Racism in Russia during the 2000s
2022684
225553869
2008-07-14T08:01:08Z
70.145.76.243
/* Hostility towards Caucasians/Muslims */
[[Image:Russiannenazis.jpg|right|thumb|250px|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 ethinically [[Russians|Russian]]. This includes [[antisemitism]] and a general demeaning attitude to [[northern indigenous peoples of Russia]], as well as hostility towards various [[Peoples of the Caucasus|Caucasian]]/[[Central Asia]]n 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]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4755163.stm BBC NEWS | Europe | Putin faces up to racist scourge<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> 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,<ref>[http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/02/01/012.html FSB Told to Stop Political Extremism<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>, but [[hate crime]]s still increased. From [[January 1]] to [[July 31]], 2007, Amnesty International registered 310 victims of [[Neo-Nazism|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.<ref>[http://www.amnesty.nl/bibliotheek_vervolg/rusland_racistischgeweld RACISME IN RUSLAND]</ref> 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.<ref name=wp />
According to Semyon Charny of the Moscow Human Rights Bureau, there are an estimated 70,000 [[skinhead]]s in Russia,<ref name=wp>Peter Finn. ''[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/07/AR2008040702718_2.html?hpid=topnews Moscow Killings Blamed on Racism]''. [[Washington Post]]. April 8, 2008.</ref> and surveys show that [[xenophobia]] and other racist expressions affect 50 percent of Russians.<ref>''[http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B1C1E82BE-F7B1-4786-9D7E-0CC05B8E9327%7D&language=EN Russians Concerned about Xenophobia and Racism]'' Latin American News Agency.</ref>
==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]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4755163.stm BBC NEWS | Europe | Putin faces up to racist scourge<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> 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,<ref>[http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/02/01/012.html FSB Told to Stop Political Extremism<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> but the number of reported [[hate crime]]s still increased. From [[January 1]] to [[July 31]], 2007, Amnesty International registered 310 victims of [[Neo-Nazism|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.<ref>[http://www.amnesty.nl/bibliotheek_vervolg/rusland_racistischgeweld RACISME IN RUSLAND]</ref>
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.<ref name=wp /> 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.<ref>[http://russiatoday.ru/news/news/24900 Authorities declare war on racist gangs] [[Russia Today]] Retrieved on May 28, 2008</ref> 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.”
==Hostility towards Caucasians/Muslims==
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 Asian]]s fall into the category of ''black''. This is associated with a non-white skin colour, color of hair and a non-Slavic facial appearance.<ref>Daniel Rancour-Laferriere. Imagining Russia: Ethnic identity and the nationalist mind. [http://www.panorama.ru/works/patr/ir/19.html Chapter 19. Assimilationism and Ethnic Hostility.]</ref> Members of these ethnicities could be depicted as dangerous savages who are a threat to public safety.
Several [[pogrom]]s, directed particularly against Caucasian merchants and migrants have been reported in the Russian capital, [[Moscow]], and in [[Kondopoga#2006 ethnic tensions|other Russian cities]].{{Fact|date=February 2007}} 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]].{{Fact|date=February 2007}} Racially motivated attacks against [[Armenians]] have grown so common that the president of [[Armenia]], [[Robert Kocharyan]], raised the issue with high-ranking Russian officials.<ref>[http://jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2371221 Yerevan Pressing For Tougher Action Against Anti-Armenian Racism In Russia - Eurasia Daily Monitor<!-- Bot generated title
==Hostility towards Central Asians/Muslims==
Since the collapse of the [[Soviet Union]], the rise of the [[Islam in Russia|Muslim population in Russia]] and the recently ongoing [[Chechen war]], many Russians (including authorities) have associated [[Islam]] and [[Muslims]] with [[terrorism]] and domestic crimes.<ref>[http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/terror/16-10-2003/3864-islam-0 Islamophobia in Russia - Pravda.Ru<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://tchetchenieparis.free.fr/text/ru-racism-13-6-02.htm More Racism in Russia<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/rca/rca_200205_118_5_eng.txt</ref><ref>[http://www.mosnews.com/news/2004/10/15/uzbek.shtml Mosnews.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
In August 2007 a video of 2 alleged neo-Nazis beheading two [[Muslim]] men, one from Dagestan in the Caucasus and one from Tajikistan appeared on the internet.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6946810.stm|title=Russian held over 'deaths' video|date=[[2007-08-15]]|publisher=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> In February 2004, a nine-year old [[Tajik]] girl was stabbed to death in [[Saint Petersburg]] by suspected [[White power skinhead|far-right skinheads]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3476083.stm BBC NEWS | Europe | Girl killed by Russia 'racists'<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4965850.stm BBC NEWS | Europe | Racist attacks that stain Russia<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==Antisemitism==
In March 2008, allegations of [[blood libel]] appeared in posters in [[Novosibirsk]].<ref>Stan Goodenough. ''[http://www.jnewswire.com/article/2387 Old-style antisemitism alive and well in Russia]''. Jerusalem Newswire.</ref> 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.<ref>Anshel Pfeffer. ''[http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/966611.html In Russia's third largest city, the blood libel is resurfacing]''. Haaretz.</ref>
{{Expand-section|date=June 2008}}
==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 [[Han Chinese|Chinese]], because of China's much larger population.<ref>[http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/region-ecology/numbers/11/916.html Russia in Global Affairs:Chinese Migration in Russia]</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.russiansabroad.com/russian_history_111.html Illegal immigration in Russia, Russian illegal immigration on RussiansAbroad.com<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==Hostility towards Africans==<!-- This section is linked from [[Negro]] -->
Many black students feel unsafe in Russia. In [[Saint Petersburg]], three [[Africans]] have been killed in suspected race attacks since September 2005.
"[[Monkey]]" insults and non-lethal [[assault]]s are so frequent that students have ceased reporting them<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4737468.stm BBC NEWS | Europe | Living with race hate in Russia<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4886298.stm BBC NEWS | Europe | Student murder in Russia 'racist'<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>.
Negative attitude towards [[Africans]] traces back to the days of the [[Soviet Union]], in spite of its [[Internationalism (politics)|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 [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Congolese]] [[revolution]]ary and [[prime minister]] [[Patrice Lumumba]].
==Violence against anti-fascists==
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.<ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901040809-674718,00.html From Russia With Hate], by Yuri Zarakhovich, [[Time (magazine)|Time]], August 1, 2004.</ref> On November 13, 2005 [[Timur Kacharava]], a fourth year philosophy student at St. Petersburg State University, was stabbed to death by a group of teenagers. Kacharava had been known for confronting neo-Nazis in the streets.<ref>[http://ru.indymedia.org/newswire/display/13944/index.php Young anti-fascist killed in St. Petersburg, Russia], by anonymous, [[Indymedia]], November 17, 2005</ref> The main defendant in the trial that followed almost two years later was 14 years old.<ref>[http://rfe.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/08/60fff88b-64af-4126-839b-741227a66b32.html Russia: Seven Sentenced In Killing Of Antiracism Campaigner], by Claire Bigg, [[RFE/RL]], August 7, 2007</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
In English:
*[http://sova-center.ru/194F418/ Nationalism and xenophobia in Russia], [[SOVA Center]] for Information and Analysis] non-profit organization that publishes information on nationalism and xenophobia in Russia
*[http://current.com/items/84906401_from_russia_with_hate From Russia With Hate] video documentary
*[http://center-rne.org/forums Russian Nazi party]
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4969296.stm Russian racism 'out of control'] article from BBC
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2131214.stm Racism on the rise in Russia] article from BBC
*[http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/nov2001/mosc-n15.shtml Fascist attacks in Moscow] article from World Socialist Web Site
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rra6R8RUwy8 Ross Kemp On Gangs - Russia Moscow - Neo-Nazis] video documentary
*[http://plato.acadiau.ca/COURSES/POLS/Grieve/3593/Russia/racism04.html 'Why are you here, Mr. Nigger?'] article from Globe and Mail
*[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10345668 Murder sparks Russia racism protests] article from New Zealand Herald
*[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,674718-1,00.html From Russia With Hate] article from Time Magazine
In Russian:
*[http://www.mn.ru/issue.php?2002-28-11 Pogrom in Russia is not a pogrom] Moskovskye novosti N 28, y.2002
*[http://www.gazeta.ru/2004/09/09/oa_132983.shtml Anti-Caucasian Pogroms in Ural] Gazeta.ru 09 Sept 2004 19:59
*[http://sova-center.livejournal.com News on nationalism, xenophobia, and Racism in Russia] Sova Center
[[Category:Anti-national sentiment|Russia]]
[[Category:Russian society]]
[[Category:Racism in Russia]]
[[ru:Расизм_и_расовая_дискриминация#Российская_Федерация]]