Dedovshchina

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dedowschtschina ( Russian дедовщина, "rule of grandfathers") describes the harassment of younger conscripts by senior citizens, which is still common in the Russian armed forces and armed forces of other post-Soviet states .

Historical development

The phenomenon of Dedovshchina can be traced back to the days of the Tsar . It has obvious connections to the prison camp system in the Tsarist and Soviet times (cf. Katorga , Gulag ) and has been spreading more and more in the Soviet armed forces since the 1970s . These are not classic initiation rites , as are often the case with admission to closed communities (cf. Bizutage ), but rather continuous practices over a longer period of time. Their subordinates have to do the work of the "grandfathers" such as cleaning the area, etc., and their wages and benefits from relatives are also taken away from them. An insulting tone is self-evident, and sophisticated psychological tortures are added. The harassment often reaches serious criminal proportions with assault and murder . Dedovshchina is often the cause of unauthorized removal from the troops and suicides .

In the case of the group of Soviet armed forces stationed in the GDR in Germany , removal from the troops in connection with Dedovshchina was punished with draconian punishments. The fugitives were often followed with dogs. Many died in desperate attempts to escape.

Until the mid-1980s, the phenomenon was considered a taboo subject in the Soviet Union , only the so-called glasnost under state and party leader Gorbachev contributed to the fact that a broad public could take notice of it. But even before that, the Dedovshchina, latently notorious for its stories and rumors, had contributed to generating an aversion to military service that went far beyond what is normal in other countries. Around the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union , it contributed to a veritable conscript revolt with massive evictions. Furthermore, many of those affected try to avoid being called to the meeting with the help of corruption and high bribes.

Every year soldiers are dismissed from the Russian army as invalids due to abuse, rape and psychological torture. According to the Defense Ministry , there were more than 1,700 Dedovshchina victims in 2010 by the beginning of September. In 2005, 16 soldiers died as a result of ill-treatment, 276 committed by torture and humiliation by superiors suicide , other sources speak of more than 500 victims. It is unclear why some of the victims' internal organs were removed before they were transferred to the funeral. Relatives suspect that these end up in the organ trade .

For the processing of cases and for the enforcement of human rights in Russia , above all, occurs Union of Committees of Soldiers' Mothers , a.

The Andrei Sychev case

In 2006, the case of the then 19-year-old conscript Andrei Sychev became known outside of Russia. He was so badly mistreated by superiors that both legs, genitals and parts of his right hand had to be amputated. Charges were brought against twelve former superiors. A military doctor , as a defense witness, said Sychev may have contracted blood poisoning several months before the incident .

On 26 September 2006, the condemned garrison court in Chelyabinsk the main defendants Alexander Siwjakow to four years and saw him for three years to rank as a sergeant from. Two other defendants, soldiers Kuzmenko and Bilimovich, received a prison sentence of one and a half years on probation.

Other armies and social groups

This form of abuse by comrades and superiors is not unique to the Russian army. In the Turkish army, for example, deaths from abuse by comrades are also more common. In the NVA there was the EK movement, which was also associated with worrying excesses .

In the US Army and the US Marines there is the Code Red .

In the Bundeswehr , too, initiation rites have been held, albeit not systematically. This includes the rituals of admission to the corps of non-commissioned officers with the non-commissioned officers' ceremony and those in sub-units with a special service load, such as in one of the high mountain ranges . These are partially prevented by the superiors as far as they become known. see also the list of Bundeswehr airborne units

The Bizutage is an initiation rite that is locally different in France and the Francophone countries in the secondary and university milieu, which until the very recent past has often bordered abuse, humiliation, e.g. T. also which has exceeded to sexual assault as well as sometimes to extortion .

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Russia's army - "They make me a cripple here" . Spiegel Online , September 20, 2010
  2. ↑ The law of the thumb rules in the Russian army , at Deutsche Welle, February 23, 2006
  3. ↑ de.rian.ru
  4. ↑ Manfred Quiring: "Here lies a little soldier without legs" . In: Die Welt , January 27, 2006.
  5. ↑ O. Bilger: The rule of the cruel grandfathers . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , November 11, 2008; Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  6. ↑ Steven Lee Myers: Hazing Trial Bares Dark Side of Russia's Military . In: The New York Times , August 11, 2006. Retrieved July 14, 2009. 
  7. ↑ The double sacrifice . In: Berliner Zeitung , August 16, 2006
  8. ↑ Medical dispute about the causes of the mutilation of a Russian soldier , at Deutsche Welle , August 24, 2006
  9. ↑ Aksim Bereschnow: Russia: Judgment in the case of abuse of Sychev , at Deutsche Welle , September 26, 2006; Retrieved July 14, 2009.
  10. ↑ t-online.de/tv/news ( Memento of the original from January 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Soldiers break their silence @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.t-online.de