MINELRES: Report on Recent Attack of Sudanese Student in Krasnodar, Russia

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Original sender: Matthew Hoover <mah2113@columbia.edu>


NGOs Appeal to Prosecutor of Krasnodar Krai Concerning Attack on
Sudanese Student

On 26 July 2006, a number of civil and human rights organizations of the
Krasnodar Krai appealed to the prosecutor�s office concerning the attack
on 04 July 2006 of Sudanese student Mahdzhub Ali Babikir.

The appeal included the demands to look into race as a probable motive
of the attack, to carry out an efficient investigation among
acquaintances of the assailant, and to study the literature found at the
place of the assailant�s permanent residence.

The attack on 04 July 2006 happened at approximately 11:30pm.  The
victim is a 21-year-old Sudanese student of Kuban State University and
was attacked near the university�s dormitory in Krasnodar, in the south
of Russia.

Babikir received three stab wounds with a kitchen knife in his lungs and
small intestines.  He was lying on the ground for approximately three to
four hours and lost more than 3.5 liters of blood.

According to the foreign students in Krasnodar, when they tried to call
Babikir's cell phone the morning after the assault, a stranger, who
introduced himself as �a skinhead from Moscow,� answered the call and
promised to kill them as well.

Krasnodar Central Area Police Department states that the detainee is a
19-year old resident of the area known as "Enem" on the outskirts of
Krasnodar. Police stated that he stole the cell phone from Babikir after
the attack.

Several days later, law enforcement agencies had a four-minute-long
meeting with the rest of the Sudanese students in Krasnodar, during
which they showed them a copy of the assailant's student ID with a
Celtic cross drawn on it; the Celtic cross is a well-known Nazi sign.

The Sudanese Embassy and Babikir's relatives were informed about the
incident.  At the moment, the victim�s parents are waiting for a Russian
visa to come to Russia.

On 23 July 2006, Babikir was transferred to the common ward after having
spent about 3 weeks in a coma in the intensive therapy ward.  Police are
questioning him now.

According to officials, this attack does not have to do with hate
crimes, rather it has to do with foreign students and other resources. 
However, the assailant is alleged to be a member of the so-called
skinhead mobs and football hooligans groups in Krasnodar that express
very outward nationalistic views; a picture of a Celtic cross on the
assailant�s student ID as well.  Friends of Babikir claim that 04 July
2006 was the first time Babikir had ever visited the disco near
university�s dormitory.

In their appeal, �GROZA � Krasnodar� and other organizations expressed
their readiness to invite hate crimes experts to investigate the case
and assured the prosecutor that are going to cover the Babikir case in
the mass media.

To address this and many other hate crimes against foreign students in
Russia, the coalition of organizations like the Youth Network against
Racism and Intolerance (YNRI), Green Alternative (GROZA-Krasnodar),
Youth Group for Tolerance �ETHnICS� and others have recently launched
the program, �Foreign Students� Rights Defense.�  This program includes
a support hotline, website (www.fs.hrworld.ru), online consultations,
and awareness-raising and information campaigns.


Initiative group GROZA-Krasnodar and YGT
�ETHnICS�

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