Today Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan (a Russian republic in the south of Urals) hosted a joint conference on interaction between law-enforcement bodies and human rights organizations in efforts to prevent extremism.
Alexander Brod, the head of the Moscow Human Rights Bureau, said the joint work between law-enforcement bodies and human rights organizations was highly important.
"We are pleased with the beginning of our cooperation with the Russian Interior Ministry in the fight against various forms of extremism and this cooperation is carried out in the practical dimension," he said.
According to him, currently policemen attend seminars in various regions of Russia where human rights activists and foreign specialists describe international experience in efforts to combat extremism.
"We plan to issue a series of study guides for Russian police about the international community's experience in counteracting this evil," Brod added. According to him, one such guide, Skinheads in Russia, has already been published.
The head of the Interior Ministry's public relations department, Valery Gribakin, said that combating extremism among young people in Russia was extremely important.
According to him, the Russian Interior Ministry's department for combating organized crime and terrorism had registered 150 young people's extremist organizations with a total of more than 5,000 members.
"Law enforcement bodies conduct enormous work on preventing extremism among young people and count on the support of human rights organizations in this sphere," Gribakin said.
Bashkir Interior Minister Rafail Divayev, representatives of scientific-research institutes and the General Prosecutor's Office, the Interior Ministry and human rights organizations are attending the interregional conference in Ufa, which is due to end on July 2.
