Bourgeois Prepares Private Armies for the Crackdowns of Mass Demonstrations of the Workers

One of these days the Federation Council managed to approve amendments to the laws "About Deliveries of Products for Federal State Needs" and "About Weapon" approved by the lower chamber resolving Russian Oil corporations to have private armies. Now security divisions of "Gazproms" and "Rosneft" can get and use fighting weapon.

 

Moreover, in amendments is spoken that they "use civil and service weapon and special means by way established by the Federal law from April, 14th, 1999 N 77-FZ "About Security". Thus no references to the law "About Private Detective and Security Activity" are present. This, to put it mildly, scandalous moment is not explained in any way in the law and it means that the law supposes, including such interpretation, that private security structures have now the same rights as security, for example, the right to apply administrative detention and execute a search. I.e. private security remaining private will have the same powers as state security structures of the Ministry of Interior.

 

The law "About Security" entitles to use the weapon, for example, in condition of "group resistance" (not necessarily armed) or at attempt of "the detained person" to come nearer, than on the distance specified by the security guard. In some cases according to this law it is authorized to shoot at sight even outside the territory of the object under protection. Besides it is necessary to consider that the law does not limit number of security structures of corporations.

 

So, oligarches received in their hands the weapon which can be used against working class. Certainly, they had it before - bourgeois character of the modern Russian state does not cause doubts, its armed groups (the army, militia) are intended to protect authority and the property of capitalists. But appearance of private armies nevertheless seriously enough changes the state of things.

 

The matter is that bourgeois state can carry out functions of "a committee managing the causes of a ruling class" only if it is to some extent above all society. The bourgeois state is not only naked violence, but also "hegemony" as Gramshi wrote. This state proclaims (anyway in words) equality of citizens before the law. Workers, for example, sometimes gain suit in law against capitalists. Certainly, when it is a question of profits, capitalists and officials in the majority of cases don't care the laws but the mere presence of laws and different types of formal democratic procedures is a kind of restraining factor to a certain degree.

 

It's necessary to mention that present Russian army is not an appropriate tool for suppression of working class. Whether the recruits from working families will shoot at people? Hardly... Militia? There, actually, also are not consumed with desire to fight with people. When the special order "from above" to make false arrests on meetings and demonstrations is given to militia, in half of thee cases it does it extremely reluctantly. And in case of labour conflicts far not always supports capitalists. Actually there is also Special Police Force. Participation in operation in the Chechen republic not to the best influenced moral principles of people who are on service there, the more is that the majority of them are contract-soldiers. OMON in relation to demonstrators behaves most severely. But, firstly, it's not so numerous and secondly, the mood there also can change. At a time of protests against monetization of privileges in several cases employees of Special Police Force refused to carry out orders about beating of pensioners. So gangs of well paid mercenaries from various security services and private security firms is - the most reliable tool against working class. The violence of bourgeoisie now can be direct, not mediated by the state.

 

Security services and private security firms at the industrial enterprises often play a role of supervisors. Crackdowns of assemblies, attacks on working active workers, struggle against trade unions, at last just rendering of psychological pressure upon workers by way of searches on checkpoints - is a usual practice of such formations. Now these structures have an opportunity to use fighting weapon.

 

Meanwhile such right is given only to oil corporations but it's not excluded that, maybe, then it will be expanded. The fact that control share holdings of the largest oil-and-gas corporations are in the hands of the state has in present situation no value. These corporations continue to remain joint-stock companies and the process of so-called establishment of the control of the state above oil business is only the tool of property repartition between oligarchical clans.

 

Reaction in army to the new law is interesting. Weekly journal "New Time" recites the words of one high-ranking source in the General Staff: "Corporate army perfectly equipped, well supplied, with the highly paid staff, existing near to regular army will decompose it: "They will need helicopters, planes - obligatory will appear aviation parallel to Air Force, even alternative to it. By definition they will need floatage - there will be a fleet. They will select the best personnel to command posts, enticing them from the army of officers. They will simply exsanguinate the officer cadre! At that it's already happening: the bill was just in discussion and their personnel officers already attacked our units enticing therefrom officers". Creation of private armies will result not only in strengthening of the authority of the oil-and-gas companies but also to the aggravation of class contradictions in society and, obviously, can promote even to the growth of anti-capitalistic moods in army.