UCSJ: Anti-Chechen Incidents and Attitudes Rising in Russia
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Subject: UCSJ: Anti-Chechen Incidents and Attitudes Rising in Russia
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UCSJ: Anti-Chechen Incidents and Attitudes Rising in Russia
For Immediate Release: July 3, 2001
Contact: Nickolai Butkevich (202) 775-9770 x107
PRESS RELEASE
ANTI-CHECHEN INCIDENTS AND ATTITUDES RISING IN RUSSIA
UCSJ Issues Report on Beatings, Defamation and Harassment of Chechens
in 26 Regions
The war in Chechnya has contributed to a sharp rise in anti-Chechen
and anti-Moslem sentiment in Russia. Over the last several years,
Chechens have been subjected to a dangerously high level of hostility,
discrimination and violence throughout the country, according to an
18-page report issued today by UCSJ: The Union of Councils for Jews in
the Former Soviet Union. This problem is not confined to any one
region of Russia. Incidents of official and grass-roots discrimination
and mistreatment of Chechens (and others from the Caucasus) detailed
in the report took place in 26 of Russia's regions since 1998, and
probably represent the proverbial tip of the iceberg. The report does
not include information on atrocities by the Russian military against
the civilian population in Chechnya, which have been well documented
by numerous other human rights groups.
"The defamation of the Chechen people in the official and non-official
media, large-scale discriminatory police actions against Chechens in
Moscow and other cities, and government tolerance of grass-roots
violence against Chechens have been greeted with joy by Russia's hate
groups, who thrive on the sense of impunity that the government's
anti-Chechen witch hunt has created," said Micah H. Naftalin, UCSJ's
National Director. "The dangerous implications for other unpopular
ethnic and religious minority groups are obvious-the Russian state, in
de facto alliance with grass-roots hate groups, has set a precedent
vis a vis the Chechens, thus increasing the probability that other
groups, including Jews, may face similar persecution in the future.
This is yet another example of how democracy and civil society in
Russia have been undermined by the war in Chechnya."
Specifically anti-Chechen sentiment appears to be even more intense
than that directed toward people from the Caucasus in general, as
numerous regions in Russia have seen anti-Chechen violence and calls
to drive all Chechens from the region or the country. A high level of
anti-Muslim prejudice, seen in the opposition to the construction of
mosques in several Russian cities, further exacerbates the danger that
Chechens face throughout Russia.
Most notably in Moscow, but also in other cities and regions,
officials encourage negative stereotyping of Chechens. In some cases,
as in an incident in March 2001 in Moscow Oblast, law enforcement
officers themselves have taken part in harassing and beating Chechens
and in other cases, officials do little or nothing to prevent
grass-roots violence against them.
The report is available on UCSJ's web site: http://www.fsumonitor.com
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Nickolai Butkevich
Research and Advocacy Director
Union of Councils for Soviet Jews
1819 H. St. NW, Suite 230
Washington, DC 20006
Telephone: (202) 775-9770 x107
Fax: (202) 775-9776
[email protected]
http://www.fsumonitor.com
Daily Updates on Antisemitism in the FSU
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