Volume 9, Number 39
October 16, 2009
BIGOTRY MONITOR
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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1. CLINTON UPBEAT IN MOSCOW. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared during her two-day visit to Moscow that she felt “very good” about the results of the “reset” of U.S. relations with Russia. "We really are committed to this relationship," she said on October 13, sitting next to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a news conference. "We believe strongly that working together step by step we are transforming a relationship that was once defined by the shadow of mutually assured destruction into one that is based on mutual respect."
Clinton told a group of Russian human rights activists and journalists in the U.S. ambassador’s residence that the U.S. can build better relations with the Kremlin while promoting human rights and Western democratic values. “Novaya Gazeta” editor Dmitry Muratov said that Clinton assured the gathering that the U.S. would not ignore human rights violations in Russia. According to the Associated Press, Lev Ponomaryov, leader of the group For Human Rights, said that “Clinton understood how hard it is for human rights defenders to work in Russia.” He added that Clinton indicated Washington’s unwavering commitment to Russian activists. “The good news is that this was a routine meeting and that nothing has changed,” he told “The Moscow Times.” Ponomaryov said that he was relieved to hear U.S. officials denying a news report that Washington had decided to tone down public criticism of Moscow’s human rights record in order to pursue a more constructive relationship with Russia.
The Russian press noted that Clinton did not meet with leaders of opposition parties but on October 16, several opposition web sites reported that Clinton and her White House colleague Michael McFaul did meet with Boris Nemtsov and Vladimir Milov, Solidarity leaders.
One participant at the meeting at the U.S. ambassador’s residence said that it would have been pointless to invite opposition politicians because they have no clout. "I don't think it would have been a good idea because the political opposition in Russia is really marginal, not because they're stupid people and not because they have no audience, but because in a society which is not democratic, there is basically no opposition," Reuters quoted prominent opposition commentator Yulia Latynina as saying.
2. CLINTON SPEAKS OUT ON ATTACKS ON HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS. Outside the chambers of the Russian government the following day, October 14, Secretary Clinton was forthcoming. Speaking to some 2,000 students at Moscow State University and in a 20-minute live interview with Ekho Moskvy radio, Clinton said attacks on activists in Russia were of great concern to Washington, and it was time for Russia's government to speak out more strongly on the subject.
Clinton said that in her meeting with President Medvedev she had made clear "that we did not believe that enough was being done to ensure no one had impunity from prosecution." She told Ekho Moskvy: “Every country has its criminal elements, people who try to abuse power. But in the last 18 months... there have been many of these incidents."
"Citizens must be empowered to formulate the laws under which they live," Clinton told the students. "In an innovative society, people must be free to take unpopular decisions, disagree with conventional wisdom, know they are safe to peacefully challenge accepted practice and authority. That's why attacks on journalists and human rights defenders are of such great concern."
3. RUSSIAN GAY LEADER CHIDES CLINTON. On October 14, Russia's leading gay activist Nikolai Alexeyev said that he was disappointed that Secretary Clinton met with an outspoken foe of gay rights and did not decry homophobia in the country, the Associated Press reported. Clinton attended a ceremony unveiling a statue of Walt Whitman at Moscow State University, along with officials including Mayor Yuri Luzhkov who was apparently unaware of Whitman’s status in the U.S. as a gay icon. In the past, Luzhkov repeatedly blocked attempts to hold gay pride marches in Moscow and described gay people as “satanic."
4. MCFAUL: OBAMA’S ‘CENTRAL THEME’ IS HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY. A more detailed definition of the Obama administration’s policy was presented by Michael McFaul, co-chair of a joint presidential commission set up under an agreement reached at the Moscow summit in July. Prof. McFaul is the top White House expert on Russia and a Russia specialist at Stanford University. His co-chair is Vladislav Surkov, first deputy chief of the Kremlin’s presidential staff.
In an interview with Interfax on October 12, McFaul called “democracy and human rights” “the central theme” of Obama’s presidency and cited as evidence President Obama’s speeches in Cairo, Moscow, and at the UN General Assembly. But, McFaul emphasized, it is not Obama’s style “to lecture people and to wag his finger.”
McFaul said that he discussed with Surkov how the “working group on civil society,” championed by the Obama administration will work. “The first and most important issue was to try to figure out who are going to be members of this group,” McFaul said. He defined the U.S. view: the official working group should be government-to-government “but that we would then interact with nongovernmental actors and meet with nongovernmental groups in the course of our interactions in this group.”
The Russian side has not responded to the American proposal to draw a line between state functions and nongovernmental functions, he said, and explained that “it's improper for the government to decide who is a real nongovernmental leader and who is not. And that line in my country is a very important line that we don't want the White House saying, ‘You are a legitimate NGO leader and you are an illegitimate leader.’” He suggested that Surkov may have the same problem.
McFaul carefully avoided even hinting that Surkov has a reputation of hostility to Russian NGOs.
McFaul disclosed that there is no agreement as yet on the topics of discussion. He characterized his dialogue with Surkov as “free-flowing” and “that makes me optimistic about the future.” Also undecided is the frequency of meetings which are scheduled to start before the year’s end.
In a somewhat untidy string of words, McFaul called for “more interaction between our nongovernmental leaders, not just our government giving money to your NGOs or vice versa. That's had a place, and some of that probably needs to happen, but here's a new idea, I think, in this field, is rather than us telling the Russian government how to act and giving money to NGOs, and we'll continue to do those things, but a new idea is: let's put our societies together. And let the governments get out of the way of those connections, and so I see my job with Mr. Surkov is to help facilitate that kind of activity. But not to dictate it, not to control it. That we want to get out of the way.”
Asked if he shares the concerns of human rights activists about Russian journalist Alexander Podrabinek, McFaul said: “Of course. Personally, yes. But I want to make clear in engaging with Mr. Surkov, I don't think … it is antithetical to meeting with other people and doing other things. I think of it [the working group] as one of many channels to try to advance civil society development in Russia. Not the only channel, one of many.”
According to an October 15 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty report, Nashi has called off its protest outside Podrabinek's home but the Kremlin-backed youth organization continues to insist on an apology from him.
Asked if the U.S. will “keep supporting Russian civil society, including financially,” McFaul answered: “Absolutely. The budgets for democracy assistance to Russia between this year and last year remain the same. We have not cut those budgets at all. And moreover, when there are violations of democracy and human rights, we are going to speak openly about that.”
Russian human rights leaders have expressed cautious optimism about continuing U.S. concern about human rights and rule of law in Russia. But some of the activists have suggested to wait and see if the Obama administration fulfills the promises it offered.
On October 16, UCSJ national director Micah H. Naftalin applauded “Clinton’s human rights offensive in Moscow.” He said: “Those of us who have been hoping that the Obama administration would elevate concerns for Russia’s abysmal human rights performance in its public discussion of U.S. foreign policy objectives have reason to cheer the performance of administration high officials meeting in Moscow this week.” But Naftalin demurred on the subject of USAID budget for supporting the work of human rights and religious freedom NGOs in the former USSR which he called “woefully inadequate.”
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STIFF PRISON TERMS FOR CAUCASUS YOUTHS ASSAULTING RUSSIANS. A Moscow court convicted six Caucasus youths of beating two ethnic Russian teens in a racially motivated attack and sentenced them to prison terms ranging from four to seven years, “The Moscow Times” reported on October 9. The sentences were “strict” and “unexpected,” said “Russia Today” (RT), an English-language TV station also on the Internet and closely linked to the official news agency RIA Novosti. The station also pointed out that this is the first time that a Russian court punished a non-Russian nationalist group. Others thought that if neo-Nazi youths had been the attackers, they would have gotten away with much shorter sentences, if not suspended sentences.
Several dozen nationalists waiting outside the Dorogomilovsky District Court erupted in loud cheers when they heard the verdict, “The Times” noted and continued: “Racial tensions have been simmering during the first case, labeled by prosecutors as reverse discrimination. One of the defendants was shot dead during the trial, and a white nationalist group has claimed responsibility.”
The six defendants, dubbed the Black Hawks by the media and human rights groups, were found guilty of assaulting Pavel Novitsky, 16, and Fyodor Markov, 19, in a racially motivated attack in the metro on May 6, 2008. According to witnesses, the attackers shouted “Allahu akbar!” (Allah is great!) and “Kill the Russians!” The defendants confessed that they had participated in the attack, videotaped by one of them on his cell phone, but they denied the charge of ethnic animosity as their motivation. They claimed that the incident had occurred spontaneously.
Though several defendants were under 18 when the attack took place, they were sentenced as adults. Judge Vera Ptitsyna sentenced Dilgam Guseinov to seven years in prison, Grant Arutyunov to six years, and Chingiz Arifullin, Shakhin Khudiyev, and Rashid Sadykhov to four years. Rashad Mamedov, who is under 18, will serve five years in a juvenile correctional center.
The seventh defendant, Rasul Khalilov, an 18-year-old Azeri student, was killed in September as he left his apartment building to attend a court session. Most of the defendants were allowed to stay at home during the investigation and subsequent trial on condition that they did not leave Moscow.
No one has been arrested in the slaying of Khalilov. The group claiming responsibility, the Battle Organization of Russian Nationalists, had said it did not expect a fair verdict in the trial and had acted to punish the “Caucasus gang” that “sold narcotics in Moscow’s universities and attacked Russian youth.”
Only one defense lawyer attended the session, and she vowed to appeal. “The sentences are too harsh,” said Tatyana Prilipko. “A major part of what the judge read is not true.”
IN MOSCOW, RACISTS ATTACK CITIZENS OF NIGERIA AND CONGO. Two separate racist attacks took place in Moscow late last month, according to an October 13 report by the Sova Center for Information and Analysis. Citing the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy, which has many foreigners among its parishioners, Sova reported that on September 22, two youths attacked a Nigerian man while shouting racist abuse. On September 26, four youths attacked a man from Congo after chasing him down while screaming racist insults.
The Nigerian victim reported the incident to the police; the citizen of Congo did not.
RUSSIA’S RULING PARTY WINS; OTHER PARTIES CHARGE FOUL PLAY. “United Russia won the October 11 [local] election,” the daily “Kommersant” reported on October 13. “All other parties but the CPRF [the Communist Party of the Russian Federation] suffered a humiliating defeat. The ruling party called its triumph preordained and expected. Spokesmen for the opposition, however, said that the authorities badly frightened by the crisis had ensured United Russia's triumph by unprecedented violation of practically all rules and standards of elections. All parties including United Russia are busily drawing complaints.”
In the municipal elections in 75 regions, the ruling party carried the day, with its candidates polling between 50% and 75% of the votes in all regions, “Kommersant” added.
Sergei Obukhov, secretary of the CPRF Central Committee, charged that the authorities had stopped at nothing to ensure the desired outcome. He expressed pride in the CPRF’s “organized mass protests" and said that in Moscow, the authorities did everything in their power to prevent public debates and bring the turnout down.
CPRF, Fair Russia, and Yabloko are preparing to go to court as does United Russia which is about to send to the Central Electoral Commission a list of 443 episodes of rule-bending by the opposition.
At a meeting with United Russia leaders on October 12, President Dmitry Medvedev congratulated them for obtaining “the majority everywhere” and called the elections “well-organized” and complying “with all the legal requirements,” according to the official web site Kremlin.ru. He added: “The party has proven today that it has not only the moral but also the legal right to form the executive government bodies in the regions, and yesterday’s election results convincingly confirm this.”
PROTESTERS STILL IN DETENTION. Dozens of opposition activists detained by police during a demonstration in Moscow remain in custody, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on October 13. The demonstrators had gathered in Pushkin Square on October 12 to protest the violations of election laws during the Moscow City Duma elections on October 11. Organizers of the gathering told RFE/RL that about 50 protesters have been detained. The leader of the “My” (“We” in Russian) movement, Roman Dobrokhotov, and the head of the United Civic Front's Moscow branch, Lolita Tsaria, are among those detained. The demonstrators did not have permission from city authorities.
KYRGYZ SUPPORTERS OF JAILED HUMAN RIGHTS LEADER STAGE PROTEST RALLY. Three Kyrgyz activists have been detained for supporting jailed Kazakh human rights activist Yevgeny (Eugene) Zhovtis, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported from Bishkek on October 12. Sardar Bagishbekov of the Voice of Liberty Foundation, Nadira Eshamtova of the Youth Rights Group, and Almaz Esengeldiev of the Human Rights Defenders Council organized a protest in front of the Kazakh Embassy in Bishkek, demanding Zhovtis's immediate release. They were detained in front of the Kazakh Embassy, taken to Bishkek's Lenin District police, and later released.
Following his arrest on September 3, a Kazakh court sentenced Zhovtis, director of the nongovernmental organization called International Kazakhstan Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law, to four years in a labor colony for manslaughter and violation of traffic regulations following a July accident in which the car he was driving struck and killed a man. (The judge turned down a request by the victim’s family not to hold Zhovtis criminally liable.) Zhovtis has appealed. The OSCE, the United States, the U.S. Helsinki Commission, the European Parliament, and human rights groups such as UCSJ and Freedom House called the trial politically motivated and damaging Kazakhstan’s eligibility as OSCE’s next chair.
* * * QUOTE OF THE WEEK, ELECTION MERRY-GO-ROUND * * * Asked for an example of cheating in the recent Russian regional elections, Yabloko leader Sergei Mitrokhin told “Novye Izvestia” dated October 13: “The use of the so called merry-go-round. That's when policemen and servicemen are put on buses and taken to polling stations for voucher voting. Once they do, they board the bus, are taken elsewhere, and the process is repeated again and again.”
PRAGUE FORUM SLAMS OBAMA’S OVERTURE TO MOSCOW
Who Is Afraid of Russia? Every Neighbor.
President Barack Obama's pursuit of engagement with Russia has angered many people in Central and Eastern Europe, where the injustices and misery perpetrated during the decades of Soviet domination are far from forgotten. As reported by Claire Bigg of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) on October 14 from Prague, the resentment was evident at an annual conference on global challenges that usually attracts policy-makers from former Soviet bloc countries and human rights campaigners critical of Moscow. Participants at this year's two-day Forum 2000, launched in 1997 by the then-President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, denounced Russia's increasingly aggressive stance abroad and worsening human rights record at home. Some of the speakers argued that Obama's efforts to "reset" relations with Russia are aggravating those twin problems.
RUSSIAN PRESSURES, OLD AND NEW. "Moscow is simply trying to pressure and interfere in new ways, using energy and other weapons of political pressure," Sandra Kalniete, a European Parliament deputy from Latvia was quoted by RFE/RL as saying. "It seeks to marginalize countries of Eastern Europe and the Baltic States in NATO and in the European Union." She expressed a feeling shared by a number of Central and Eastern Europeans: that the United States is walking out on Central and Eastern Europe. She contended that the withdrawal of antimissile plans from the Czech Republic and Poland is a signal “that Eastern Europeans and Poles are no longer as high on the U.S. agenda as they used to be during the Bush and Clinton eras."
Or during the years of the Cold War, Kalniete might have added.
Kalniete and the conference's patron, Havel, were among the 22 policy makers and intellectuals from the former Communist bloc to sign an open letter this summer warning Obama against making concessions to Russia--which they characterized as a "revisionist power pursuing a 19th-century agenda." The letter also urged Obama to press ahead with the missile-defense shield promoted by his predecessor.
Following last year's war between Russia and Georgia, many in East and Central Europe believe that the West should do more to protect potential targets of Russian threats and the conference expressed that sentiment. While in Washington more attention has been paid to Georgia’s unpredictable, truculent President Mikheil Saakashvili, many citizens from ex-Soviet bloc countries see him as a victim of Russian aggression who deserves more help.
Clearly, Obama has not paid much attention to Russia’s western neighbors. He could have consulted with them before the cancelation of the missile-defense shield plan. It may be that he has too much on his plate and he first wants to deal with the enemies as defined by his predecessor—Islamic fundamentalism and Moscow’s imperial ambitions. Or perhaps he is aware that the American public no longer has the same sympathy for the former people’s democracies as it did during the Cold War and the heady days that followed the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Corruption, racism, and inept leadership are mentioned in every report dealing with Slovakia and Hungary, and Romania and Bulgaria are not far behind.
Besides taking issue with Obama's efforts to mend fences with Russia, Havel also criticized Obama for not meeting with the Dalai Lama earlier this month. "I think that when, for example, the freshly awarded Nobel Peace Prize winner postpones a meeting with the Dalai Lama until after he visits continental China, he makes a small, inconspicuous, little-noticed compromise--a compromise that has a certain logic," Havel said. "Nevertheless, the question is whether big, fatal compromises do not have their origins, their first roots, in these small, inconspicuous, and more or less 'logical' compromises."
YAVLINSKY’S SOUND ADVICE TO EU. RFE/RL’s Bigg lavished praise on the views expressed by veteran Russian opposition politician Grigory Yavlinsky. While he deplored the lack of democracy in his country, he called the West's carrot-and-stick approach to Russia "disastrous," urging instead a clear, consistent stance on Russia. But Europe, he declared, must clean up its act before helping to put Russia on the path to democracy. "How can you help? The answer is simple: by your example," Yavlinsky said. "Please put the European Union in order, please show you can exercise the values and principles that you declare. Help the United States overcome the economic and political crisis, and we will look at your example and move much faster. All the rest we can do ourselves."
Yavlinsky might have had in mind that the Czech Republic is the only European Union member that has not ratified the EU Lisbon Treaty, thus preventing the accord from coming into force. At the moment, the Czech Constitutional Court is studying a complaint against the treaty backed by Havel's successor, euroskeptic Vaclav Klaus.
While moderating a debate on Russia's role in global politics, Czech Senator Alexandr Vondra put the same question to all participants: "Should we be afraid of Russia?" The answer was an unmistakable yes.
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