Volume 8, Number 28
July 11, 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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The plight of migrants is worldwide. Government policies vary, depending on their perceptions of “the threat,” but xenophobic organizations are gaining strength, catering to the public’s fears.

1. RUSSIAN ANTI-MIGRANT GROUP LEADER URGES ‘DECISIVE MEASURES.’ Speaking on the occasion of the third anniversary of the founding of the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI) earlier this week, its leader Aleksandr Belov called for the adoption of "decisive measures" against illegal immigrants to Russia. In an interview with the newspaper "Segodnya," he claimed that that since his organization was formed, Russians are increasingly supportive of DPNI's anti-immigrant agenda and that ever more of them back DPNI's call for harsher measures against immigrants both legal and illegal.

Belov set out three goals for DPNI: to dispel what he calls the myth about the usefulness of immigrants and to explain "the dangers of uncontrolled migration”; two, tougher laws governing the expulsion of non-indigenous peoples; three, creating its own vigilante groups to drive out illegal immigrants and to provide assistance to locals who find themselves "in conflicts with illegal immigrants."

Belov argued that the problem of illegal immigration is surfacing in an increasing number of Russian cities and the problem exists in all the cities in which immigrants form more than five percent of the population. At that point, he added, the immigrants become a problem because they assume they can act as they did at home rather than adapt to Russian cultural norms. Then, once the number of migrants “exceeds 25 to 30 percent" of the indigenous population, members of the indigenous groups "begin to leave their own land," a process that Belov claims is evident in the North Caucasus and "in certain districts of Moscow."

2. HELSINKI COMMISSION PROTESTS FINGERPRINTING ROMA. On July 7, Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) and Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD), co-chairmen of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (better known as U.S. Helsinki Commission), expressed alarm over reports that Italian authorities are targeting members of the Roma minority for fingerprinting. The program, an initiative spearheaded by the Minister of Interior, is intended to cover Roma (formerly known as Gypsies) living in 700 camps throughout Italy. “We remain concerned about the escalation of anti-Roma and anti-migrant manifestations in Italy,” Hastings said.

“The blatant racial profiling of Roma by the Italian government sets a very dangerous precedent and turns back the clock to one of Europe’s darkest times.” Cardin noted: “Singling out Roma for fingerprinting is nothing more than an exercise in racism. It was not that long ago when measures like this were a prelude to deportation, imprisonment, torture and death. I remain troubled by the increased violence against minorities in Italy.”

3. ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION WIDESPREAD IN EU, NEW STUDY SAYS. Although discrimination in general has decreased on the European Union (EU) in the past years, discrimination based on ethnic origin it is still perceived by Europeans as widespread, with Roma in particular facing high levels of prejudice, according to a new study labeled Eurobarometer, released on July 3. Out of the six categories investigated--disability, age, gender, ethnic origin, religion, and sexual orientation--discrimination on the grounds of ethnic origin is recognized as the most widespread among Europeans and is an even bigger problem than it was five years ago.

While discrimination based on age, disability, religion, and gender is seen to have decreased, almost half of those surveyed (48%) say ethnic discrimination is getting worse. This is particularly the case in the Netherlands, where 71% of those surveyed said the situation has deteriorated. Now nearly four out of five people say ethnic discrimination is widespread and more than one in five has actually witnessed it. The situation is also perceived to have worsened in Denmark (69%), Hungary (61%), Italy (58%) and Belgium (56%), while citizens of Poland (17%), Lithuania (20%), Cyprus (23%), and Latvia (25%) were more optimistic regarding the situation in their country than they were five years ago.

Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is seen as the second most common form of discrimination in the EU, with 51% of those surveyed considering it widespread. The situation is considered worst in Cyprus, Greece, and Italy, with nearly three quarters of respondents calling homophobia “common.” But Portugal (65%) and France (59%) are also generally perceived as homophobic.

While the average European says he is very comfortable with having someone from a different ethnic origin as a neighbor (with an average result of 8.1 on a scale of one to ten, where ten represents “totally comfortable” and one “very uncomfortable”), the situation is dramatically different when it comes to having a Roma neighbor. In the Czech Republic as well as in Italy, almost half of respondents (47%) would feel uncomfortable (average Czech score 3.7; average Italian score, 4.0). This is also the case in Ireland (40%; 4.8), Slovakia (38%; 4.5), Bulgaria (36%; 4.8), and Cyprus (34%; 5.6).

4. AFRICAN INFLUX TO ITALY UP AGAIN. The usual big summer wave of migrant landings on the small Sicilian island of Lampedusa continued on July 8 with the arrival of more than 650 people in three boats, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. The first boat, carrying 290 people, was spotted 30 miles south of the island in the early hours of the morning, while a second wooden craft with 318 migrants on board was intercepted 20 miles south-east several hours later. A smaller rubber boat with 47 migrants aboard was also escorted to shore after coastguards spotted it floating 40 miles south of the island. Lampedusa is closer to the coast of Tunisia than to the Italian mainland.

The influx brought number of people at the island's temporary detention center to 1,500 people. The center has a capacity of 600 people. Some of the migrants will be transferred to other centers, which is what happened at the end of June with 900 migrants after 1,500 people arrived in five days.

ANSA noted that the number of migrants landing on the island “has increased dramatically in recent years,” with 23,000 arriving in 2005 compared to 13,000 in 2004. Last month 40 people drowned and another 100 went missing when a boat filled with migrants capsized on its way from Libya. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, each year at least 2,000 people die as they attempt to cross the Mediterranean.

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NEO-NAZIS SUSPECTED IN A SERIES OF STABBINGS IN MOSCOW METRO. Neo-Nazis are likely to be behind a series of stabbings at a Moscow metro station, according to a July 3 report by the Sova Information-Analytical Center. On July 1, unidentified person stabbed a native of Uzbekistan at the Prospekt Mir station; the victim was subsequently hospitalized. Later on that day, a 21-year-old victim whose nationality was not disclosed was taken to the hospital with stab wounds to the chest. The next day at the same station, natives of Uzbekistan and Dagestan were stabbed in the chest in separate attacks and hospitalized. There have been no reports of any arrests.

TEENAGERS ATTACK TWO TAJIKS ON MOSCOW TRAIN. Three youths attacked two Tajik men on board a Moscow suburban train, according to a July 8 report by the Jewish.ru web site. The teenagers assaulted the men on the Moscow-Golitsyno train and then fled. The report does not mention the severity of the victims' injuries. It is not clear if the police are investigating.

RUSSIA BANS 151 NATIONALIST AND ISLAMIC PUBLICATIONS. The list of materials deemed “extremist” in Russia has nearly doubled in length since the beginning of the year and now comprises 151 titles, according to the official web site of the Justice Ministry, the state information agency RIA Novosti reported on July 7. As of December 29, 2007, the list of banned titles comprised 79 items, including books, brochures, articles, leaflets, and other printed materials, as well as one film and one music album. By February 28 this year, the Federal Registration Service published a list comprising 100 banned titles. The new list includes "The Book of Monotheism" by Muhammad ibn Suleyman al-Tamimi, the letters of the Rada (Council) of the Land of Kuban of the spiritual tribal state of Rus, the book "Through the Prism of Islam," and the lyrics of the Tsiklon B group of musicians.

TAJIKISTAN’S ONLY SYNAGOGUE RAZED. Tajikistan's only synagogue has been reduced to a pile of rubble, leaving a community of about 350 people in “bureaucratic limbo,” the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) reported from Moscow on July 7. Following four years of threats from officials and counter-proposals from the community, Dushanbe’s city government completed the demolition of the one-story synagogue last month to make way for a new presidential palace and national park.

"Right now, the community has practically no place at all," Chief Rabbi Mikhail Abdurakhmov told JTA. "Everyone is praying in their own home." He said 200 community members actively participate in Jewish life. Lev Levayev, president of the Federation of Jewish Communities and head of the World Congress of Bukharan Jews, told Interfax that a plot of land has been set aside for the synagogue and construction would begin soon with funding by the Chabad-led federation, the Bukharan Congress, and private donors.

JTA cited conflicting reports over the new land for a synagogue. "The removal of a synagogue is a very subtle and delicate question that we will discuss with the president at the end of September," Levayev was quoted as saying. Despite Levayev's promises that "there will be no problems with funding," local leaders are uncertain about the future. Abdurakhmov said he has not been able to confirm the existence of a new plot and he has not spoken with anyone from the federation about a new synagogue.

* * * QUOTE OF THE WEEK, SUMMIT SMILES BUT NO PROGRESS ON ISSUES * * * “[Dmitry] Medvedev warmed up to Western leaders at a Group of Eight summit in Hokkaido, Japan, in his most prominent international appearance since his inauguration two months ago as Russian president,” the Associated Press reported from the summit earlier this week. “But four face-to-face meetings in a fog-shrouded hilltop hotel brought no discernible changes in Russia's stance on a slew of issues that strained ties with the West under Medvedev's predecessor, Vladimir Putin.”

UKRAINIAN COURTS BEGIN TO APPLY HATE CRIME LAWS
But Most Violations Fail to Result in Detention and Prosecution

In his latest report, UCSJ's Kiev monitor Vyacheslav Likhachyov presents a mixed picture of racist violence in Ukraine. On the one hand, Ukrainian courts have finally begun to convict suspects under hate crimes and hate speech statutes that were, until this year, essentially moribund. However, the fact that the vast majority of the attacks reported did not result in the detention and prosecution of suspects suggests serious flaws in the ways law enforcement agencies respond to attacks on minorities.

Nevertheless, the number of reported attacks has decreased since the record number of assaults recorded by Likhachyov in his previous report. It is too early to tell whether or not this is a statistical anomaly, the result of better police practices, or other factors.

On April 2, police, SBU (the KGB’s heir), and foreign ministry officials held a roundtable in Kiev with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) on "Problems of Fighting Racism in Ukraine." Ministry of Interior (MVD) officials announced that they will soon create special units to investigate racist violence in Dnepropetrovsk, Odessa, Lviv, and Lugansk. SBU official Nikolai Kalashkin said that there were about 100 incidents of xenophobia in Ukraine last year, 20% of them directed against Jews.

In contrast to this official recognition of the scale of the problem after years of denials from various branches of government, Aleksandr Gorin, a foreign ministry official in charge of racism issues, denied that there is racism as a social tendency in Ukraine. But, he acknowledged, there are individual incidents that need to be combated.

On April 3 in Ternopil, a group of youths attacked a dormitory for foreign students at the local medical school. The students found safety inside the building after an alert watchman locked the door in time to stop the rampaging youths. He suffered a blow to the head. That same day, a group of youths attacked an Indian student outside a store, sending him to the hospital. The dean of foreign students at the university said that this is not the first such attack too have taken place recently. The local SBU responded by opening a hot line for victims of hate crimes while denying that any such incident had taken place in the region, ignoring the fact of a series of attacks on Arab students last year.

On April 10, SBU officials detained a suspect in a February 19 attack on a Turkmen citizen in Kiev. The suspect faces hooliganism charges and was released after signing a pledge not to leave the city. There is no information on other suspects in the attack which resulted in the victim’s hospitalization. Head of Kiev SBU Vasily Gritsak announced a review of several cases involving assaults on foreigners.

On April 11, vandals destroyed 39 gravestones at a Muslim cemetery in the village of Chistenkoe, Republic of Crimea and painted racist slogans and drawings on the fence. On April 17, top police officials in Crimea ordered police units to organize the protection of Muslim religious sites.

On April 15 in Zhitomir, for the second time in two years, vandals attacked a memorial over the grave of a famous local disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, Rabbi Aaron. On November 2007, vandals painted antisemitic graffiti on the memorial but police refused to open an investigation, claiming "an absence of a crime." A few days later, police reported that they had “solved the case.” The fire was an accident, they said, not arson. Three teenagers were playing soccer near the cemetery and lit a fire on the cemetery grounds in order to warm up. The fire got out of a control and burned down the memorial.

On April 17, two potentially ground-breaking cases ended in guilty verdicts in separate courts in Kiev. In both trials, defendants were convicted of actions aimed at inciting ethnic hatred under Article 161 of the criminal code, only the second and third time in all of Ukraine's post-Soviet history that an Article 161 prosecution was successfully applied in relation to a hate crime. In the Podolsky District Court, Vyacheslav Dmitruk, 18, was sentenced to three years in prison under Article 161 for attacking a Japanese tourist. The same day, the Darnitsky District Court ended the trial of four suspects accused of murdering a Nigerian citizen last October. Kunon Mievi Godi, 44, who lived for many years in Ukraine, was killed on the evening of October 25, 2006. Eyewitnesses reported that the attackers shouted racist slogans. The victim, who is survived by a Ukrainian wife and a son, died of knife wounds before police arrived. He had a Ph.D. and worked for an oil company in the city. The judge found one suspect guilty of first degree murder and incitement of ethnic hatred and sentenced him to 11 years in prison. A second defendant, a young woman, was convicted solely of ethnic incitement and got four and a half years. A third defendant avoided prison through an amnesty, while yet another was treated as a witness.

Despite a rising number of attacks on ethnic minorities in Ukraine, until April 17 there had been only one successful hate crimes prosecution in Ukraine, and even in that case (the trial of several neo-Nazis who attacked a synagogue in Kiev while screaming "Death to the Yids!"), the chief organizer of the assault, Dmitry Volkov, was let out of prison early.

Also on April 17 in Kiev, five youths assaulted a dark-skinned academic who works at the Eastern European Institute of Development.

On April 22, a Kirovograd court convicted and then immediately amnestied a high school teacher who incited his pupils to murder Jews. This case represents the first successful hate speech conviction in Ukrainian legal history. (A previous verdict against the newspaper "Silski Visti" was overturned after the Orange Revolution.) Nikolai Yakimchuk was convicted of violating Article 161 of the Criminal Code for telling his pupils: "Jews, children, are bad, arrogant people… They should be eliminated; they have no place amongst people." (Not included in Likhachyov's report is that Valid Arfush, head of the NGO SOS Racism, reported in an interview published on July 1 in the Kiev newspaper "Stolichnye Novosti" that Yakimchuk continues to teach at the same school.)

On April 24, an act of vandalism was discovered at a Jewish cemetery in Bolgrad, Odessa Region. Vandals damaged 11 gravestones some time after Hitler's birthday, April 20.

On April 25, a Nigerian student was attacked in Nikolaev. The victim was found unconscious near his dormitory at the Nikolaev Ship-Building University. Local media characterized the victim as a troublemaker and denied that racism motivated the attack.

On April 28, Nigerian businessman Zumex Innocent was attacked in Donetsk. Late in April, a group of five boys and four girls attacked an Iranian medical student in Kiev.

On May 1, a group of youths attacked an Afghan refugee in Kiev.

On May 5-7, UCSJ and its partner organizations in Ukraine held a training session and a public meeting to discuss the growing problem of racist violence.

On May 6, a Kiev court convicted four youths on charges of murder motivated by ethnic hatred on hate crimes. This latest sentence—only the fourth time a Ukrainian court has convicted anyone on hate crimes charges—was the third such conviction in two months (the first took place four years ago), perhaps showing that the criminal justice system is finally taking the problem of neo-Nazi violence in Ukraine seriously. The defendants were sentenced to 13 years in prison.

Details of the case not mentioned in Likhachyov's report emerged in an article by the local newspaper “Fakty i Kommentarii” dated May 16. The defendants were found guilty of the April 23, 2007 murder of a Korean man, Kang Jong Von, 31. The victim reportedly went to Ukraine out of love for the local culture and a desire to perfect his command of the language. He succumbed to his injuries.

The defendants, aged between 17 and 20, came for the most part from broken homes. One of them sported a swastika tattoo. Witnesses testified that the defendants screamed racist abuse while attacking their victim and that the defendant with the swastika tattoo jumped on his head with heavy boots as he lay prone on the ground. A police official was quoted in the article on the "surprising level of cruelty" the victim suffered, along with the attackers’ language ("slant eyes" and "this is Slavic land and we are the masters here") pointed to ethnic hatred as the motive for the killing.

The defendants reportedly showed no regret during the trial and laughed at a witness from the Korean embassy. Only one parent reportedly apologized to the victim's family, though she did so privately, saying that she couldn't come to the trial out of shame for what her son had done. Another mother, however, was spotted wearing the typical boots that neo-Nazis favor, and some parents and other supporters of the defendants attacked journalists trying to cover the trial. A group of young people stood up in the courtroom and made the Nazi salute after the sentence was read.

On May 9, eight youths aged 15-16 dressed like neo-Nazis savagely beat an Armenian boy, Zhan Asatryan, 12. They knocked him to the ground and kicked him repeatedly He was hospitalized.

On May 18 in Lviv, four youths attacked an Indian man walking in a park with a young woman. On May 20, a half dozen youths in Kiev attacked the 17-year-old son of an Indian diplomat.

On May 29, two young men stabbed a Nigerian man to death in Kiev. The victim lived for many years in Kiev and worked at the Shulyavsky market. Police denied that the motivation for the killing was racism.

On June 6, three young men, one of them with a shaven head, surrounded an Uzbek man in Kiev, shot tear gas into his face, and then beat him to the ground and kicked him multiple times. The victim was hospitalized with broken ribs and damage to his lungs and kidneys.

On June 10, a citizen of Israel wearing the traditional clothing of Chasidic Jews was kidnapped and beaten by antisemites in Odessa. Avi Chazan was on his way back from a pilgrimage to Uman where the founder of Chasidism is buried. He hailed a taxi. Two young men who sat in the car took him outside the city and beat him. He was not robbed, suggesting that antisemitism motivated the attack. Chazan left Ukraine the next day and did not file a report with the police.

On June 19, a Palestinian medical student was found dead on near his dormitory in Kiev. Two drunken businessmen were detained; they reportedly saw the victim walking with a woman and asked him "what are you doing here?" before beating him to death. Police denied that racism motivated the killing.

On June 25, a vandal who painted swastikas and neo-Nazi slogans on a mausoleum over the grave of Rabbi Levi Yitzhak, a famous Berdichev rabbi who died in 1810, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. The defendant, 20, was charged under Article 297 (desecrating graves)--but not a hate crime.

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