and independence, including its uncompromising stance against the racial segregation in South Africa known then as Apartheid.

Liberia would later champion the establishment of multinational unions on the African Continent and the global stage. Foremost, was its Pan-Africanist leadership role in organizing the historic 1959 “Sanniquellie Conference” involving Liberia, Guinea, and Ghana which ultimately resulted in the formation of the Organization of African Union (OAU) in 1963.

Liberia assumed similar Pan-Africanist leadership in the formation of the African Union (AU), successor to the OAU. It likewise joined the call on the Continent for the creation of regional economic organizations, such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Mano River Union.

And it was in a similar spirit of Pan-Africanism that inspired Liberia to join other nations in supporting the formation of international bodies, including the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

As a Pan-Africanist leader, Liberia became the vision bearer and founder of the African Development Bank when the bank was established in the 1960s to foster economic cooperation on the African Continent.

It can be recalled that even while slavery remained legal in the United States until 1865, the resettlement efforts of the ACS culminated into the establishment of present-day Liberia in West Africa to relocate free black men, women and children from the United States and other people of colour from other parts of the world. This led to the departure of the first group of about 86 free Blacks from the shores of New York in 1820.

By the end of the 1800s, approximately 17,000 free Blacks from the United States and the Caribbean were repatriated to Liberia. Other people of colour would continue to seek refuge in Liberia, the “land of liberty.”

Since their arrival, the settlers established self-governance in Liberia with Joseph Jenkins Roberts from Virginia of the United States serving as the first African American to be elected as president of a country. Subsequently, nine other American-born Africans from Maryland, South Carolina, Ohio and Kentucky served as presidents of Liberia, this first black African Republic.

The capital city of Liberia is named Monrovia after James Monroe, fifth President of the United States, a staunch supporter of the ACS and the flag of the country is a partial replica of the American flag to symbolize the strong relationship between both countries.

To preserve and uphold a strong bond of relationship with the United States of America, the settlers named most of the counties and cities of Liberia after a number of American States, notably including Maryland and Mississippi in Africa, amongst others “to continue to preserve their cultural ties with the places they came from in the United States.

The slogan shows Liberia as the Lone Star nation and the first independent black republic in Africa. Despite the country’s recent bitter history of conflict, Liberia has restored peace and stability and it remains stronger together as a nation through democratic governance. The country has held three successive democratic elections, which ushered in Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as the first democratically elected female president of the country and Africa.

In 2017, the country witnessed the democratic transfer of power from one democratically elected president to another when President Sirleaf transferred power to President George Manneh Weah resulting from the outcome of a free, fair and transparent democratic election. This transfer of power was a significant milestone that the country has not achieved in more than 70 years.

According to the Steering Committee, the theme and slogan are designed to support the objectives of the Bicentennial Commemoration, which are to celebrate Liberia’s rich cultural heritage; to showcase the country’s tourism and investment opportunities; to reunite and reconnect African Americans in the United States and other blacks within the diaspora to their cultural identity in Liberia.

A key objective of the Bicentennial commemoration is to also strengthen the rich historic relationship between the United States and Liberia dating back to the 1800s when Liberia was established.

To ensure the success of the Bicentennial Commemoration, His Excellency, President Dr. George Manneh Weah of the Republic of Liberia, is calling on all Liberians, the local and international partners and the diaspora communities to participate in this historic event to celebrate 200 years of the founding of the country by free people of African descent from the United State and other parts of the world, including the Caribbean and Europe; and the level of freedom and Pan-African leadership that the country has enjoyed while showcasing the country as an ideal destination for tourism and investment.

Various subcommittees are assisting the National Steering Committee of the Bicentennial commemoration ensuring an inclusive measure to assure the success of the event. The President is calling on all Liberians and good friends of the country from around the world to work together collaboratively, irrespective of their social and political alignments, to ensure the success of this event for the overall benefit of the country.

Trust in 2022

Some weeks ago, the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer, their 22nd annual trust and credibility survey, was launched.

The survey was powered by Edelman Data & Intelligence (DxI) and consisted of 30-minute online interviews conducted between November 1 and November 24, 2021, on more than 36,000 respondents from 28 countries, which means over 1,150 respondents by country.

The Edelman Trust Barometer 2022 reveals that businesses and NGOs are more trusted than governments and that most workers expect CEOs to be the “face of change”.

In fact, “High-income people have become more trusting of institutions, while low-income people have become increasingly distrustful.”

As far as the survey is concerned, trust has only one definition; it can be used as a noun or a verb: it’s a firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something.

The etymology is even more interesting:

Trust comes (c. for circa = about) from c. 1200 “reliance on the veracity, integrity, or other virtues of someone or something; religious faith,” from Old Norse traust “help, confidence, protection, support,” from Proto-Germanic abstract noun *traustam (source also of Old Frisian trast, Dutch troost “comfort, consolation,” Old High German trost “trust, fidelity,” German Trost “comfort, consolation,” Gothic trausti “agreement, alliance”), from Proto-Germanic *treuwaz, source of Old English treowian “to believe, trust,” and treowe “faithful, trusty”.

In the relationships that all bodies or companies build with their users, I believe “trust” is the final value.

I observed that the trust level within a company influences its ability to operate, lead, and achieve success within its member, but also in the face of its customers or members. Also, the foundation of an organization’s ability to take appropriate risks and recover from errors is the solid so-called “trust”.

It’s at long-term the strongest guarantee and the most refined road to growth for a firm. In the meantime, credibility is lost without trust, and reputation is jeopardized.

The author and businessman Stephen Covey said once, “Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”

What The Edelman Trust Barometer 2022 is all about is the social change, for more equity and close collaboration within the society from the institutions, the firms, and Government who have the role to provide protection, security, and help to the stakeholders who are creating a place where the “society” can exist, those who are close to them.

That finally said, “My Employer” is now the most trusted of any institution, at 77%, beside workers expect CEOs to be the “face of change”.

At the same time, apparently, distrust has become society’s “default emotion,” with 60% of people inclined to “distrust until they see evidence that something is trustworthy”-which could impede progress in addressing global challenges.

To resume on a positive highlight of How to rebuild trust

1. Businesses and NGOs are seen as competent and effective drivers of positive change.
2. Good information seems to be the missing ingredients that would close the societal divide.
3. People want definitely more leadership, not less, combined with effectiveness.
4. Long-term thinkingness for equity over immediate gain is the goal.

Nevertheless, the Trust in National Health Authorities, the World Health Organization, the United Nations, the European Union increases from 2021 to 2022.

A final note is social media which seems to be challenging some distrust from 2021.

Another good news is that if you’re an entrepreneur searching for a strong industry sector to invest in and create a business in, the following sectors have seen an increase in trust:

• Technology,
• Education,
• Healthcare,
• Manufacturing,
• Food and beverage,
• Automotive,
• Retail,
• Transportation,
• Professional Services,
• Telecommunication,
• Entertainment,
• Energy,
• Consumer Package Goods

Download the full 2022 report HERE

Portugal 2022: António Costa reelected

António Costa reelected, PS wins 2022 Portuguese General Elections

Out of the many scenarios for this election in Portugal, this one was the most sought after by António Costa, the parliamentary majority for the Socialist Party. Voter turnout was almost 10% higher than in 2019.

He asked for it, he got it, almost all political analysts called a socialist parliamentary majority “impossible” and even António Costa said at the beginning of the night that an absolute majority was an “extreme scenario”. However, 41,68% was enough for a majority in the parliament.

117 deputies elected, 116 needed for an absolute majority.

Never, in the history of Portuguese Democracy has a parliamentary majority been formed with so few votes, the last, and at the time only, the absolute majority for PS was in 2005 with 45,03% of the votes. 

PS won all electoral districts except Madeira, a social-democratic bastion, but all other PSD electoral bastions, like Leiria and Viseu for example, were lost to the socialists. This was also one of the major surprises of the electoral night.

The leader of PSD, Partido Social-Democrata (Social-Democratic Party), Rui Rio announced that with a socialist majority “I can’t see how I can be useful” for the party.

This result was a big upset for the social-democrats, Rui Rio expected to increase not only the PSD vote but also the social-democratic parliamentary representation. However, the voter share had only a minimal increase and the PSD parliamentary group will only have one more deputy compared to 2019. PSD wasn’t even able to cross the 30% mark.

CHEGA! (ENOUGH!) is now the 3rd political force in Portugal, even exceeding expectations in relation to the number of deputies elected, the populist party has now 12 deputies, increasing the parliamentary group by eleven members. The party also managed to have a better result in the north of the country than expected.

Iniciativa Liberal (Liberal Initiative), also had only one deputy and now has 8. The party almost had 5% of the vote (4,98%), this result is within the expectations although some polls not only pointed to 6% but also predicted the liberals to be the 3rd political force in Portugal. The party leader, however, did not mention any disappointment.

The former members of “gerigonça” (name given to the informal alliance between the left-wing political parties in Portugal, PS/BE/PCP) had a terrible electoral night. Bloco de Esquerda (Left Bloc) went from 500.017 votes (9,52% of the vote, 3rd political force) to 240.257, losing more than half of the votes, but more importantly 14 deputies, with the leftist parliamentary group being reduced to only 5 members.

The CDU, a coalition led by the PCP, Partido Comunista Português (Portuguese Communist Party) also lost a big share of the vote, going from 6,33% and 12 deputies to 4,39% and 6 deputies. PEV, the ecologist party and the other member of CDU, Coligação Democrática Unitária (Unitary Democratic Coalition), disappeared from the Portuguese Parliament.

Livre (Free) and PAN (People Animals Nature) managed to elect 1 deputy each, but with the Socialist Party absolute majority, will both probably have little, to no relevance in the Portuguese scene.

Although CDS-PP (CDS-People’s Party) had more votes than PAN and Livre, the Christian-democratic party failed to elect any deputy. Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos, the centrists’ party leader, presented his resignation as he is “no longer able to lead the party”.

Results*:

PS (Socialist Party) – 41,68% – 117*

• PPD/PSD (Social-Democratic Party) – 29,27% ** – 76*

• CH (ENOUGH!) – 7,15% – 12

• IL (Liberal Initiative) – 4,98% – 8

• BE (Left Bloc) – 4,46% – 5

• CDU – PCP/PEV (Portuguese Communist Party/”The Greens”) – 4,39% – 6

• CDS-PP (CDS-People’s Party) – 1,61% – 0

• PAN (People Animals Nature) – 1,53% – 1

• Livre (Free) – 1,22% – 1

*There are 4 seats in the Portuguese Parliament reserved for the votes outside the Continent and the Autonomous Regions (Açores and Madeira), Europe and Outside of Europe electoral districts. However, each party will almost certainly have 2 seats each from those 2 electoral districts.

**In Madeira and Açores, PSD was part of a coalition with CDS-PP and CDS-PP/PPM respectively, but all the deputies elected by the coalitions are militants of PSD.

António Costa now awaits the request of the Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, to form his “new” government.

More information about the Portuguese General Elections to follow.

See the official results HERE – https://www.legislativas2022.mai.gov.pt/resultados/globais

More information about the election:

2022 Portugal Elections: Do you know each party?

Portuguese Elections: What to know before election day

In Portugal, try to go to the same restaurant more than once…

As with any other country, there are many unwritten rules. If you now live in Portugal, or if you’re just a tourist, read this text to get a tip that will make you more welcome in the country.

You enter in a more traditional Portuguese restaurant or café, to eat a more traditional Portuguese food. You’re nervous, will they scowl you for being a foreigner? You look at the menu or at the exhibited food, and you ask the waiter (or God forbid the manager) what dish they recommend for lunch.

He looks at you with “that” face… You know, the face of judgment… He points to the “house specialty”, like he is screaming “you entered here searching for what other than this?”.

You feel your stomach turning around, and it is not the hunger you were feeling before you entered the place… You feel small, reduced to the position of “uninformed tourist” or something like that. You drink from the water you ordered, looking at the other people in the place. Not that they’re talking about you, but you know that at least one person said “what’s this tourist doing here?”. 

Now the waiter and the manager are looking at you while they speak, as if you needed to feel worse about yourself. Someone in the kitchen calls for the waiter, he goes there and when he’s back he brings a plate, your plate…

He puts it on the table, you say “Thank you”, he says “De nada” with a somewhat long face. “You did nothing wrong”, you say, “So just eat the food”… The meal is very delicious, humble, but very good. The price is even better, and so close to the place where you’re staying… It is just too convenient.

So you go there again, they looked happy when you left, they noticed that you liked the food, so maybe it wasn’t that bad. 

When you enter for the second time you see the waiter that served you the last time, “Hello!” he says recognizing you. The “hello” could be for the worst reasons of course, like “that tourist again…”, but you give him the benefit of the doubt, the “hello” seemed too nice for that…

More at ease than the last time, you order the same dish, but the waiter says “No, no, that dish is beginners stuff. Since you liked it that much we are going to cook you a real traditional dish.”. Wow, you don’t even ask what dish it is, you just say: “Bring it on then…”

And if it’s not better than the other dish… Wow! This one really is incredible! The manager comes to you to ask if you liked the dish, you not only say yes but you also ask the origin of the dish, and he tells you everything about it… You then ask for a desert, and they bring you “the special” with a cup of liquor. And the rest is history…

It may not happen as fast, but this can certainly happen to you. Many foreigners say to me that the Portuguese are not hospitable or nice with them, but that couldn’t be further from the truth… 

The truth is this: Portuguese  (especially the more elderly) are a bit particular, hard to please at first, but the best way to break this “block of ice” is by showing perseverance and especially loyalty.

So, for example, in this story, “you” managed to surpass the initial tension by going there again, showing that even with the suspicious looks you still liked the food/restaurant. 

So you just have to pass an endurance test…

And this “distrust” is not directed only at foreigners, I can certainly relate to this too, so don’t treat it as a “stigma” against you personally… 🙂

Anti-war Jehovah’s Witnesses claim some Nazi-time archives from Germany

Germany: Property of archives in a German military museum claimed by anti-war Jehovah’s Witnesses

As reported by The New York Times on 25 January, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany are seeking to obtain the extensive archives of the Kusserow family, decimated by the Nazis during WW II, which are currently held by the Bundeswehr Military History Museum in Dresden, Germany. Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany claim to be the legal heir to the archive.

Noteworthy is that Jehovah’s Witnesses have always been against war and military solutions in conflictual situations between two or several countries. In conformity with their religious beliefs, they have always refused to carry out military service everywhere around the world. Thousands of them in South Korea, Greece, France and many other countries have spent many years in prison because of their anti-war religious beliefs and in Nazi Germany, a number of their objectors were even executed. ‘Irony of history’, a military museum is now in possession of the decimated Kusserow family and beyond the legal property issue, German Jehovah’s Witnesses feel offended by what they call a gross moral injustice. For years, they have only been able to see the Kusserow family archive in a military building exhibiting all sorts of weapons used to kill and destroy.

The 13 members of the Kusserow family were harshly persecuted by the Nazi regime because of their religious identity. Two of the boys, Wilhelm and Wolfgang, were executed for not supporting the Nazi military effort.

Their youngest and only living sibling, Paul-Gerhard Kusserow, asserted: “My brothers died for refusing to participate in military service. I don’t find it proper that this inheritance is stored in a military museum.” Therefore, primarily to address this moral wrong, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany are seeking to obtain the Kusserow archive from the museum.

Additionally, Jehovah’s Witnesses say they have documentation to prove that Annemarie Kusserow, the eldest sibling, bequeathed Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany the archive that she meticulously compiled. The archive consists of over 1,000 items that include photographs, drawings, pre-execution farewell letters, death penalty pronouncements, and classified Gestapo reports.

Annemarie died in 2005. Subsequently, the Witnesses discovered the Bundeswehr Military History Museum had obtained the archive. According to the museum, they bought it in good faith from a Kusserow family member—who was no longer affiliated with Jehovah’s Witnesses and has since died.

For nearly seven years, Jehovah’s Witnesses in Germany have been unable to reach a peaceful settlement with the museum and have taken legal action to acquire it.

If successful, the Witnesses plan to display the Kusserow archive in their museum at the Central Europe office in Selters, Germany. It will then be accessible to any visitor free of charge.

History of the Persecution of the Kusserow Family

• Wilhelm Kusserow was one of the first conscientious objectors executed by Nazis during World War II. He was killed by firing squad
• Wolfgang Kusserow, a younger brother of Wilhelm, was beheaded two years later
• Franz Kusserow, the father, was imprisoned three times. Annemarie and Waltraud, two of the daughters, were imprisoned
• The mother, Hilda Kusserow, as well as two of her daughters, Hildegard and Magdalena, were imprisoned and subsequently sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp
• Karl-Heinz Kusserow, one of the sons, was sent to the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps
• During the 12 years of the Nazi regime, members of the Kusserow family were sentenced to a total of 47 years and 9 months in prisons or concentration camps
• The three youngest children were abducted and sent to Nazi training schools, forbidden to contact their family. Subsequently, they were placed under the care of families who supported the National Socialist party.