Union of Councils for Soviet Jews: Bigotry Monitor: Volume 8, Number 25

News

Bigotry Monitor: Volume 8, Number 25

(June 20, 2008)

Volume 8, Number 25
Friday, June 20, 2008

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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THREE MEN CHARGED IN POLITKOVSKAYA MURDER. On June 18, the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office has announced that one phase of the investigation into the 2006 murder of prize-winning investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya has been closed, according to news agency reports. Prosecutors have charged three men with Politkovskaya's murder: former police officer Sergei Khadzhikurbanov, and two Chechen brothers, Dzhabrail Makhmudov and Ibragim Makhmudov.

However, Sergei Sokolov, deputy head of the "Novaya Gazeta" investigative newspaper where Politkovskaya worked at the time of her death, said that the investigation into her killing is far from over. "I am calling on all our colleagues to be attentive to what is going on," Sokolov said. "If you look carefully at the investigative committee's official announcement, it says they have completed the investigation into the specific people who have been named [in connection with the case]. This means that the Politkovskaya investigation is not finished, [but that it has only] completed one part." He told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that a separate inquiry has been launched to identify those who commissioned the shooting.

Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the investigative committee, said the suspected gunman remains at large and is still under investigation.

Politkovskaya’s supporters believe that her murder was linked to her writings that accused the authorities of gross human rights violations in Chechnya.

OFFICIALS CONFIRM AUTHENTICITY OF NEO-NAZI EXECUTION VIDEO. The Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General's Office has confirmed the authenticity of a gruesome neo-Nazi execution video posted on the Internet last year, according to the independent weekly "Novoe Vremya" dated June 16. Government investigator Vladimir Markin also confirmed an earlier story that one of the two victims--a Dagestani--has been identified. According to the article, the execution was carried out by a group calling itself the National-Socialist Society of Obninsk, a city in the Kaluga region. The two migrants were said to be abducted from Kaluga and taken to a forested area where they were shot and beheaded on camera. Their bodies have still not been found.

"Novoe Vremya" added unconfirmed information from police sources indicating that four suspects are in custody. One of them is allegedly the son of a high-ranking police official who is reportedly hindering the investigation.

MOSCOW POLICE NAB NEO-NAZIS SUSPECTED IN 20 MURDERS. Moscow police detained six neo-Nazis in connection with the murder of 15 individuals belonging to ethnic minorities in Moscow and an additional five in the Moscow Region, according to a June 17 report by RIA Novosti news agency The suspects face hate crimes murder charges which could lead to life sentences if convicted. According to law enforcement sources, the young extremists were planning a series of terrorist attacks, using explosives in open-air market places where migrant traders congregate. Last month, another group of far-right nationalists were sentenced to life in prison for such an attack on the Cherkizov market, which took the lives of 14 people.

Police got on the trail of the six suspects while investigating the murder of an Uzbek couple last month in Moscow. According to their findings, the suspects killed their victims with knives and baseball bats, and they communicated with other neo-Nazis over the Internet. Police are searching for other suspects in connection with the case.

YOUTHS ATTACK CENTRAL ASIAN CARETAKERS IN MOSCOW DORM. A gang of youths stormed a dormitory in Moscow and attacked several migrant caretakers, sending five of them to the hospital, according to a June 16 report by the Sova Analytical-Information Center. The extent of the injuries to the victims, three men and two women, all from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, is not known, but one of them remains in serious condition as a result of the June 14 attack. Police detained three suspects and charged them with "hooliganism."

RACIST ATTACK AND ROBBERY IN LIPETSK. A group of youths attacked two dark-skinned foreigners and a Russian woman in Lipetsk, Russia while screaming racist insults, according to a June 16 report by the Sova Information-Analytical Center. The youths, one of whom had a swastika tattoo on his shoulder, and forced their victims (a citizen of Algeria and a citizen of Cameroon) to withdraw money from an ATM before fleeing the scene. But the victims managed to flag down a police patrol, and the officers detained the assailants. So far the young extremists only face robbery charges but hate crimes charges may be tacked on later.

RACIST ASSAULT IN ROSTOV. Police in Rostov-na-Donu are investigating a racist attack that took place there last month, according to a June 18 report by the Sova Information-Analytical Center. On May 16, a group of youths attacked a boy near Prospekt Selmash while screaming "beat the non-Russians!" and other racist abuse. The boy suffered a fractured collarbone. Police have identified--but so far not detained--four suspected neo-Nazis and are said to plan to charge them with a hate crime.

ANTISEMITES BEAT JEWISH MAN IN VOLZHSKY. Two young men attacked a Jew in a café in Volzhsky, Volgograd Region, according to a June 18 report by the web site Jewish.ru. Oleg Polonsky, 40, went to the cafe to eat dinner and placed his keys on the table. Sitting nearby, two men noticed a Star of David key chain. They approached him and asked, "Are you a Jew?" He answered in the affirmative and was savagely beaten. Polonsky is currently in the hospital recovering from his injuries. The head of the local Jewish community has appealed to the city's mayor to oversee the investigation of the crime. So far police have not detained any suspects.

RUSSIAN ACADEMIC ACCEPTS ‘BLOOD LIBEL’ IN STATE-SPONSORED PROGRAM. Prof. Svetlana Shestakovaya at Tyumen State Oil-Gas University in Russia declared her belief in the validity of the medieval accusation that Jews ritually murder Christian children and use their blood to bake matzo, according to a June 1 report by the Slavic Law Center. Shestakovaya, an assistant professor of sociology, made the charge in a lecture that is part of the state-sponsored educational program "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture" which has been introduced in Russian schools in several regions, at times as part of the compulsory curriculum. For years, human rights activists have criticized the original and still widely used textbook written by Alla Borodina for containing antisemitic and racist passages.

In a series of lectures in April, Shestakovaya reportedly defined matzo as: "A Jewish Eucharist that uses a small quantity of blood of [Christian] Orthodox people whom they [the Jews] martyred... They use a special method for killing an Orthodox child or a saint, such as when the Tsar's family was killed... they were bled because a live person needs to be stabbed before he is dead, and while he dies, the blood comes out... That's why sometimes children go missing, it's the Jews...."

Shestakovaya also attacked other religions whose teachings do not conform to her narrowly defined version of Russian Orthodoxy. In her words, Catholics are "a heresy," and Protestants are "pseudo-Christian sects"--not just the usual targets of Orthodox extremists such as the Pentecostals ("the most destructive sect"), but even the generally more tolerated Lutherans ("Christianity in a distorted form"). She said that an "occult, evil spirit" inspired Mohammed to write the Koran and criticized anyone who would say that Islam is a "good, just religion" as "betraying Christ."

One of Russia's chief rabbis, Beryl Lazar, recently expressed concern that the introduction of at times compulsory Orthodox theology courses in Russia represents a threat to minorities. Several Muslim leaders have made statements reflecting similar apprehensions.

NEW UKRAINIAN EXTREMIST GROUP THREATENS JEWS AND MINORITIES. A previously unknown group, the Union of Young Orthodox Ukrainians, made antisemitic and racist threats at a press conference on June 11 in Kiev, according to UCSJ's Lviv monitor. The group stated that, "Ukrainians have the right to any action in defense against the Kike occupation and immigrants." The group's charter calls for "cleansing from Ukrainian television screens all Rabinoviches"---a reference to Jews--and demands a struggle against forces that aim to "destroy the Ukrainian culture, religion and nation."

While the emergence of this shadowy group comes at a time of rising anti-minority violence in Ukraine, observers caution that Kremlin propagandists have at times staged provocations aimed at discrediting Ukraine in the international media.

AZERI POLICE RAID JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES SECOND TIME THIS MONTH. Azerbaijan police raided two Jehovah's Witness communities this month, Forum 18 News Service reported on June 18. The second raid was on a small meeting in a home in the capital Baku. Fifteen police officers entered and detained the entire congregation, beating up three detainees. After the first raid, nine Jehovah's Witnesses caught up in it wrote to the Prosecutor’s Office, pointing out that the raid violated their rights to freedom of thought, speech, and conscience guaranteed under the Azerbaijani Constitution and Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. They asked for "urgent and effective measures" to halt such violations and for the prosecution of officials who have violated the law.

The number of raids has increased in the past year, the news agency noted, primarily targeting Jehovah's Witnesses, Baptists, Adventists, and other Protestants. This year other congregations have also been raided and warned by officials but the communities have asked Forum 18 not to identify them for fear of further repression.

EU PARLIAMENT TIGHTENS RULES ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION. On June 18, the European Parliament adopted, by a vote of 367 against 206 with 109 abstentions, new rules for expelling illegal immigrants from the 27-nation European Union (EU) despite vociferous objections by human rights groups, the radio Deutsche Welle reported from Strasbourg. The new law allows illegal immigrants to be detained for up to 18 months in detention centers, not jails. Critics demanded a shorter detention period.

According to European Commission estimates, up to 8 million illegal migrants live in the EU. In the first half of 2007, more than 200,000 were arrested but fewer than 90,000 were eventually expelled.

Conservative and liberal lawmakers say that the law is needed to make the bloc's migration policies credible. "It's a decisive step towards a necessary common policy on immigration, an essential legal instrument to safeguard fundamental rights for immigrants," said Spanish conservative Agustin Diaz de Mera Garcia. Socialists, Greens, and Communist-led groups demanded a reduction of the detention length. The new 18-month limit is higher than the maximum detention in two-thirds of the 27 EU states. Germany already has an 18-month detention cap, while eight EU countries that have higher caps or none at all will have to introduce the new EU limit.

"This directive is a disgrace, it's an insult to civilization in Europe," said Italian left-winger Giusto Catania, saying illegal migrants should not be detained for 18 months without having committed a crime. "We are building a Europe which is shutting down on itself," said fellow socialist Martine Roure who also urged the bloc to facilitate legal migration instead.

Human rights groups called for scrapping the entire proposal. Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene Khan called on lawmakers to reject the text. "The proposed directive is unacceptable as an EU standard," she said. "Detention should only be used in very exceptional cases, always for the shortest possible time."

SPAIN OFFERS BENEFITS TO LEGAL MIGRANTS IF THEY RETURN HOME. Beginning in July, Spain’s government will offer legal immigrants who lose their jobs a chance to collect unemployment benefits as long as they return to their home countries, “El Pais” reported on June 12. Under the arrangement, repatriating immigrants will receive their full unemployment benefits in two installments: the first before leaving Spain, and the second upon arriving home. To be eligible, migrants must give up their residency and work papers and pledge not to return to Spain for at least three years. More than one million people may be affected, about half of them non-Europeans, said Labor Minister Celestino Corbacho.

The move, prompted by the economic crisis, is part of the search throughout the EU to reduce the flow of illegal migrants, mostly from Africa and Asia. Spain and Italy are the front-line countries receiving the influx. Corbacho also announced tough new conditions to bring family members into Spain that might prevent workers' parents and in-laws from being eligible.

From January 2005 to April 2008, Spain granted residency papers to more than 252,000 relatives of migrant workers. Corbacho said that there are currently about 165,000 unemployed foreigners and that the figure will grow over the next three years.

* * * QUOTE OF THE WEEK, YUSHCHENKO ADAMANT ON NATO MEMBERSHIP * * * "Ukraine is convinced that participation in the [NATO] Membership Action Plan will allow for an even better focus on the so-called homework," President Victor Yushchenko told a June 17 press conference that followed his meeting with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. "Kiev wants the Membership Action Plan this year." Scheffer said he will try to persuade all NATO members to back the idea of extending a Membership Action Plan to Ukraine.

POLLS SHOW A MIXED BATCH OF CHANGES IN RUSSIAN ATTITUDES More Tolerance of Dissenters, More Hatred of Migrants

1. MAJORITY APPROVES STREET DEMONSTRATIONS. Russians have become more tolerant of opposition movements and may even be more willing to participate in demonstrations than many have assumed on the basis of their behavior over the past decade, according to the findings of a nationwide poll conducted in mid-May by the Levada Center and published on June 16. As many as 55% of those interviewed expressed agreement with the statement that "street meetings and demonstrations are normal democratic means for citizens to achieve their goals and the authorities do not have the right to prohibit them.” Only 32% agreed with the statement to the effect that "if street meetings and demonstrations interfere with those around them or lead to disorders, then the authorities should prohibit them."

Another encouraging sign the poll detected is that the age group 18-to-24 shows the greatest support for the right to demonstrate: 60% for and only 29% against. Older groups, and especially those between 24 and 39 and over 60 are less supportive of the right to demonstrate.

Another finding by the independent Levada Center is that "the number of supporters of the right for street meetings and demonstrations increases with the rise of educational level," with 60% of those with higher education supporting that right and only 52% of those with less that middle school training saying that they back the rights of demonstrators.

2. ETHNIC HATRED RISES. Negative attitudes toward immigrants keep growing in intensity, the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) found in its survey in late May. The number of the Russians who do not mind immigrants at all has gone down from 21% two years ago to 15% these days. Moreover, the level of negative attitude remains permanently high: 68-69%. The situation was found “particularly problematic” in Moscow and St. Petersburg where the average sympathy/antipathy ratio is gauged at 16% to 75%.

VTsIOM is now state-owned. Its director, Vladimir Fyodorov, defended the authorities for taking measures to lessen ethnic tensions. He cited the trials and convictions of those guilty of ethnic clashes in Kondopoga, the restrictions on the number of foreigners allowed to work at marketplaces (a blatantly racist and largely unenforced law passed in the wake of the Kondopoga riot), and the liquidation of the openly chauvinist Motherland party.

In presenting the polls on June 17, “Vedomosti” quoted Yuri Vdovin, a human rights activist from St. Petersburg. Vdovin ascribes the growth of the negative attitude toward immigrants to a state policy centered on “pseudo-patriotic doctrines.” He said, "Here in St. Petersburg, all ethnic hatred crimes are treated as banal hooliganism."

3. RUSSIANS SEE THEIR HISTORY AS THE GREATEST SOURCE OF PRIDE. Asked by the polling firm Bashkirova & Partners in mid-May what makes them most proud about Russia, the great majority of respondents listed Russia’s history (83.8%), culture (77.4%), and scientific achievements (75%). A hefty 60.7% pointed to the Russian armed forces but only 55.6% to their country’s influence in world affairs.

The same question elicited two other findings indicating skepticism of the Kremlin’s boasts. Only 40.5% of respondents expressed pride in their country’s economic achievements and just 37% felt the same way about the state of democracy in Russia.

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