Classified Geography

Russian Cartology – Whom Does It Serve?

by Rashid Alimov and Vera Ponomareva

A map found on a computer at an Eastern Siberian geographical research centre has sparked an investigation by Russian authorities who say the detailed Soviet-era map contains classified information. The geologists under investigation, however, say the map contains no information that could be considered classified and reveals information that is already known internationally.

The Federal Security Service, or FSB in the Buryatiya Republic, where the Centre for Geological Research at the Eastern Siberian State Technological University is located, commented only that the map was “classified” and no one from the university had the right to access it. But the investigation is part of a new map hunting trend among security agents begun some three years ago, especially in the region of Lake Baikal, where the Buryatiya Republic is located.

The map in question originated at Russia’s federal cartographic agency, Roskartografiya, and is considered classified by that agency’s accuracy specifications. The set limit in accuracy as to what is considered classified is any map with a scale of less than 1:100'000. The map found in electronic form at the geographical research center has a scale of 1:25'000. But these classifications are problematic as they have never been officially made public.

The map was used for determining the location of cemeteries scrap heaps, and points of dead livestock interment, the disturbance of which could result in outbreaks of various diseases, including anthrax. The practical accuracy of such topographic maps is 5-10 meters.

“That is precisely why such maps should not be classified,” said Sergei Shapkhayev, a prominent environmentalist and the director of one of the most active social organizations in the Lake Baikal region, the Buryat Regional Association for Baikal. Shapkaev has become the lightning rod in the case.

The map in question charts the already well known terrain of the coastline of Lake Baikal, which because of its UNESCO status as a World Heritage site, renders the map’s classified status meaningless. Because of this UNESCO status, the region does not contain any military sites or other sites relevant to state secrecy.

“This lack of access to many maps has been the cause of many land disputes and prevents companies from investing in areas whose parameters can be only vaguely defined”, said Kazantsev, Head of the Geographical Information Systems Research Center at the Russian Academy of Science. “That’s why today having a ‘classified’ map is a great priority for a company,” Kazantsev said. In essence, then, companies and contractors must vie for possession of such “classified” maps in order to simply do their jobs correctly.

The classification tangle

Similar problems have emerged for environmentalists in Siberia over the last several years. In March, 2002 by demand of the police and FSB, a court in Novosibirsk seized a Global Positioning System (GPS) device from Sergei Paschenko, director of an NGO the Scientists of Siberia for Global Responsibility.

The seizure was explained by confused references to a law, adopted in 1996, stipulating that geographical coordinates can only be defined with an accuracy of over 30 meters—otherwise, the coordinates are subject to state secrecy legislation. Official permission to use GPS devices, issued by the State Communications Regulator for Paschenko was ruled to be a mistake.

In November 2002, a comparable criminal case was filed by the FSB in Irkutsk for divulgence of state secrets by the environmental organization Baikal Wave. The FSB confiscated detailed maps of radiation pollution on the territory surrounding the Angarsky Electrolyte Chemical Combine. One of the first to support the Baikal Wave was Russian cosmonaut Sergey Krichevsky, who said that all the coordinates to within one meter can be absolutely legally ascertained by orbiting the earth orbit. The criminal case against Baikal Wave was closed in December 2003 for lack of evidence.

Source: www.bellona.no