VZCZCXYZ0009
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMO #3241 3101348
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 051348Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0637

UNCLAS MOSCOW 003241 
 
STATE FOR G/IWI 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL KWMN KPAO RS
SUBJECT: POST NOMINATION FOR THE 2009 "WOMAN OF COURAGE AWARD" 
 
¶1. NOMINATION 
 
In accordance with a call for nominations for the Secretary of 
State's 2009 Award for International Women of Courage, post 
nominates Veronika Marchenko, head of the "Mother's Right" 
Foundation, for her exceptional dedication to exposing human rights 
abuses in the armed forces. 
 
¶2. BIODATA 
 
Name: Marchenko, Veronika Aleksandrovna 
Job Title/Association: Chair of the Board, Interregional Public 
Charity Foundation "Mother's Right" 
Date of Birth: November 27, 1969 
Country of Birth: Russia 
Citizenship: Russian 
Address: Moscow, Volokolamskoye Shosse 6, Apt. 160 Telephone: 
7(499)158-3410 (h); (495) 606-0581 (w) 
E-mail address: mright@rosmail.ru 
Passport Number: 62 N 8926393 
 
¶3. JUSTIFICATION 
 
Veronika Marchenko has been the chair of the board of the "Mother's 
Right" Foundation since its inception in 1990. The mission of this 
uniquely-positioned NGO is to expose the true circumstances 
surrounding peacetime deaths in the army, provide moral and legal 
support to surviving families, and lobby for better conditions in an 
armed forces ravaged by hazing and corruption. 
Despite hurdles to ascertaining information about the deaths, 
despite opposition by the military, the "Mother's Right" Foundation 
has drawn major successes in defending rights of bereaved families 
in court. In 2007 alone, lawyers of Mother's Right participated in 
132 litigations free of charge (pro bono) in 21 cities across 
Russia, in which parents of victims acted as claimants. In 2007, the 
foundation assisted 5,323 families of servicemen who died during 
(peacetime / non-combat) military service. 
According to Ms. Marchenko, the Russian Defense Ministry purposely 
underestimates its official death statistics with an annual death 
toll of about 1,000 people. The number is three times as high, Ms. 
Marchenko has repeatedly stressed. The most common reasons for these 
deaths are beatings and harassment leading to suicide, intolerable 
living conditions, denial of needed medical assistance and excessive 
labor. 
One of the most appalling issues relating to military deaths is the 
cause of death given by authorities. About 35 percent of the parents 
seeking guidance at Ms. Marchenko's Foundation said that their sons 
had committed suicide and hence, parents experienced difficulties in 
acquiring entitlements due to the surviving family. In many cases, 
lawyers of the Mother's Right foundation investigating the 
circumstances of death consistently proved that the reason for a 
conscript's death was not suicide, but provocation to a suicide or 
murder. 
In the course of complicated litigation in 2007-08, Ms. Marchenko's 
foundation won an uphill battle against the Presidential Regiment, 
an elite military unit, where a conscript was driven to a suicide by 
bullying. An unprecedented decision against top brass gives hope to 
other families finding themselves in a similar situation. 
Ms. Marchenko's efforts to make military leadership accountable for 
peacetime deaths have not been recognized by the host government. As 
one of the few whistleblowers shedding light on human rights abuses 
in the army, she and her foundation have experienced pressure from 
authorities 
In 1990, in a small room in downtown Moscow, with one table, one 
chair and a telephone, young Veronika Marchenko started the 
"Mother's Right" Foundation, while still a student at Moscow 
University. Her first articles on hazing in the then-Soviet armed 
forces generated an immense response from citizens and harsh 
criticism by authorities. Pioneering in the investigation of 
military-related deaths, she soon became the center of an initiative 
group of parents whose sons were killed during 
(peacetime/non-combat) military service. Today the "Mother's Right" 
Foundation has become an outstanding example of a successful 
grass-roots endeavor, which started from scratch and evolved into an 
influential citizens' group owing to the support of ordinary 
citizens. 
¶4. NOTIFICATION 
Ms. Marchenko was notified of the nomination. She confirmed her 
willingness to accept such an award and availability to travel to 
Washington in March 2009. 
BEYRLE