MOSCOW. Feb 18 (Interfax-AVN) - The elaboration of the bill "Concerning the Status of Participants in Military Conflicts and Participants in Combat Operations" has been completed, Alexei Arbatov, deputy chairman of the defense committee in the State Duma lower house of parliament, said on Tuesday.
"The status of persons taking part in military conflicts and combat operations is not determined by law at the moment. Their status is determined by bylaws such as presidential decrees and governmental resolutions. The bill "Concerning the Status of Participants in Military Conflicts and Participants in Combat Operations" that we have worked out is aimed at filling this gap," Arbatov told Interfax-Military News Agency.
Current legislation deals with events that have happened in the Baltic states, Transcaucasia and Tajikistan, said the lawmaker who chairs the working group in charge of the bill's elaboration. "It seems expedient to regulate the status of participants in military conflicts and combat operations by a federal law, under which the state would assume material and moral obligations to above-mentioned categories of citizens," Arbatov stressed.
"The law guarantees that executive authorities, when starting any combat operations, will take into account that the state must bear expenses related to provision of benefits to participants in combat operations and their family members due to risks and loss of health," he said.
The bill includes several legal definitions, such as those of a participant in a military conflict and a participant in combat operations. It fixes the amount of daily payments due to the participants at 1.3 minimal monthly salaries attached to the position for privates and sergeants and 1.5 minimal monthly salaries attached to the position for officers. The bill introduces several additional benefits for participants in military operations during and after the operations, outlines what must be done in case of their death, and fixes the order of their comprehensive rehabilitation.
"The latter is especially important, because none of current acts, including presidential decrees and governmental resolutions, provides for medical and social rehabilitation of participants in military operations and their family members," the lawmaker stressed.
The bill was co-written by representatives of nearly all factions and alliances in the State Duma. In addition, the working group included officials of all law-enforcement agencies, excluding the Defense Ministry, "which is the agency that employs the highest number of participants in combat operations and armed conflicts," Arbatov added.