Volume 2, Number 10
Friday, March 8, 2002

BIGOTRY MONITOR
A Weekly Human Rights Newsletter on Antisemitism, Xenophobia, and Religious 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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PATRIARCH BLESSES CHURCH IN THE COURTYARD OF THE SECRET POLICE. In a surreal tableau worthy of Dostoyevsky, on March 6 the Russian Orthodox Church and the Federal Security Service (FSB) re-consecrated a church in the courtyard of FSB headquarters on Lubyanka Square, the compound where during the Soviet era the secret police interrogated, tortured, and killed many thousands, including Orthodox priests and nuns. Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia himself was present to bless the renovated St. Sofia of God's Wisdom, declaring his hope that the church would help intelligence officers "carry out the difficult work of ensuring the country's security in the face of external and internal ill-wishers, if not enemies." Erected in 1480 and rebuilt in stone in the 17th century after a fire destroyed the original wood structure, the church was used for storage during the Soviet era. Following the Soviet Union's collapse, the patriarchate tried to reclaim the building but the FSB said no. One imagines that President Vladimir Putin might have had something to do with the decision on the restitution that links his KGB past to the faith he recently embraced. In interpreting the event, the Russian news media pressed the themes of repentance and reconciliation.

An FSB spokesman told reporters that no information was available on the reconstruction work or its cost. The funds, he said, came from donations from FSB staff and unspecified sponsors. The church, which is flanked on three sides by the FSB headquarters, has a new entrance from the street, and it is now open to the public. As he blessed the church, Patriarch Alexy expressed the hope that "neither storms nor ordeals will again befall this church and that people who come here will derive spiritual strength for service to their fatherland, its people and Christ's church." In the hours following the ceremony, which was attended by FSB chief Nikolai Patrushev and his aides, "St. Sofia was quiet," the newspaper "Moscow Times" reported. "A lone woman prayed inside, along with half a dozen somber men in suits. A burly guard stood at the door."

PUTIN PLACES IMMIGRATION IN POLICE HANDS. The Kremlin has pledged to create a system of “transparent migration institutions” to protect the rights of legal immigrants, while it is cracking down on illegal migrants, "Asia Times" reported on March 1. But the article expressed skepticism that the plight of Russia's millions of aliens will improve as a result of President Putin's appointment of four-star Police General Andrei Chernenko as head of the Interior Ministry's Migration Service, as well as deputy interior minister. Making immigration and naturalization a police matter constitutes an abrupt departure from the practice of the previous decade, “Asia Times” noted. The change was necessary "to restore order, which was lacking recently," Putin said, adding that Russia is interested in the immigration of qualified people - former Soviet nationals and others -- and migration services should help them. He ordered the Foreign Ministry to discuss the subject with Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

Last July, the government approved a program for 2002-04 and the subsequent decade, aimed at solving the nation’s population decline by encouraging immigration. Officials have argued that Russia needs to attract between 700,000 and one million migrants a year in order to sustain its population at the current level. According to official estimates, unless the situation changes, by 2050 Russia's population will fall by close to half, from the current 144 million to 80 million. During the past decade more than eight million migrants, nearly 90 percent of them Russian speakers, took up permanent residence in Russia, while four million left the country. While statistics reveal the presence of 800,000 legal immigrants in Russia, estimates put the figure for illegal migrants at between six million and 16 million. "Asia Times" suggested that many more "Russian speakers" could arrive in the future. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 25 million ethnic Russians live outside Russia, and many of them want to go “home,” mainly from Central Asia. Officials concede that "returnees" find it hard to get jobs and to integrate in society.

Not all potential settlers are welcome, "Asia Times" noted. "Without Russian citizenship or local registration, many immigrants have no rights, no way to complain to the authorities, and nowhere to go" if they are mistreated, the report said. For instance, the city of Moscow "strictly enforces" an unconstitutional registration policy for all visitors, and the police conduct identity checks in markets and on public conveyances, and inspect the homes of refugees. Recently, Moscow municipal authorities shot down the government plan to invite more migrants. Also, governors of Russia's Far East have lobbied the federal government to ban land sales to foreigners. The governors have voiced concerns that the Chinese could buy up land, and the influx of Chinese migrants has become a hot political issue east of the Urals, a region that is under-populated but rich in natural resources. According to Interior Ministry data, every year more than 500,000 Chinese "tourists" go to Russia, and not all of them return home. On February 27, the Moscow web site SMI.ru reported that Kamchatka Oblast Governor Mikhail Mashkovtsev declared that the authorities of the city and the oblast, together with the law-enforcement bodies, will not permit the expansion of the Chinese presence. He said a decision was reached to take "strict measures" depriving the Chinese of the right to trade and expelling them after three "administrative violations." He added: "Not one more Chinese trader will receive the right to trade."

Human rights activists have urged better treatment for immigrants. Mikhail Arutyunov, head of the Moscow-based, independent Human Rights Defense Assembly, recently suggested legalizing all immigrants and migrants in Russia. Following his appointment to head the Migration Service, Chernenko pledged that the new processes under his regime will be "civilized."

NEO-NAZIS VISIBLE IN MOSCOW. Despite a city-wide ban on the organization and the occasional arrests of its members in Moscow, the neo-Nazi group Russian National Unity (RNU) maintains a visible presence in the capital, according to UCSJ's Moscow Bureau Director Aleksandr Brod. On February 24, Brod observed about 20 RNU members wearing swastika armbands, black uniforms, and tall boots marching out of the Taganskaya metro station. They were accompanied by 100-150 youths and men who appeared to be vagrants, heading toward a park near the Kuzminki metro station where the RNU holds rallies. Brod reports that leaflets with the RNU's contact information are distributed in the Moscow metro two or three times a week.

RUSSIAN COURT VINDICATES SALVATION ARMY. Keston News Service reports that Russia's Constitutional Court has ruled that a religious organization registered prior to the adoption of the 1997 law on religion may not be liquidated purely for failing to re-register by that law's deadline of December 31, 2000. The court also decided that previous legal rulings in connection with the Moscow branch of the Salvation Army are now "subject to reconsideration." Made public by the church's lawyers on February 28, the February 7 ruling comes in response to a complaint lodged with the Constitutional Court by the Moscow branch of the Salvation Army on September 10, 2001. By stating that a religious organization must be liquidated by court order for failing to re-register by December 31, 2000, the church argued, the 1997 law is in violation of articles in Russia's 1993 Constitution specifying the right to freedom of conscience, the right to assembly, and the prohibition of a limitation of rights. The disputed provision of the 1997 law has threatened the existence of the Moscow branch of the Salvation Army, which was not granted re-registration by the end of 2000. Although the Salvation Army attempted to re-register on February 18, 1999, its application was rejected by Moscow's Municipal Department of Justice for including a charter that had allegedly not been brought into line with the new law. A September 12, 2001 liquidation ruling by a city court came into force on December 6, 2001, when the Salvation Army's appeal against it was rejected by the Municipal Court. To date no subsequent measures have been taken, however. Speaking to Keston on February 26, lawyer for the Salvation Army Vladimir Ryakhovsky described the Constitutional Court ruling as "very positive" because it meant that a religious organization could now be liquidated only if it no longer existed or was found to be in violation of Article 14 of the 1997 law -- for example, if it caused harm to the health of its members or incited religious hatred.

KAZAN ACADEMIC CONDEMNED FOR INCITING ETHNIC VIOLENCE. An interethnic activist group called the Accord Movement of the Republic of Tatarstan has issued a statement condemning a prominent local academic for inciting violence against Jews and other minorities. Dated February 5, the statement criticizes V. V. Luzgin -- correspondent-member of the Academy of Science of the Republic of Tatarstan and chairman of its Social-Economic Academic Committee --for his paper presented at an academy-sponsored all-Russia conference in December 2001 in which he blamed "world Zionism" for the collapse of the USSR. Luzgin cited as proof "the dominance of persons of Jewish nationality in the top levels of the new Russian ruling structures." He declared that it is necessary that "top posts in the Russian state be held by persons of Russian nationality." To achieve this end, he called for "acts of consciously organized violence [which] in the 21st Century should become the norm of human existence." The Accord Movement urged that "this ideologue of violence, chauvinism, and antisemitism" be brought to justice for violating the Constitutions of Tatarstan and Russia, as well as the Criminal Code.

MINSK COURT HANDS DOWN STIFF SENTENCES TO TWO NEO-NAZIS. On February 22, two members of the neo-Nazi group Russian National Unity (RNU) were sentenced to 15 and 17 years in a strict-regime labor camp for murder, according to the Belarusian news agency Belapan. The Minsk City Court found Igor Solyarov and Konstantin Dashkevich guilty of murdering Maksim Breyner, 21, a fellow RNU member who was apparently trying to quit the hate group. While the defendants' lawyers plan to appeal, the prosecutor is seeking an additional sentence for Dashkevich for a 1997 murder.

UKRAINIAN EXTREMIST PARTY REGISTERED FOR ELECTIONS. The Ukrainian Central Elections Committee has registered candidates from the extremist group UNA-UNSO for parliamentary elections, according to the February 19 issue of "Parlamentskaya Gazeta," the official newspaper of the Russian State Duma. According to the newspaper, UNA-UNSO candidates do not have good prospects for election, but it will use the opportunity to spread extremist propaganda.

POLAND'S ETHNIC MINORITIES OBJECT TO QUESTIONS ABOUT ETHNICITY IN CENSUS. Poland's Interior Minister Krzysztof Janik appealed last week to the country's ethnic minorities not to be afraid to declare ethnic origin in the census, to be compiled between May and June. He explained that the results would help the government to create a database that in turn will serve as a basis for negotiations with the European Union regarding the protection of ethnic minorities, as well as for talks between the government and local self-governments on "a consistent policy toward minorities," PAP news agency reported. According to Myron Kertyczak of the Union of Ukrainians in Poland, Polish Ukrainians prefer not to disclose their ethnic identity because they are afraid of consequences in the workplace or at school. "Minorities feel that they are treated unequally, therefore we have objections to the question about ethnicity," Kertyczak said. Senator Henryk Kroll, who represents the German minority in Poland's upper chamber, pointed to an instance of inequality in the census: "When a Pole declares his Polish ethnicity, he does not have to answer further questions. When he declares a different ethnicity, he has to answer additional questions; for example, about the language he uses at home." Jan Syczewski, chairman of the Belarusian Social-Cultural Association, questioned the reliability of data the census will obtain. He said that in a test census conducted by his group in an all-Belarusian school, the results showed that only one-fourth of the students declared their Belarusian roots. The Association of Roma in Poland and the Union of Polish Tatars also spoke up against mentioning ethnicity in the census. "People are afraid," said Tatar leader Selim Chazbijewicz. "There are still many anxieties and prejudices, primarily among older people. They still remember their postwar experiences. So the census may not provide truthful data." Estimates suggest that two percent of the population -- or around one million people -- belong to ethnic minorities, with Germans, Ukrainians, and Belarusians forming the most numerous groups.

* * * QUOTE OF THE WEEK * * * "[Russia's] acting state system itself is based on imitation -- imitation of a parliament, federation, multiparty system, opposition," Lilia Shevtsova, political analyst at the Moscow Carnegie Center, told “Novaya Gazeta.” "Even imitation of force. The state government produces nothing but surrogates, the reason being that it has neither the wish nor the ability to make a final decision over what game, exactly, we are playing here: liberal democracy or something absolutely different. If we fail to answer this question we will eventually live to see imitation of [the U.S.] presidency in Russia."

RUSSIA SCORES LOW IN STATE DEPARTMENT'S ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS REVIEW
But Will the Administration Apply Its Findings to Policy?

In this year's State Department Human Rights Reports, released on March 4, Russian violations were far more numerous than the signs of improvement. Along with China, Russia was singled out for using the war on terrorism to legitimize repression. The reports acknowledged the point stressed by many human rights activists that terrorists gain support in countries where the government denies human rights and represses civil liberties. The study found that minorities, including Roma and persons from the Caucasus and Central Asia, face widespread governmental and societal discrimination, and at times violence, and that Jews and their synagogues and cemeteries continue to be targets of hatred.

A typical comment allowed that the Russian government "generally respected the human rights of its citizens in some areas," but cautioned that "serious problems remain in many areas." The record was "poor" in "the independence and freedom of the media" and in Chechnya, "where the federal security forces demonstrated little respect for basic human rights and there were credible reports of serious violations, including numerous reports of extra-judicial killings by both the government and Chechen fighters." Also cited were "reports of government involvement in politically motivated disappearances in Chechnya."

However, the document found "fewer reports of kidnappings than in previous years." It quoted the estimate of the Russian human rights group Memorial: Federal military forces have detained a total of 15,000 persons from Chechnya, many of whom disappeared, but most were released, often after their relatives paid a bribe. According to Memorial, the number of individuals unaccounted for in Chechnya is "between several hundred and a thousand." The State Department also mentioned the Human Rights Watch (HRW) assessment suggesting that the total number of persons who disappeared is much higher.

The State Department rapporteurs attempted to strike a balance in yet another way. They cited "credible press reports that found that Chechen fighters tortured and killed a number of civilians and federal soldiers." Last summer, the rapporteurs added, Chechen rebels stepped up their killings of village officials and police associated with the Russian-appointed Chechen administration.

On March 7, the Russian government reacted angrily to the State Department document, smelling a plot. "The basic contents of the report evoke, to put it mildly, surprise," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement quoted by Reuters. "The passages on Chechnya are especially odious. In certain circles in the USA, forces have been activated who oppose the constructive development in Russian-American relations, and especially the unprecedented level of cooperation achieved in the joint struggle against new threats, including international terrorism."

Although Jewish leaders state that Soviet-era state-sponsored antisemitism no longer exists, Jews still face prejudice and social discrimination, the State Department document noted, citing the continued appearance of antisemitic leaflets, graffiti, and articles in some regions, such as St. Petersburg, Ryzan, and Krasnodar. "Antisemitic themes continued to figure in some local publications around the country, unchallenged by local authorities," the study said, but added that "traditionally antisemitic publications with large distributions, such as the newspaper 'Zavtra,' while still pursuing such antisemitic themes as the portrayal of Russian oligarchs as exclusively Jewish, appeared to be more careful than in the past about using crude antisemitic language." The document cited the May 29 UCSJ special report on antisemitism in academia, listing prominent professors and university administration officials in the Altay region, Vladimir, Pskov, and St. Petersburg.

The State Department took note of vandalized synagogues, and Jewish cemeteries and memorials. It mentioned the destruction by unknown vandals of a Vladikavkaz memorial to Jewish soldiers killed in World War II, an arson attack on the synagogue in Ryazan, and the desecration of 32 tombstones in Krasnoyarsk. It pointed out that no arrests were made in these and other incidents.

The document recognized that President Putin and other top officials spoke out publicly against antisemitism, reiterating the government's commitment to fight it. Also noted was State Duma Deputy Aleksandr Fedulov's resolution calling on President Putin to speak publicly against antisemitism. Though the resolution was backed by the pro-government “Unity” faction, it did not garner enough votes to pass, and the Communists voted unanimously against it. The document found that the government only partially implemented an interagency program to combat extremism and promote religious and ethnic tolerance.

An important positive development mentioned is that the judiciary "continued to show signs of limited independence and was undergoing reforms." The government made "some progress" in implementing "constitutional provisions for due process and fair and timely trial; however, the judiciary continued to lack resources, suffered from corruption, and remained subject to some influence from other branches of the government. A series of so-called espionage cases continued during the year and raised concerns regarding the lack of due process and the influence of security services in court cases. Authorities continued to infringe on citizens' privacy rights." Moreover, the document noted, members of the security forces "continued to commit numerous, serious human rights abuses."

The document brought up hazing in the armed forces, leading to "a number of deaths." It cited "credible reports that law enforcement personnel regularly tortured, beat, and otherwise abused detainees and suspects." Some problems remained the same: arbitrary arrest and detention, and police corruption. The document acknowledged that the government "prosecuted some perpetrators of abuses, but many officials were not held accountable for their actions." Then the text went on to say that "lengthy pre-trial detention remained a serious problem. Prison conditions continued to be extremely harsh and frequently life threatening. Existing laws on military courts, military service, and the rights of service members often contradict the Constitution, federal laws, and presidential decrees, raising arbitrary judgments of unit commanders over the rule of law."

The "continued wide diversity of press" received praise, but then came weighty negatives: increase in government pressure on the media, resulting "in numerous restrictions on the freedom of speech and press." In general terms, the government "respected freedom of assembly; however, at times this right was restricted at the local level." The phenomenon of the center's policies versus local noncompliance was noted: "The government does not always respect the Constitutional provision for equality of religions, and in some instances local authorities imposed restrictions on some religious groups." Even though the Constitution protects "citizens' freedom of movement, the government placed some limits on this right; some regional and local authorities (most notably the city of Moscow) restricted movement in particular by denying local residency permits to new settlers from other areas of the country." The pattern repeats: "Government institutions intended to protect human rights are relatively weak, but remained active and public."

HRW found the reports, which also dealt with other countries this newsletter will cover next week, "largely candid and accurate," and it urged the Bush Administration to apply the findings to policy. "The Administration argues forcefully in this report that defending human rights is vital to fighting terrorism," said Tom Malinowski of HRW. "That argument needs to be reflected in the alliances it is forging, the money it is spending, and the bases it is building overseas… A human rights report is not by itself a human rights policy."

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