Union of Councils for Soviet Jews: Bigotry Monitor: Volume 3, Number 6

News

Bigotry Monitor: Volume 3, Number 6

(February 7, 2003)

Volume 3, Number 6
Friday, February 7, 2003

BIGOTRY MONITOR
A Weekly Human Rights Newsletter on Antisemitism, Xenophobia, andReligious 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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RUSSIA'S SKINHEADS TOTAL 20,000 MAXIMUM, INTERIOR MINISTRY SAYS.Skinheads in Russia number between 15,000 and 20,000, Valery Komarov,acting head of the Russian Interior Ministry's organized crimeinvestigation unit, told a press conference on February 4. Of thatnumber, he said, more than 5,000 live in Moscow and nearly 3,000 in St.Petersburg. In addition, there are 40-50 "aggressively oriented" sports-fan groups. Komarov said that the police are working on identifying skinheadleaders and establishing the sources and channels of their finances, aswell as tracing their links to other informal groupings. According to Itar-Tass, he emphasized the skinheads’ lack of a national organization and program, and the considerable variation in the numerical strength of their groups.

Extremist groups committed 140,000 crimes in 2002, Komarov said, and 71criminal cases were opened in Russia last year under Criminal CodeArticle 282, which prohibits "incitement of national, racial or religioushostility." He said that 31 of those cases have already been sent tocourt. Moreover, he added, 16 individuals have been "taken to criminalaccount" for committing crimes of that kind. Human rights monitors whohave repeatedly requested statistics on the enforcement of Article 282suggest that the figure of 16 "taken to criminal account" may be toohigh and they have asked to see detailed information on each case. Theysay that the number of those who have actually served jail time wouldshow how seriously the law is being applied.

Komarov told reporters that over the last year police have registered anincrease in violent crimes -- particularly in crimes targetingforeigners -- committed by extremist youths. He said that under its"Main Organized Crime Directorate," the Interior Ministry has formed asub-unit to monitor extremist youth organizations, including skinheadsand sports-fan groups. The new sub-unit is headed by Aleksandr Grichanin,"Ekho Moskvy" reported.

There is seldom a week in Russia without a report on violence againstforeigners. This past weekend, two "hooligans" who allegedly beat upAfghani nationals in the Moscow metro were captured as they tried toescape in the metro, a Moscow police official told Itar-Tass on February3. Witnesses say the two youngsters attacked two Afghanis at the metrostation Krestyanskaya Zastava. The police described the suspects as18-year-old unemployed Moscow residents, "heavily drunk," and unable toexplain their actions. According to the police, this is the firstregistered attack on foreigners in the Moscow metro this year.

ZYUGANOV STRIKES OUT AGAINST JEWS. With parliamentary electionsscheduled for December 2003 and the presidential contest four monthslater, the election campaign has begun in Russia. On February 5, GennadyZyuganov, the leader of Russia's Communist Party and National PatrioticUnion, delivered what observers say is his most openly antisemiticstatement since his December 1998 platform statement which blamedZionism for "the genocide of the Russian people." In a speech at anAll-Russia seminar of the chiefs of the party's regional election campsheld outside Moscow, he charged that "there has been a glaring ethnicbias in the makeup" of governing bodies. "Earlier, people were notinterested in the so-called Jewish issue, [but] nowadays, at meetingseven in remote villages, scores of comments on this problem come in,"Zyuganov stressed, noting that this “ethnic intolerance" by the government "is striking for any impartial individual."

This, according to Zyuganov, is seen on TV screens in the makeup ofexecutive and financial departments and key figures in the media,especially those on television. Zyuganov said that "the attack againstValery Shantsev's group in the Moscow government" is aimed at breedingmore "ethnic intolerance" in governing bodies. "As the most knowledgeable andexperienced manager who knows Moscow's municipal services well, Shantsevis thought to be squeezed out because he does not suit the oligarchs. Anattack is also being mounted against St. Petersburg's Mayor VladimirYakovlev, who has taken over from Sobchak's team in the city'sgovernment." Yakovlev is an occasional ally of the Communist Party.

PUTIN SPURNS COMMUNIST CAMPAIGN TO REVIVE THE NAME STALINGRAD. In marking the 60th anniversary of the triumph over Germany at Stalingrad on February 2, President Vladimir Putin carefully avoided being drawninto a campaign, promoted by the Communists and some veterans, to give backVolgograd its wartime name. Reuters suggested that such a renamingwould be "be a valuable victory for Russia's Communist Party, keen tocash in on popular nostalgia about the pivotal Soviet victory onlymonths before a parliamentary election." Instead, in his meetings withStalingrad veterans, Putin stressed the historic meaning of the battle.He declared: "Such victories reflect the character of the people, thehonor and dignity of the nation." He thanked the veterans for not givingup, "for not retreating, for strengthening Soviet and Russian militaryglory, for winning the war."

In his message to the Russian people, German Chancellor GerhardSchroeder said: "Stalingrad is a symbol for the immeasurable sufferingthat the attack of Nazi Germany on the Soviet Union brought uponmillions of people. The events of Stalingrad will remain in thecollective memories of our peoples.'' Putin read aloud Schroeder'smessage, which also called for closer cooperation between the twocountries as a tribute to the fallen. Stalingrad was the war's bloodiestbattle, leaving more than two million people dead during 200 days offighting. In 1961, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev renamed the cityVolgograd, following his condemnation of Joseph Stalin's murderousdictatorship.

OBNINSK HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST DEMANDS CHARGES AGAINST ANTISEMITIC PAPER.Tatyana Kotlyar, a human rights activist in the city of Obninsk and a member of the Kaluga regional parliament, has requested that the Obninsk Prosecutor's Office bring criminal charges of inciting ethnic hatred against an antisemitic local paper, "Moskovskie Vorota" (Moscow Gates), which has a circulation of 5,000. According to Kotlyar, on January 6, the paper published an article under the heading "Russian Orthodox Word" by Protoerey Oleg Chekrygin claiming that Jews are "devil worshipers" who have "received great power in this world" in exchange for worshiping Satan. The author called the Jews as "the biggest evil and most dangerous threat to the existence of the world and humanity.The world will die because of them."

SARATOV COURT FINDS EXTREMIST LEADER LIMONOV GUILTY. On January 31, a Saratov Oblast court found National Bolshevik Party (NBP) leader EduardLimonov and five of his associates guilty of setting up an illegal armed group and organizing the purchase of weapons, according to the local correspondent of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Prosecutor Sergey Verbin asked that Limonov be sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment and Sergei Aksenov, founder of the party's newspaper "Limonka," to 12 years. According to Itar-Tass, the court is expected to commute the punishmentof the four NBP members, following the prosecutor's request to limit the charges against them to illegal possession of arms.

EU TO FUND PROJECTS TO IMPROVE ETHNIC RELATIONS IN RUSSIA. The European Union (EU) has launched several new projects designed to improverelations among different ethnic groups in Russia, Richard Wright, head of the European Commission's office in Moscow, told a news conference in Moscow on February 5. According to Interfax, Wright said that two million euros will be invested in a two-year project to help create conditions to improve ethnic relations in Russia, a problem which he characterized as having acquired particular public and political importance over the past few years. He recalled that the EU has repeatedly expressed concern over instances of xenophobia in Russia and violations of the rights of certain nationalities.

The EU project's main goal is to improve legislation on ethnic minorityrights and relations among various ethnic groups at the federal andregional levels. It also envisions educational campaigns togive people more information about the rights of ethnic minorities,relations between different ethnic groups, and the importance oftolerance. The program is to focus on Moscow and will later be extendedto the entire country. Nationalities Policy Minister Vladimir Zorinapplauded the EU initiative, calling it "important for the authoritiesto respond to each manifestation of xenophobia in an adequate and promptmanner."

In a separate project, the EU awarded UCSJ’s Moscow bureau a three-year 1.3 million euro grant to monitor xenophobia in all 89 of Russia’s regions, in cooperation with partner NGOs. The EU has allocated a total of 30 million euros to fight xenophobia in Russia.

RUSSIA'S HIGHEST COURT UPHOLDS MIGRANTS' FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT. At a news conference in Moscow on January 29, Constitutional Court Chairman MaratBaglay unexpectedly attacked the institution of residence permits knownas "propiska," according to "Nezavisimaya Gazeta." Baglay recalled thathis court, which is Russia's highest, had abolished the propiska regimeseveral years ago. However, the Moscow daily suggested, "it emerged fromwhat he said" that local authorities are continuing to make active useof this administrative tool for controlling newcomers. "Equating theregistration of citizens to the granting of residence permits isunlawful," the chief judge declared, speaking for the ConstitutionalCourt. (Observers add that many cities, including Moscow, unmistakably continue to defy the law when it comes to residency registration.)

The newspaper theorized that "the spokesman for the third branch ofgovernment" was "probably responding" to the recently published MoscowHelsinki Group report on human rights in Russia,including on the particularities of ethnic policy in the migrationsphere. The human rights campaigners' report maintains that "theauthorities are striving to resolve potential and already existingproblems of growing xenophobia and the extremist incidents prompted bysuch feelings simply by reducing the number of representatives ofvisually identifiable minorities in the regions." Judge Baglay indicatedthat the federal authorities, at least, are opposed to restricting therights of newcomers: "The registration of citizens is essential, but it must be a question of notification rather than authorization." He stressed that according tothe Constitution, all citizens are entitled to have freedom of movementand to choose their places of residence.

The Moscow daily found the judge's statement "clashing somewhat with thecalls made by many politicians and security department representatives for closer oversight of foreigners, in particular because of the terrorist threat." As ifjustifying himself to hardliners, the newspaper noted, Baglay said thathe knew about the problem of uncontrolled migration: "Such migrationleads to the infringement of another constitutional norm, whereby theexercise of a citizen's rights and freedoms must not infringe the rightsand freedoms of other citizens." The report concluded: "Marat Baglay didnot explain how to control migration without using residence permits."

UKRAINIAN OFFICIAL TELLS RADICALS TO STOP STOKING ETHNIC FIRES. AUkrainian government official urged far-right radicals in Lvov to stopfomenting ethnic strife, Itar-Tass reported on February 5. GennadyMoskal, chairman of the State Committee on Nationalities and Migration,expressed concern with the appearance of "Ukraine for Ukrainians!"slogans in various parts of the city and about the absence ofappropriate reaction from local authorities. "There are no and can be nogrounds for ethnic strife in the Lvov region," he told Itar-Tass."Graffiti insult 138 nationalities that live in Ukraine."

FRENCH OFFICIAL CALLS FOR COUNTERING ANTISEMITISM IN EDUCATION SYSTEM.France must urgently deal with a rise in antisemitic acts and commentsin schools and universities, coming from both students and teachersopposed to Israel's handling of the Palestinian uprising, EducationMinister Luc Ferry told parliament on February 5. Ferry called forrectors and principals to punish any incident with the utmost severityand promised to set up a government monitoring unit to cope withextremist attacks. He warned that the "resurgent antisemitism" benefits from both tolerance and indifference on the grounds that it does not originate in the usualfar-right quarters.

A Reuters dispatch noted that Ferry's comments "echoed" a warning byRoger Cukierman, the head of France's Jewish community, that a"politically correct" antisemitism had found its way into the far leftas part of a rising tide of protest against Israeli Prime Minister ArielSharon's policies. (See our issue last week.) On January 25, Cukiermancharged that a de facto "brown-green-red" alliance of neo-Nazis,environmentalists, and leftists have begun "a new and pernicious"antisemitic wave. Cukierman's accusation followed a call by a Frenchuniversity to sever ties with Israeli academics in protest againstSharon's stand against the Palestinian uprising. During question time,Ferry called the notion of cutting such ties "both inappropriate andabsurd."

On the day Ferry spoke, the Simon Wiesenthal Center reported a dramaticdecrease in attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions in and aroundParis between April and December last year. The report said the drop wasa result of improved protection for Jewish institutions, ordered byInterior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy after he took office in early May. Thegroup has also accused the previous Socialist-led government of failingto take seriously antisemitic attacks.

* * * QUOTE OF THE WEEK * * * "Bush and his foreign team … cannot allowpast victories to slip away while pursuing new ones, " wrote Prof.Michael McFaul of Stanford University in an opinion piece titled "U.S.Ignores Putin's Assault on Rights" in the "Los Angeles Times" onFebruary 2. "A return of dictatorship in Russia, a country armed withthousands of nuclear weapons, would present a much greater threat thanthe current set of tyrants now threatening U.S. security. To maintainU.S. credibility on issues of democracy and to encourage those withinRussia dedicated to the cause of democracy, the Bush administration hasto find a way to work constructively with [Vladimir] Putin withoutignoring Russian society."

HOLOCAUST MEMORIALS VANDALIZED IN GREECE AND ITALY
Two Reports on Greek Antisemitism Paint Gloomy Picture

Unidentified vandals spray-painted two swastikas on the Holocaustmemorial in Thessaloniki this past weekend, the Tel Aviv daily"Ha'aretz" reported from the northern Greek city. The monument, near thecity's center, was unveiled in 1997 to honor local Jews killed in Naziconcentration camps. Out of community of 80,000, only 5,000 survived.

David Saltiel, head of Thessaloniki's small Jewish community, describedthe attack as “a saddening incident." The memorial had been vandalizedseveral times. Saltiel renewed calls on the government to declare anannual day of remembrance for Greek Jews killed by the Nazis in WorldWar II. "Only a historic move will discourage these modern-daymessengers of racism," Saltiel said, according to the Associated Press.

Also last weekend, vandals struck in Italy, damaging in thenorthern town of Cernobbio a monument to an Italian who saved HungarianJews from the Holocaust, police said. The memorial was dedicated toGiorgio Perlasca, who presented himself as the Spanish consul inBudapest and issued protective passes, thus preventing the deportationof several thousand Jews. Cernobbio police theorized that the defacementwas "random" rather than "antisemitic." However, "The New York Times"pointed out that the incident came on the heels of Italy's HolocaustMemorial Day, which included a widely publicized television movie aboutPerlasca.

In Greece, the desecration of the memorial took place in a context ofincreasing antisemitic attacks and growing hostility toward Israel aswell as Greece's Jewish community of 5,000 over the past six months, asdocumented by two reports. One report was released last September by theCentral Board of Jewish Communities in Greece, and the other, in lateNovember, by the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM), a non-governmentalassociation affiliated with the International Helsinki Federation forHuman Rights.

According to the Central Board of Jewish Communities of Greece, sincethe start of the Palestinian intifada "a sharp sense of anti-Israelifeelings has prevailed in Greek society, as expressed mainly in themedia." The report said that Greek news media promote the image ofIsrael as a "Nazi country" that attacks "defenseless Palestinians."Conversely, the actions of suicide bombers are received withunderstanding as a tactic adopted by "persons in a state of despair."The report said: "The anti-Israeli atmosphere has led to severalantisemitic incidents and vandalistic attacks in several Jewishcommunities." For instance, on March 17, 2002, a column appeared in thedaily "Apogevmatini," that presented Greek Jewry as "apathetic andlanguid," blaming it for "not taking a stand against the genocide of thePalestinian people by [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon." The columncompared the acts of the Israeli government to acts of the Nazi regime.Two weeks later, on April 1, the daily "Eleftherotypia" published alarge caricature on page one below the headline "Holocaust 2." Thecaricature showed an Israeli soldier in Nazi uniform, aiming a rifle ata Palestinian dressed in the striped garb typical of Nazi concentrationcamps. Similar illustrations have been published in most Greeknewspapers.

Also on April 1, a former foreign minister, Theodoros Pangalos, calledon members of parliament to boycott the celebration of Israel'sIndependence Day at the Israeli embassy. Two weeks later, Pangalos wrotean op-ed piece in the daily "Vima" attacking Greek Jews for "not havingprotested against the massacre of the Palestinians," and suggested that"many of the Israeli soldiers now killing Palestinians may be thegrandchildren of those Jews who were rescued during the Holocaust byGreek Christians."

The report documented antisemitic incidents such as graffiti daubed onthe Holocaust memorial in Eubea on March 30; the distribution of writtenmaterial in Corfu with slogans such as "Zionists=Murderers" on April 11;the destruction of headstones in a Jewish cemetery in Ioannina on April15 and the desecration of the Holocaust memorial site in Thessaloniki onthe same day; the desecration of the Jewish cemetery in Macedonia onApril 16; and vandalism of the Holocaust memorial site on Rhodes on July2, one week after it opened to the public.

In the second report, the Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) focused on thedeterioration in the attitude of the news media toward the Jewishcommunity, and it reached gloomy conclusions. Since the start of thePalestinian intifada, the report noted, the Greek media has beenpervaded by "blatant antisemitism" expressed by "various influentialpersons from the worlds of politics, labor, education, and culture." Thereport found that the September 11 attacks in the United States led toan increase in antisemitic incidents.

According to the GHM report, prominent media outlets in Greece,led by newspapers identified with the mainstream, have been "flooded" withantisemitic articles and caricatures. In several articles, Israel'smilitary actions were compared to acts of the Nazi regime and Sharon toHitler. The report condemned those "who use inappropriate analogies tothe Holocaust and Nazi acts." It also criticized a statement on November 11, 2002 by Christos Protopapas, the Greek government spokesman, to theeffect that "it is the right of every cartoonist and journalist toexpress criticism," while noting that freedom of the press "is not alicense for irresponsibility." At the same time, the GHM justified to acertain degree the sharp criticism of Israel, stating that "Israel is atthe forefront of the contempt for human rights, humanitarian justice andthe upholding of international judicial criteria -- and should (butregretfully does not) be brought to justice for all of the above."

On January 21, "Ha'aretz" headlined its article on the two reports: "TheGreek Press Is Rife with Antisemitism, but Athens Is Silent." In astatement issued on February 5, the GHM expressed its puzzlement as towhy the government had not condemned the desecration of the Holocaustmemorial in Thessaloniki. The statement noted that on February 3, thehead of the local Jewish community urged the president and the primeminister to declare Holocaust Remembrance Day a national event. On thesame day, Thessaloniki Prefect Panayote Psomiades and Member ofParliament Fotis Kouvelis condemned the desecration, as did MayorVasilis Papageorgopoulos, and the ambassadors or consuls of the UnitedStates, Germany, and Spain.
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