BIGOTRY MONITOR
Volume 9: Number 34
September 11, 2009
A Weekly Human Rights Newsletter on Antisemitism, Xenophobia, and Religious Persecution in the Former Communist World and Western Europe
EDITOR: CHARLES FENYVESI
(News and Editorial Policy within the sole discretion of the editor)
Published by UCSJ: Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union
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THREE SUSPECTS CHARGED WITH TWO MURDERS DRIVEN BY ETHNIC HATRED. Police arrested three suspects in Tolyatti, Samara Region and charged them with murder motivated by ethnic hatred, according to a September 7 report posted on the web site Newsru.com. Two of the suspects have confessed to two murders, and a third suspect went a step further and confessed to murder driven by ethnic hatred. The two victims, one from Central Asia and the other from the Caucasus, were stabbed to death in separate attacks at the end of August.
Newsru.com added that last week, a court handed down a suspended sentence to a neo-Nazi who participated in an attack on anti-fascists in Tolyatti. According to the report, the defendant and about ten other gang members put on medical face masks to hide their identities and went to the "Generator" club, where they knew that a group of anti-fascists may be found. Armed with clubs and metal pipes, the assailants ambushed three anti-fascists as they left the night club, knocking them to the ground while screaming, "Beat the anti-fascists!”
NEO-NAZI SHOOTS FSB OFFICER. A neo-Nazi allegedly shot an FSB officer in Moscow, according to the national daily "Komsomolskaya Pravda" dated September 9. The officer went to Sergey Marshakov's apartment in the morning, accompanied by a patrol officer. Reportedly, the FSB officer’s intention was to question Marshakov, 28, about his links to a group called the National Socialist Society, and he did not anticipate any danger. Marshakov's parents let the officer in. He entered the suspect's bedroom and was shot five times. Despite two chest wounds, the officer survived. Marshakov then reportedly jumped out the second floor window, landed badly, and broke both his legs. He was apprehended in possession of two pistols equipped with silencers, along with a hunting rifle and several clips.
According to the article, this is the third time this year that law enforcement officials investigating the National Socialist Society have been assaulted. One officer was stabbed, and another shot with an automatic weapon. Both survived.
FOOTBALL HOOLIGANS ATTACK ENVIRONMENTALISTS. Football hooligans, possibly affiliated with neo-Nazis, attacked a group of environmentalists in St. Petersburg, according to a September 7 report by the Sova Center for Information and Analysis. The environmentalists were returning from court, where they faced charges of holding an illegal protest against atomic waste shipments. The football hooligans spotted them painting over a swastika on a wall and assaulted them. Up to 14 hooligans participated in the attack. It is not clear how many were injured or if police detained anyone.
RUSSIA’S SECRET SERVICES STEP UP SNOOPING. The secret services of Russia are increasingly asking courts for permission to search private premises, eavesdrop on phone calls, and read private mail, according to new statistics from the Supreme Court, “The Moscow Times” reported on September 4. Human rights activists were cited as saying that the heightened interest might stem from the authorities’ fear about possible public unrest connected to the economic crisis.
In the first half of this year, the secret services filed nearly 77,200 requests for search warrants, more than 66,000 requests to tap phones, and nearly 7,800 requests to read mail, according to statistics posted on the web site of the Supreme Court. In the same period last year, there were 71,600 requests for search warrants, 49,500 wiretapping requests, and 7,300 requests to open mail. But along with the requests have grown the number of court rejections. In the first half of 2009, courts rejected 2,300 search warrants, compared with 1,900 last year, and 1,500 wiretapping requests, compared with 1,200 last year, according to the web site. The courts denied 150 requests to open mail, compared with 160 last year.
“The authorities are worrying about stability in society,” said Lyudmila Alexeyeva, head of the Moscow Helsinki Group. Her colleague Lev Ponomoryov, of the group For Human Rights, said that the trend shows that law enforcement agencies “have stepped up the fight against dissent.”
STAROVOITOVA MURDER INQUIRY REOPENED. On September 8, the Federal Security Service (FSB) disclosed that it has reopened an investigation into the murder of State Duma Deputy Galina Starovoitova more than ten years ago. New evidence has emerged, FSB said, offering new hope that the high-profile murder may be solved. The investigation was suspended in April 2008.
Starovoitova, 52, was shot dead near the door of her St. Petersburg apartment on November 20, 1998. Her assistant, Ruslan Linkov, who was injured in the attack, linked the decision to reopen the investigation to an appeal that he and Starovoitova’s sister, Olga, sent to President Dmitry Medvedev in July, “The Moscow Times” reported on September 8.
The appeal followed the June arrest of former Duma Deputy Mikhail Glushchenko on suspicion of organizing the killing of three Russian citizens in Cyprus, “The Times” wrote. Glushchenko’s name was mentioned in the Starovoitova case in 2004 when a witness in court alleged that he had helped organize the killing of the popular liberal lawmaker. Earlier, Linkov pointed to Glushchenko as the possible mastermind.
Six suspects were arrested in connection with Starovoitova’s murder. Four of them, including organizer Yury Kolchin and triggerman Vitaly Akishin, were later convicted, while the other two were let go. Several other suspects have been put on a wanted list though the names of those who ordered the killing have never been made public.
On September 7, Linkov said that he hoped that the reopened inquiry will result in convictions. “The investigating team has been formed once again, and it has been joined by investigators who previously took part in the inquiry of this crime and know the case thoroughly,” he said on his LiveJournal blog. “Now we will wait for the outcome. I hope to see the middlemen and masterminds of this terrorist attack in court soon.”
NEO-NAZIS FACE EXTREMISM CHARGES FOR DISTRIBUTING ANTISEMITIC FILMS. Two neo-Nazis in Omsk face extremism charges for allegedly distributing antisemitic films and extremist leaflets, according to a September 8 report by the Siberian News Agency. The suspects, both men in their 20s, allegedly pasted extremist leaflets decorated with swastikas on postal boxes during Victory Day last year. In October 2008, the suspects allegedly gave away copies of the antisemitic films "The Eternal Jew" and "Russia With a Knife in its Back"--both movies that the Russian government has classified as extremist material.
SUSPENDED SENTENCE FOR RACIST GRAFFITI. A court in Sosnogorsk, Komi Republic handed down an eight-month suspended sentence to a local resident after finding him guilty of painting neo-Nazi and racist graffiti, according to a September 10 report by the Sova Center for Information and Analysis. The defendant, Sergey Vokuev, 21, reportedly confessed his guilt.
STATE DEPARTMENT, HELSINKI COMMISSION DISCUSS KAZAKH CHAIRMANSHIP OF OSCE. On September 9, the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Helsinki Commission) and the State Department concluded a two-day discussion with a delegation of Kazakh officials about the country’s upcoming chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Topics ranged from freedom of speech, media, association, and religion to the role of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), as well as Kazakhstan’s responses to violations of OSCE commitments and lead institutions within the OSCE that monitor human rights and elections.
Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), Chairman of the Helsinki Commission, raised the issue of the trial of human rights activist Eugene Zhovtis, echoing concerns raised by the U.S. Embassy in Astana, the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, and human rights organizations worldwide. On September 3, Zhovtis, director of the International Kazakhstan Bureau on Human Rights and Rule of Law, founded by UCSJ in 1993, was arrested and sentenced to four years of imprisonment on the basis of a fatal car accident. Human rights activists characterized the trial as the regime's revenge for Zhovtis' human rights activities of many years. UCSJ had appealed to the State Department to pay immediate attention to the political character of the criminal case. A letter signed by UCSJ national director Micah H. Naftalin pointed out that in the more than 15 years of working together, "Zhovtis expressed honesty, bravery, and high principles."
As chair for a year-long term beginning on January 1, Kazakhstan will lead the OSCE.
“Despite Kazakhstan’s troubled human rights record, we are prepared to work with them as they assume the chairmanship of the OSCE,” Cardin said. “Kazakhstan now must demonstrate it is willing to fulfill the responsibilities of such leadership by speaking out on human rights issues in the OSCE region and continuing needed work on its own democracy.” As chairman, Kazakhstan “must be a role model in upholding OSCE commitments,” noted Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), Helsinki Commission co-chairman. “In the coming year, the Helsinki Commission will remain vigilant to be sure Kazakhstan, as chair of one of the leading human rights organizations in the world, keeps a spotlight on human rights violations throughout the 56-country OSCE region.”
JEWISH SCHOOL IN MARSEILLE FIREBOMBED. A Jewish school in southern France was firebombed on September 9, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported. No one was injured in the attack on the ORT Bramson school in Marseille. According to local reports, homemade aerosol bombs set on fire 66 feet of cypress hedges, and four parked cars in front of the building were burned. Three bombs were found on the premises, according to the Associated Press. Police chief Philippe Klayman said his force would pay “particular attention” to Jewish institutions during the upcoming holidays.
IN BUDAPEST, ANTISEMITIC VITRIOL BLENDS WITH HOMOPHOBIA. Reports from Europe suggest that the far right is increasingly implementing its violent agenda on the streets. Regardless of the immediate target, Jews are often identified as the enemy, and Hungary, where in June the extreme right party Jobbik captured a shockingly high proportion of the vote in the election for the European Parliament, 15%, is a new battlefield.
On September 5, some 500 demonstrators, including neo-Nazis and skinheads, “rampaged” in Budapest's Jewish district, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported. Riot police deployed tear gas and baton charges against the crowd which disrupted Hungary's annual Gay Pride parade. More than 30 arrests were made on charges that included possession of offensive weapons and disorderly conduct. Last year, more than a dozen serious injuries resulted from the violence that marred an otherwise peaceful event.
According to the JTA, “the rioters invaded the heart of the traditional Jewish Ghetto area, started a small fire, tore down signs, and shouted threatening anti-Semitic vitriol. The attacks were witnessed by families of foreign Jews visiting the district for the current Budapest Jewish Cultural Festival.”
The gay parade drew artists, politicians, and human rights organizations from many countries. An anti-Nazi organization in Austria sent busloads of activists who marched beneath a huge rainbow flag.
According to the UKGayNews web site, 13 embassies in Budapest--Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States--issued a joint statement supporting the Budapest Pride Festival. “Human rights--including justice, equality, humanity, respect and freedom of expression--and the rule of law are the foundations upon which democratic states are built,” said the joint press statement of the embassies, issued ahead of the parade. “Indeed, international human rights law is grounded on the premise that all individuals are entitled to the same rights and freedoms, as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
* * * QUOTE OF THE WEEK, APPEAL FOR STATE PROTECTION * * * Calling attention to leaflets recently distributed in the restive Republic of Dagestan, signed by “relatives of perished militiamen,” that boasted of having committed several murders and threatened to kill journalists and human rights activists, Oleg Orlov of the Human Rights Center “Memorial” and Lev Ponomaryov of For Human Rights appealed to the president of Dagestan, the prosecutor general of the Russian Federation, and the director the FSB of the army. “The state should act from the viewpoint of human rights and the law. It is inadmissible that people perceive terrorists and law enforcers as two competing groupings, equally ruthless and immoral. We call on you to ensure the safety of those whom these ‘avengers’ declared to be their enemies.”
TEN YEARS AFTER THE BOMBINGS, STILL NO CULPRITS
Suspicions Point to FSB and Putin
Ten years ago, more than 300 people died in four bombings of apartment buildings in Moscow, Buinaksk, and Volgodonsk. The authorities blamed Chechen rebels. The newly appointed prime minister, an obscure former KGB official, pledged to kill Chechen militants wherever they were hiding. He was Vladimir Putin, President Boris Yeltsin’s surprise choice to for a successor.
“The blasts sent a wave of fear washing over a country crippled by a savage political struggle to succeed ailing Yeltsin,” Gregory Feifer of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) wrote on September 9, the anniversary of the first explosion. Putin’s remarks gave the public its “first taste of Putin's now infamous prison-inflected slang, and it met with huge approval in a society weary from a decade of economic collapse. Putin soon launched a second war in Chechnya. His ratings soared.”
Feifer quoted analyst Vladimir Pribylovsky to the effect that the bombings enabled a virtually unknown bureaucrat to sweep into the presidency a few months later. "They changed the situation by favoring a prime minister nobody knew, with a dubious, dark biography," Pribylovsky said. "Two things brought about Putin's victory: the bombings and the phrase about wiping out terrorists in the outhouse."
Today, Feifer noted, Putin is “still firmly in charge of a country he remade into an authoritarian state.”
The case remains unsolved though six Muslims from southern Russia were sentenced in connection to the 1999 bombings. “A small handful of critics say that's because the explosions were staged by the Federal Security Service, or FSB,” Feifer wrote. “That line of reasoning has proved highly dangerous. Two of its leading proponents have been killed. Another was sent to a Siberian prison on what he says were false charges to stop him from investigating the bombings.”
Feifer cites the case of Mikhail Trepashkin, a lawyer who represented two sisters whose mother died in one of the Moscow explosions. Police stopped his car shortly before their case was due in court. "They searched my car twice and found nothing,” Trepashkin has said. “As they were closing the door, they threw in a bag containing a pistol. I said it wasn't mine, but there was nothing I could do. I was held for a total of four years, one month, and eight days in harsh conditions, including torture and insults."
Trepashkin, characterized by Feifer as “a gregarious former FSB officer who says the prison conditions have affected his health, says he was promised the charges would be dropped if he stopped investigating the bombings.” He noted that Trepashkin was also asked to be part of a death squad tracking another official doubter, former KGB officer Aleksandr Litvinenko, fatally poisoned three years ago by a radioactive substance in London. His supporters say he was killed because he blamed the FSB for the bombings.
Historian Yury Felshtinsky, who co-wrote a book with Litvinenko called "Blowing Up Russia," told RFE/RL that no single fact has emerged to disprove their account. "Even the FSB, in its own version of the events--over which the second Chechen war was launched--hasn't actually accused a single Chechen," Felshtinsky said. He added that Putin, who headed the FSB until August 1999, must have known about the bomb plot.
Critics have pointed out that the debris from the bombings was cleared away too quickly to allow proper investigations. They add that no Chechen rebels ever claimed credit for the bombings.
After the authorities refused to investigate the bombings, a small group of liberal legislators formed their independent committee of inquiry. Its vice-chairman, Sergei Yushenkov, was gunned down outside his Moscow apartment in 2003. Before his death, the prominent Kremlin critic told RFE/RL that the committee's findings pointed to the security services. He said: "These special forces--which have giant opportunities and secrets--can manipulate public opinion and direct the course of events using all kinds of illegal methods at their discretion."
Feifer noted, in conclusion: “Today, few believe the 1999 bombings will ever be solved.”
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