Russian racism has foreigners in fear

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Date: Wed, 4 Jul 2001 17:13:59 +0300 (EEST)
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Subject: Russian racism has foreigners in fear 

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Original sender: Felix Corley <[email protected]>

Russian racism has foreigners in fear 


Chicago Tribune

Russian racism has foreigners in fear

By John Daniszewski
Los Angeles Times

July 1, 2001

MOSCOW -- Jules Rakotondravoavy, an immigrant from Madagascar, went
out late at night to buy milk for his infant daughter. As he passed a
girl playing guitar in an underground walkway, he was jumped from
behind and beaten for at least five minutes.

Throughout the attack, the girl kept playing.

A refugee from the Chechen war had planned to meet up with his Russian
girlfriend at a popular meeting point near Red Square. But instead of
going for a stroll with her, he was accosted and slapped by a Russian
nationalist, who then stabbed him through the heart within sight of
police.

Call them fascists or skinheads, there is a virulent breed of bully
prowling the streets of this and other Russian cities. Nationalists
roving in gangs pounce on people whose skin is black or brown or
caramel, or whose features mark them as Chechen, Armenian or Azeri.

These ruffians don't view themselves as villains. In their minds, they
are defending the national identity from foreign invasion. After a
decade of severe social and economic trauma, they believe Russia is
occupied by foreigners and needs to be cleansed.

There have always been strong nationalist currents running beneath the
surface of Russian society, and xenophobia and anti-Semitism have
traditionally increased in times of turmoil.

Generally the perpetrators are young men from working-class
backgrounds, dropouts and rebels who steep themselves in right-wing
tracts and obtain a sense of belonging from their gangs.

Police say they keep no separate statistics on skinhead attacks. But
anecdotal testimony from African and Asian residents of Moscow
suggests that the violence has been on the rise, culminating in a
spate of attacks in April. During that month, a horde of more than 100
skinheads raged through a market, beating merchants from Asia and the
Caucasus.

President Vladimir Putin spoke out in April against the wave of racist
and ethnic violence. But judging by police attitudes and actions, very
little is being done to curb the attacks. Many victims say they no
longer bother going to authorities because of the indifference they
know they will encounter.

Several embassies have complained to the Foreign Ministry. According
to one document obtained by the Los Angeles Times, Kenya has supplied
a list of 23 attacks on its citizens this year, including the
ambassador's son and two diplomats.

But in interviews, police and Foreign Ministry officials play down the
issue of skinhead violence.

"They are not really dangerous. There are so few of them," said
Tatyana Kostyunina, a Moscow police officer assigned to deal with
youth groups.

"We know that this problem exists, but it is not of a systematic
character," a Foreign Ministry official said.

But members of the targeted groups contend the problem is widespread.
They say it threatens their safety every day and encroaches on their
freedom of movement in Russia.

Foreign students with dark complexions feel as if they are afloat in a
sea of racism. If they are not assaulted on the streets or on public
transportation, they are frequently subjected to hostile looks or
racist insults.

"Whenever I come in contact with a guy, I either get hit on or spit
on," said University of Nebraska student Leonna Griffin, a black woman
from Bellevue, Neb., who spent her junior year at the Moscow
Linguistic University and Moscow International University.

"If this evil is not punished, it will grow and get worse," said
Yelena Rakotondravoavy, the wife of the man from Madagascar beaten in
the walkway.

"But the police seem not to care about it," she said as the couple sat
in their 15th-story walk-up apartment in a typical Soviet-era slum
tower. "I am ashamed of my own people."

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