Watchdog

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin last month ordered the creation of an interagency commission on historical education, and his reasoning was clear from the preamble to the decree, which said it was "in order to ensure a planned and aggressive approach to the matter of defending the national interests of the Russian Federation.

Defenders of the decision took Putin's reasoning further. Historian and member of the advisory Public Chamber Pavel Pozhigailo told RFE/RL that "like any country, the government is trying to preserve the state."

"Undoubtedly the question of history, in my opinion, is a crucial question for the existence of the state within its current borders," Pozhigailo said. "If history is rewritten, then the state will no longer exist."

Because Russia is a "multinational" country, the need for a "unified" version of its history is urgent, Pozhigailo said. There cannot be a presentation of history that "tells how great the people of the Far North are and how bad the Russians are or how great the North Caucasus are and how bad the Russians are" because "Russia would simply collapse into an enormous number of tiny states."

"In order to prevent this, undoubtedly, we need some agreement in society and in the state regarding our history," he added.

'Historical Battlefield'

Writing for the RIA Novosti state news agency, historian and publicist Pytor Akopov wrote: "Among other things, our history has taught us one simple truth: There is nothing more frightening than division and disunion. And they arise from confusion and hatred, which are incompatible with love for one's own history."

Russia, he added, must defend its sovereignty "on the historical battlefield."

The brief of Putin's commission covers historical "prosveshcheniye," a broad term that includes not only formal education but also museums, culture, entertainment, and the citizenry's overall immersion in a subject.

The new commission is to be headed by controversial former Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky, who heads the uberpatriotic Military-Historical Society whose own dissertations have been derided as "simply unscholarly, and in places downright absurd" while "ignoring sources if they contradict his theses." Medinsky, who serves on the General Council of the ruling United Russia Party, was removed as culture minister in early 2020 but is now an adviser to Putin.

SEE ALSO:

Russia's 'Myth'-Busting Culture Minister Embroiled In Doctoral Thesis Scandal

"Medinsky is not simply Medinsky," Pozhigailo said. "Medinsky is counsellor to the president. As I understand it, the task now is to have a unified view of the history of Russia in order to combat the likely liberal interpretation of that history."

'Fundamentally Different'

Medinsky headed a similar commission aimed at combating the purported falsification of history when he was culture minister under President Dmitry Medvedev. But that commission never amounted to much, said historian Nikolai Svanidze, who was a member.

"I can't say that I remember much about that commission, although I was on it," he told RFE/RL. "But the composition of the new commission is completely different. Representatives of the Federation Council and the Duma have been removed...to say nothing of your humble servant. And representatives of the security forces have been brought in, which no doubt will change the way the commission works."

According to Putin's order, the new history commission will include representatives of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Interior Ministry, the Investigative Committee, the presidential administration, the staff of the Security Council, the Prosecutor-General's Office, the foreign intelligence service (SVR), and others.

"I don't think it will be more serious," Svanidze said, comparing the new commission with Medvedev's. "But it will certainly be more dangerous."

'Ideologically Motivated'

Nikita Sokolov, a historian and chairman of the Free Historical Society, agreed that the composition of the new commission is "fundamentally different."

"These are very powerful players in the ideological sphere and when they start playing at history, it scares me," he said.

"I am very concerned about the fate of historical science in Russia after the formation of this commission," he added. "Because things will get mixed up and ideology will enter into the sphere of science."

SEE ALSO:

Russian 'History Parks' Present Kremlin-Friendly Take On The Past

Attempts to enforce an ideologically motivated concept of history are shortsighted and likely to exacerbate divisions within society, Svanidze said.

"History is interesting, like a detective story that has no end," he said. "But lies are boring. Those who want to create a 'correct history' are simply trying to pass off what they desire for what was real. We will suffer because the people being told these stories won't listen like they are supposed to. And they will be punished for it."

The current Russian government "doesn't talk much about the future," Svanidze said, turning its attention instead to reinterpreting the past. "Instead of a future, we have the past…. We are aspiring to a great past."

No vision of the past can unify a diverse country, Sokolov added.

"You can only unite the country around a vision of the future, around moral principles that we can see in our future," he said. "Yes, the past is full of sins and crimes, but in the future we intend to live differently and achieve reasonable and humane goals. That should be the aim of politics, and politicians should keep themselves out of the study of history."

Written by RFE/RL senior correspondent Robert Coalson based on reporting from Moscow by RFE/RL Russian Service correspondent Mikhail Sokolov.

Local activists have warned of authorities' persistent use of compulsory rectal exams to abuse detainees and other suspects in Uzbekistan.

International rights groups last week urged President Shavkat Mirziyoev to immediately order officials to abandon such evidentiary procedures in prosecuting cases of suspected homosexuality.

Alone among post-Soviet states, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan still outlaw consensual same-sex relationships.

At least six men have undergone forced rectal examinations in Uzbekistan in the past five years, nine international rights groups said in a recent appeal to Mirzoyoev.

"Forced anal examinations are a form of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment that can amount to torture," they said.

The complainants included Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Council for Global Equality, the International Partnership for Human Rights; and six other groups.

In a case decided earlier this year, the groups said, two men who formerly lived together were forced to undergo the exams before being convicted by a Tashkent court and ordered to spend two years under house arrest.

Sodomy can carry a three-year prison sentence under Uzbek law.

Investigators from the Uzbek Prosecutor's Office or Interior Ministry may order such exams in cases involving possible homosexuality.

The World Medical Association has urged medical professionals around the globe to stop conducting such exams.

Mirziyoev, who took power in 2016, has repeatedly pledged to reform Uzbek justice and end allegedly widespread torture in custody.

Rights groups and two Uzbek Interior Ministry officials with knowledge of the situation told RFE/RL's Uzbek Service that rectal probes are still used as a common form of torture by police and other authorities.

Nadejda Atayeva, head of the Paris-based Association for Human Rights in Central Asia, said rectal exams have been used in at least three cases where the individual being tested was a minor, and in one of those cases the subject later attempted suicide.

International rights groups say Uzbekistan is one of only a very few countries around the world to use compulsory rectal exams as evidence in cases involving suspected homosexuality or sodomy.

HRW said in a 2016 report that the others were: Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya, Lebanon, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Zambia and Syria.

The examinations are widely regarded as a means of torture.

Two Uzbek Interior Ministry officials who spoke to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity said rectal exams of male detainees are among the most common forms of abuse in Uzbek detention centers and prisons.

In a number of prominent cases, former detainees have spoken out publicly about being threatened with rape with a truncheon if they refused to confess to crimes.

The rights groups say men who engage in same-sex relationships "face arbitrary detention, prosecution, and imprisonment as well as homophobia, threats, and extortion."

They said the Uzbek government acknowledged earlier this year that at least 40 men had been convicted under anti-homosexuality legislation between 2016 and 2020.

They also noted that the Uzbek Prosecutor-General's Office and other authorities recently drafted a proposed new Criminal Code "but have not proposed repealing Article 120," the article that prescribes up to three years in prison for homosexual behavior.