For information on the Buriats or Buryats, including their religious affiliations and the status of their language, please refer to Response to Information Request RUS10112 of 27 January 1992 as well as to the attachments.

The popular movement "Negedel" (Unity) was registered as a political party in March 1992 to "revive the culture of Buryatia's people, its territorial and spiritual integrity" (ITAR-TASS 23 Mar. 1992). According to a February 1993 report, its leaders are V. Khamutayev and I. Pronkinov (Rossiiskaya Gazeta 24 Feb. 1993).

In November 1992, Negedel reportedly organized a two-day assembly during which the participants decided to establish the Buryat-Mongol Congress, a special representative body to "represent the interests of the Buryat people at all levels of legislative and executive powers in Buryatia, Russian federation, and world community" (ITAR-TASS 19 Nov. 1992). The decisions passed during this assembly were subsequently declared "illegal" by the Supreme Soviet of Buryatia (ITAR-TASS 13 Jan. 1993).

In late 1993, ITAR-TASS reported the expulsion of V. Khamutayev, one of Negedel's leader, from the `Civic Union', a political alliance including Negedel and the "Republican branch of the Russian Democratic Party" (5 Nov. 1993).

For more information on Negedel, please refer to the attached ITAR-TASS reports. Please note that Negedel is sometimes referred to as the Negedel National Unity Movement (NUM) (Rossiiskaya Gazeta 24 Feb. 1993), the national unity movement Negedel (ITAR-TASS 19 Nov. 1992), and the "Negedel" (Unity) Movement (ibid. 13 Jan. 1993). Specific information on the composition of Negedel and the attitude of the government towards it could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

ITAR-TASS [Moscow, in English]. 5 November 1993. "Election Campaign Gains Momentum in Russia." (NEXIS)

_____. 13 January 1993. Sergey Trofimov. "Buryat Supreme Soviet Declares `Negedel' Assembly Illegal." (FBIS-SOV-93-008 13 Jan. 1993, p. 39)

_____. 19 November 1992. Sergey Trofimov and Peter Tsirendorzhiyev. "Buryat National Assembly Ends Work in Ulan-Ude." (FBIS-SOV-92-226 23 Nov. 1992, p. 45)

_____. 23 March 1992. Alexey Subbotin. "New Public Movement Legalized in Eastern Russia." (NEXIS)

Rossiiskaya Gazeta. 24 February 1993. Gennady Gypylov. "Regionalism in Russia--Prelude to Separatism? National Unity Movement Wants `Mongolia' Added to Buryatia's name, UST-Orda (in Irktsk province) and Aga (in Chita Province) Regions Annexed; Aga Chiefs Demurs; Citizenship for Buryat Expatriates Asked; Genghis Khan Glorified." (Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press 31 March 1993/NEXIS)

The Christian Science Monitor [Boston]. 3 September 1992. Justin Burke. "Siberia's Buryats Hope for Recovery." (NEXIS)

The Commercial Appeal [Memphis, Tenn.]. 3 September 1995. Final Edition. Steven Erlanger. "Struggling Russian Town Would Feel US Budget Ax, Foreign Aid Powers Eco-Plan on Huge Lake Baikal." (NEXIS)

Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States 1994. 1994. 2nd ed. London: Europa Publications, p. 587.

Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 1992. 12th ed. Edited by Barbara F. Grimes. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics, p. 727.

ITAR-TASS [Moscow, in English]. 5 November 1993. "Election Campaign Gains Momentum in Russia." (NEXIS)

_____. 13 January 1993. Sergey Trofimov. "Buryat Supreme Soviet Declares `Negedel' Assembly Illegal." (FBIS-SOV-93-008 13 Jan. 1993, p. 39)

_____. 19 November 1992. Sergey Trofimov and Peter Tsirendorzhiyev. "Buryat National Assembly Ends Work in Ulan-Ude." (FBIS-SOV-92-226 23 Nov. 1992, p. 45)

_____. 23 March 1992. Alexey Subbotin. "New Public Movement Legalized in Eastern Russia." (NEXIS)

Izvestia. 11 October 1990. Gennady Gypylov."Convention of Soviet Buddhists in Buryatia." (Russian Press Digest 11 October 1990/NEXIS)

Nation and Politics in the Soviet Successor States. 1994. Edited by Ian Bremmer and Ray Taras. New York: Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, pp. 494-96.

National Geographic [Washington, DC]. June 1992. Vol. 181, No. 6. Don Belt. "Russia's Lake Baikal: The World's Great Lake," pp. 2, 8-10, 14, 16-17, 20, 23-25, 28-29, 31-33, 36.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta. 24 February 1993. Boir Borboyev. "Buryatia: The Republic Has A Constitution-It Will Soon Have A President." (Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press 23 March 1994/NEXIS)

Radio Rossii Network [Moscow, in Russian]. 10 June 1992. "Russian, Buryat Accorded Official Status." (FBIS-SOV-92-114 12 June 1992, p. 66)

Reuters. 11 December 1992. BC Cycle. James Flannery. "Spirit of Genghis Khan Again in Russia's Mongol Corner." (NEXIS)

Rossiiskaya Gazeta. 24 February 1993. Gennady Gypylov. "Regionalism in Russia--Prelude to Separatism? National Unity Movement Wants `Mongolia' Added to Buryatia's name, UST-Orda (in Irktsk province) and Aga (in Chita Province) Regions Annexed; Aga Chiefs Demurs; Citizenship for Buryat Expatriates Asked; Genghis Khan Glorified." (Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press31 March 1993/NEXIS)

World Directory of Minorities: Longman International Reference. 1991. Edited by the Minority Rights Group. Harlow, Essex: Longman Group UK, pp. 158-59.

Amnesty International Report 1995, 1994. 1995, 1994.

Country Reports for 1994, 1993. 1995, 1994.

CSCE. January 1993. Human Rights and Democratisation in the Newly Independent State of the Former Soviet Union.

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki. Various Reports.

OMRI Daily Reports. 11 July-8 September 1995.

RFE/RL. January 1992-15 July 1994. RFE/RL Research Report [Munich].

Transition: Events and Issues in the Former Soviet Union and Central and South-Eastern Europe [Prague]. January-March 1995.

Uncaptive Minds [Washington DC]. Summer 1993-Summer 1995.

U.S. Department of State Profile of Asylum Claims and Country Conditions (HCRViews).

Oral sources.