18 January 2016

Source: HRO.org (info)

• Ryazan region  Victims of repression  Children’s rights  Human rights defenders  Social rights

The Ryazan Memorial Society has made public the results of its work over the past year. In 2015 the NGO’s experts gave residents of the city and region of Ryazan more than 750 consultations free of charge.

More than 250 requests for assistance were received concerning historical memory, including 200 related to "dekulakized" villages and approximately 50 related to Ryazan residents shot by the NKVD. Most often Ryazan Memorial is approached by disadvantaged citizens in need of free legal aid: people with disabilities, orphans who come of age and leave orphanages, the poor, old age pensioners. Memorial's legal staff provided more than 500 consultations on social questions.

During the course of the year 46 court cases were won, of which 14 were actions on behalf of people with disabilities, and 32 housing claims for orphans. In December last year 17 individuals who left orphanages were given housing as a result of assistance provided by Ryazan Memorial.

One of the most significant cases of 2015 is that of the 9-year-old Angelina. The girl suffers from a grave illness and is in constant need of a rare medicine which is not produced in Russia. After a law was passed making the importation of the medication to Russia illegal, it became much more difficult to obtain. Without the medicine the child's condition could deteriorate. Angelina's mother turned to Memorial. Thanks to repeated appeals to federal and regional authorities for children's rights, to Ryazan region governor and the regional department of the Ministry of Health, it was made easier for the mother to obtain the vital medicine for her daughter.

Cases won with the help of Ryazan Memorial's experts, reported in the media, became guides to action for people in difficult situations. For example, the story of Nikolai Khaletsky, who suffers from a form of cancer, enjoyed a wide response. The Ryazan resident won a claim against the Ministry of Health in the civil court or money spent on expensive medication with which he should have been provided free of charge. The case of the orphans who won housing for themselves also resonated strongly. Ryazan Memorial has been receiving calls from people in similar predicaments.

In 2015 public access remained one of the key themes in the organization's work. After appeals from residents and expert advice arranged for by Memorial, many sidewalks and buildings in Ryazan were adapted to the needs of the people who lack mobility.

Ryazan residents have a high regard for what the organization does. This is confirmed by the results of a vote on the local website of Novaya Gazeta, in which the city's residents voted Ryazan Memorial "NGO of 2015".

Note:  Ryazan Memorial was founded in 1989. In the 26 years it has been active in the region the organization, which focuses on social issues, has carried out more than 60 projects related to the preservation of historical memory and the defence of human rights and liberties. For 15 years Ryazan Memorial has published the national independent history and human rights journal Karta. From the early 1990s the organization has run a free legal clinic for residents, which in the course of a quarter century has given aid to thousands of disadvantaged Ryazan region residents. Ryazan Memorial has restored graveyards, organized dozens of exhibitions, lectures and excursions, published books, and provided hundreds of orphans, people with disabilities and other citizens with housing.

Translated by A.Valles