This is the first editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times

This week, the Sakhalin Region joined the rest of Russia in celebrating the 88th Foreign Intelligence Service Day. The KGB was once a dreaded name that invoked fear both in Russia and overseas. Despite the powers that the Federal Security Service (FSB) and the Foreign Intelligence Service have now, they are looked upon as toothless tigers that go after soft and easy targets.

One of the reasons that these agencies are looked upon as inept is the fact that many of their officers have fallen prey to the rampant disease known as corruption. After the Beslan attack took place last year, President Putin claimed that it was complete lack of public trust in the security and intelligence apparatus in Russia that led to a great number of terrorist attacks. The president, with a tinge of sarcasm, implied that ordinary citizens feared the intelligence services more than the terrorists. It is ironic that policemen and plain clothed-FSB agents stop common people in the streets of Moscow to check identity documents while the agents of terror carry on their activities with relative ease.

The FSB proudly announced that 40 suspected spies were arrested in the Russian Far East this year. Many of these suspects, they claim, visited Sakhalin as part of foreign trade delegations. It defies logic that foreign countries would send spies with government officials who are being escorted from point to point by their Russian hosts. It is more a question of FSB prestige to make an annual declaration that the intelligence officers are efficient enough to catch scores of spies that are plotting to take over border areas like the Russian Far East.

As Sakhaliners, we have to wonder why there is this prolonged paranoia. We don’t expect the Europeans to ever claim the Russian Far East. The Japanese want the Southern Kurils but don’t have military designs. America wants Russian Far Eastern oil and gas and is getting it. They are sane enough not to militarily intimidate Russia. What about the Chinese? China is bending over backward to blow the friendship horn. The country cared very little when its citizens left Harbin in droves fearing contamination of their water supply. Beijing, however, decided to do everything in its power to stop the toxins from flowing into Russia. The intelligence establishment seems to lack the intelligence to understand that the Chinese Government is covertly supporting the planting of immigrants in Siberia and the Far East and at the same time publicly carrying out distracting acts of “eternal friendship” with Russia. Intelligence agencies have not been successful in foiling Chechen terrorism in central Russia either.

The Kremlin must accord high priority to reforming and revamping the intelligence agencies. The agencies need to be systematic and efficient on the lines of Israel’s Mossad. It’s when anti-Russian elements fear the intelligence agencies the way the Russian public does that Russia will be safer from domestic and external threats.

This is the first editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times.

The Sakhalin Police have always displayed zero tolerance for crimes committed against foreigners. Whether it’s petty theft or a more serious, violent crime, the police have shown a great deal of professionalism in handling complaints by foreigners.

The murder of a French citizen in his Yuzhno apartment in June really shook up Sakhalin’s expatriate community. Most people had heard about hitchhikers getting attacked and muggings outside nightclubs at unearthly hours but this brutal attack inside a person’s apartment sent shockwaves across the island. The cold-blooded murderer, who stabbed the victim 6 times, wasn’t just looking to make a quick buck by robbing the apartment.

The Sakhalin Public Prosecutor’s Office needs to be commended for the way it handled the investigation and subsequent case in court. The Russian and foreign media were completely left in dark about the proceedings, enough so that there was no interference and public pressure during the case. This allowed the officers of the court to do their job and reach a fair verdict.

The Sakhalin Provincial Court’s verdict of fifteen and a half years in a high security penal colony sends out a strong message to Sakhalin’s criminals. Such acts will not be tolerated in Sakhalin. In fact, this verdict should set a precedent for violent crimes against foreigners in Russia. Too often, we hear about armed neo-nazi terrorists operating in cities like Voronezh, Rostov and St Petersburg and murdering innocent and defenceless foreigners and then being charged with “hooliganism” and getting a few years in jail. One can only hope that the Sakhalin verdict pushes other regions to show zero tolerance to crimes against foreigners.

Many locals have brought to our notice that the Sakhalin Police show a more lax attitude when it comes to crimes committed against Russians in Sakhalin. The police have strongly denied such allegations. However, one Russian reader pointed out (with documental evidence) that certain murders have remained unsolved for over two years. The Sakhalin Police have an excellent network of informers and good enough infrastructure to solve most crimes.

It is in the best interest of both the police and common Sakhaliners that the decade-long feelings of mistrust be eliminated. There very well maybe some corrupt elements in the police but that doesn’t mean that Sakhaliners should fear the police force as a whole. Both locals and foreigners have much more freedom (from police harassment) in Sakhalin than they could ever dream of in Moscow and St Petersburg.

Sakhalin’s civil society and police need to work together to make the island crime-free and a model region for Russia.

This is the first editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times

It was heartening to know that the administration of the Southern Kuril Islands of Kunashir and Shikotan took the initiative on the International Day of Disabled Persons to reach out to their disabled citizens. This is the first time that any government body in the Sakhalin Region has even done something symbolic to address the needs of the disabled. It will, however, take a lot more than a small yearly grant and a party to improve the lives of the disabled in the Sakhalin Region.

Sakhalin has to be one of the most difficult places in the world to live in for disabled or handicapped people. The ice covered winter sidewalks of the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk would definitely pose far greater obstacles for disabled persons in their day-to-day existence. To make matters worse, there are no special seats for the disabled in the private mini-buses that effectively serve as the only form of public transport in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. The few municipal buses that operate in the city also don’t have special seats or even low floors to help disabled people get in and out. The Sakhalin Railways also don’t offer any facilities for the disabled. Even the Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk airport has inadequate facilities for the disabled.

There are 55,000 registered disabled people in the Sakhalin Region, according to the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development. Unfortunately this number is growing every year due to a variety of reasons including accidents, natural disasters and diseases.
It has come to the notice of the Federal Government that the lack of facilities for disabled people in the country is causing their isolation from mainstream society.

The Federal Programme for Social Support of the Disabled for 2006-2010 has been framed to address the needs of the disabled. Under the programme, more centres will be opened for disabled people and these centres will have a new set of rehabilitation facilities fitted out with modern equipment and rehabilitation devices. In addition, all regions in the country will have “social taxis” for the disabled that will charge a subsidised fare for disabled people. Such a service will really help increase the mobility of the disabled in Sakhalin. This increased mobility will no doubt help the disabled have more access to buildings and better chances of employment, but more needs to be done at the provincial level. The Sakhalin Administration can introduce certain measures of affirmative action, like a small quota of reservations in government jobs as well as in university admissions. .

For Sakhalin’s disabled people to become full-fledged members of the society, the authorities must make full use of the Federal Government programme and funds to give them a chance to live a better life.

Tailpiece: Russia is probably the only country in the world where disabled people are officially referred to as “invalids.” This highly offensive term needs to be officially replaced with a Russian equivalent of “disabled” or “challenged.”