Racism in Russia

File:Russiannenazis.jpg

Members of Russian National Unity group in a street parade

Racism in Russia during the 2000s appears in the form of negative attitudes and actions towards people who are not considered ethnically Russian. This includes antisemitism and a general demeaning attitude to northern indigenous peoples of Russia, as well as hostility towards various Caucasian/Central Asian ethnicities (whether of Orthodox Christian or Muslim faith).

In May 2006, Amnesty International reported that racist killings in Russia were "out of control" and that at least 28 people were killed in 2005. In 2006 Amnesty International registered 252 victims of racist crimes, of which 21 died. In February 2007, President Vladimir Putin asked the Federal Security Service to combat racism,, but hate crimes still increased. From January 1 to July 31, 2007, Amnesty International registered 310 victims of neo-Nazi and racist crimes in Russia; 37 of those victims died as a result of attacks. Amnesty International criticize Russian police for not doing enough to combat racist crimes, and for often ignoring reports from civilians about threats and crimes. According to the Moscow Human Rights Bureau, from January to March, 2008, 49 people were killed in assaults by radical nationalists, 28 of them in the greater Moscow area.

The number of Russian neo-Nazis is estimated at 50,000 to 70,000, "half of the world's total.". The director of the Human Rights Bureau, Alexander Brod, stated that surveys show xenophobia and other racist expressions affect 50 percent of Russians.

Rise in reported hate crimes

In May 2006, Amnesty International reported that racist killings in Russia were "out of control" and that at least 28 people were killed in 2005. In 2006 Amnesty International registered 252 victims of racist crimes, of which 21 died. In February 2007, President Vladimir Putin asked the Federal Security Service to combat racism, but the number of reported hate crimes still increased. From January 1 to July 31, 2007, Amnesty International registered 310 victims of neo-Nazi and racist crimes in Russia; 37 of those victims died as a result of attacks. Amnesty International criticized Russian police for not doing enough to combat racist crimes, and for often ignoring reports from civilians about threats and crimes.

According to the Moscow Human Rights Bureau, from January to March, 2008, 49 people were killed in assaults by radical nationalists, 28 of them in the greater Moscow area. The alarming figures have motivated authorities to take a tougher stance. More crimes are being investigated as racial attacks, and more are going to court. In May, 2008, eight skinhead extremists were found guilty of a 2006 explosion in the Cherkizovo market that left 14 dead and 47 injured, most of whom were immigrants from the North Caucasus and East Asia. Semyon Charny from the Moscow Human Rights Bureau says: ”The fact that this case found its way to court, and the example of people sentenced to life for the Cherkizovo market blast shows that we are moving in the right direction - but there's still a lot to do.” Recently, many videos have sprung up on the internet depicting skinheads attacking immigrants and non-whites. This is reportedly is becoming a new trend among neo-nazis, contributing to an increase in hate-crimes.

Hostility towards Caucasians

In Russia, the term Caucasian is a collective term referring to anyone descended from the native ethnicities of the Caucasus. In Russian slang, Caucasian people and Central Asians fall into the category of black. This is not associated with skin colour or hair colour, but a non-Slavic facial appearance.

Several pogroms, directed particularly against Caucasian merchants and migrants have been reported in the Russian capital, Moscow, and in other Russian cities.[3] There was a pogrom on April 21, 2001 in Yasenevo Market in Moscow against merchants from the Caucasus, and well-organised attacks on Caucasian businesses and migrants in the eastern Russian town Ekaterinburg on September 9 2004.[4] Racially motivated attacks against Armenians have grown so common that the president of Armenia, Robert Kocharyan, raised the issue with high-ranking Russian officials.

Hostility towards Central Asians/Muslims

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the rise of the Muslim population in Russia and the recently ongoing Chechen war, many Russians (including bloody Putin regime) have associated Islam and Muslims with terrorism and domestic crimes. In August 2007 a video of 2 ethnic Russian neo-Nazis beheading two Muslim men, one from Dagestan in the Caucasus and one from Tajikistan appeared on the internet. In February 2004, a nine-year old Tajik girl was stabbed to death in Saint Petersburg by suspected far-right skinheads.. In December 2008 an email, containing a picture of the severed head of a man identified as Salekh Azizov , was sent to the Moscow Human Rights Bureau . It was sent by a group called Russian Nationalists' Combat Group and has led to protests from the Tajik Government.

Antisemitism

In March 2008, allegations of blood libel appeared in posters in Novosibirsk. The Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia expressed their concern about a rising number of attacks targeting Jews, calling it part of "a recent surge in anti-Semitic manifestations" in Russia.

Hostility towards Chinese

Russian attitudes towards the People's Republic of China have focused on the fear of Russia (especially the Russian Far East and Siberia) being overwhelmed by Chinese migrants, because of China's much larger population. It is also noted that there is illegal immigration coming from China into Southeastern Russia, especially after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Hostility towards Africans

In Saint Petersburg, three Africans have been killed in hate-crime attacks since September 2005. "Monkey" insults and non-lethal assaults are so frequent that students have ceased reporting them.

Negative attitude towards Africans traces back to the days of the Soviet Union, in spite of its internationalist propaganda and its "fight for peace in the whole world" (a Russian political cliché, based on a wordplay, both "peace" and "world" translating as "mir" in Russian). As a part of its support of decolonisation in Africa, the Soviet Union offered free education for citizens of African states. African students (as well as other foreign students) were placed in many higher education institutions throughout the country, most famously at Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, then known as the Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University, after the Congolese revolutionary and prime minister Patrice Lumumba.

Murder of Anti-Racism Activists

On June 19, 2004, Nikolai Girenko, a prominent ethnographer and anthropologist, was shot to death in his St. Petersburg apartment. Girenko was a key adviser in 15 ethnic hate crime trials. On November 13, 2005 Timur Kacharava, a part-Georgian fourth year philosophy student at St. Petersburg State University, was stabbed to death by a group of young skinheads. Kacharava had been known for antagonizing neo-Nazis in the streets. The main defendant in the trial that followed almost two years later was 14 years old.

External links

In English:

• Third report on Russia by European Commission against Racism and Intolerance, 2006
• Nationalism and xenophobia in Russia, SOVA Center for Information and Analysis (non-profit organization that publishes information on nationalism and xenophobia in Russia)
• From Russia With Hate video documentary
• Russian Nazi party
• Russian racism 'out of control' article from BBC
• Racism on the rise in Russia article from BBC
• Fascist attacks in Moscow article from World Socialist Web Site
• Ross Kemp On Gangs - Russia Moscow - Neo-Nazis video documentary
• 'Why are you here, Mr. Nigger?' article from Globe and Mail
• Murder sparks Russia racism protests article from New Zealand Herald
• From Russia With Hate article from Time Magazine

In Russian:

• Pogrom in Russia is not a pogrom Moskovskye novosti N 28, y.2002
• Anti-Caucasian Pogroms in Ural Gazeta.ru 09 Sept 2004 19:59
• News on nationalism, xenophobia, and Racism in Russia Sova Center