Union of Councils for Soviet Jews: Bigotry Monitor: Volume 8, Number 27

News

Bigotry Monitor: Volume 8, Number 27

(July 3, 2008)

Volume 8, Number 27
July 3, 2008

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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NINE OUT OF TEN FOREIGN NGOS IN RUSSIA MUST PAY TAXES, PUTIN DECREES. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has signed a decree cutting down the number of international organizations allowed to issue tax-free grants in Russia from 101 to 12, Interfax reported on July 2. The draconian reduction raises new fears about the future of foreign nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in Russia.

Groups whose grants will no longer be tax-exempt from January 1 include the World Wildlife Fund (Switzerland), the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (Switzerland), the Global Fund to Fight AIDS (Switzerland), the Ford Foundation (U.S.), the Eurasia Foundation (U.S.) and the Royal Society (Britain), Interfax said. The 12 groups that made the tax-exempt list include the Commission of the European Communities, the Council of the Baltic Sea States, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, the European Fund for the Support of Co-production and Distribution of Cinematographic and Audiovisual Works, the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, and several United Nations programs. The government approved the previous list of 101 groups in March 2007.

On several occasions in the past few years, Putin accused foreign NGOs of meddling in domestic politics and has drastically tightened their registration requirements and financial procedures.

LVIV MAYOR SADOVIY ASKED TO SAVE HISTORIC SYNAGOGUE SITE. UCSJ: Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union has appealed to Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadoviy not to grant a commercial building permit on the site of the historic Golden Rose synagogue. UCSJ, which has monitored xenophobia and worked to protect Jewish heritage in the former Soviet Union for more than 30 years, pointed out that UNESCO has named the synagogue, which was blown up by the Nazis in 1942, a world heritage site.

“Members of the Jewish community, led by our local representative Meylakh Sheykhet, have over the years worked hard to clean up the ruins of the synagogue, which was terribly neglected by the Soviet government,” the letter said. “Now that Ukraine has shaken off the yoke of militant atheism, which did so much harm to both Jewish and Christian religious sites, we are shocked that the Lviv city government would allow the construction of a hotel on the hallowed grounds of such culturally and religiously significant buildings.”

The letter, dated July 2, pointed out that at a June 26 roundtable in Lviv, prominent members of the Ukrainian intelligentsia publicly supported the local Jewish community by protesting the proposed hotel construction and recommended instead the development of a plan for the restoration and preservation of the Jewish quarter in the old City of Lviv. “We respectfully request,” the letter to the mayor concluded, “that you do the same and prevent this act of blasphemy from taking place.”

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL VANDALIZED IN LVIV. Unidentified vandals defaced a Holocaust memorial in Lviv, according to UCSJ's local monitor. The plaque at the Kleparov train station informs passersby that the Nazis shipped 500,000 Jews through the station to death camps in Poland during the war. A group of Jewish tourists noticed that someone had daubed a hangman and a Star of David on the plaque. It is not clear if police are investigating.

BELARUS KGB TACKS ON YET ANOTHER CHARGE AGAINST AMERICAN LAWYER. The Belarusian secret police still called KGB has tacked on charges of commercial espionage against American lawyer Emmanuel Zeltser and his assistant Vladlena Bruskovaya (previously identified in this newsletter and elsewhere by her maiden name Funk), according to a June 30 report by the Jewish.ru web site. Zeltser was earlier charged with drug trafficking and is being detained in the KGB's prison despite protests from the U.S. State Department and UCSJ. Zeltser has been beaten by guards, detained for a time in a psychiatric hospital, and denied medicine for his diabetes. If convicted of the latest charge, he and his assistant could face between six months and three years in prison.

SKINHEAD GANG ON TRIAL FOR KILLING 20 IN MOSCOW. On June 30, Russian prosecutors charged a skinhead gang with the racist murders of 20 people during a series of attacks in Moscow during 2006-7, Britain’s “Guardian” reported. Prosecutors identified two teenagers as leaders--art student Artur Ryno and Pavel Skachevsky--and charged nine people aged between 17 and 22 with the murders. One gang member was a 22-year-old woman who allegedly videotaped an attack on one victim, a student from Azerbaijan who was severely beaten but survived.

The gang targeted victims from post-Soviet republics who were working and studying in Moscow. Ryno was arrested after allegedly stabbing to death an Armenian businessman in April 2007. He told police he had killed more than 30 people, declaring that "the city needed to be cleansed" of foreigners who "oppressed Russians".

"Lone citizens of non-Slavic appearance were chosen as victims,” Vladimir Markin, spokesman for Russia's investigative committee, told the press. “The assailants attempted to inflict grievous harm within the shortest possible time." He pointed out that the two gang leaders were both under 16 years of age when they committed their crimes.

NEO-NAZIS KILL TAJIK IN MOSCOW METRO. Neo-Nazis murdered a Tajik migrant in the Moscow metro, according to a July 1 report by the Sova Information-Analytical Center. The previously unreported killing took place on May 7. Shurkhat Okilov was found dead from multiple stab wounds inside the Elektrozavodskaya metro station. Police suspect the murder may be the work of neo-Nazis.

SIX NEO-NAZIS CONVICTED FOR MURDER. A court in Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Region, sentenced six youths to prison for killing a man they thought belonged to an ethnic minority, according to a June 30 report posted on the web site Gazeta.ru. However, the court threw out charges of extremism against members of the neo-Nazi gang "Zig 88" (international neo-Nazi code for "Heil Hitler"), despite video clips the group posted on the Internet screaming neo-Nazi slogans and calling for recruits to aid them in "cleansing" their district of non-Russians.

The youths were detained after their January 13, 2007 murder of an ethnic Russian man whom they thought was from the Caucasus. The victim died after multiple stab wounds and blows to his head and spine. All six defendants were found guilty of murder and sentenced to between six and ten years in prison.

PROSECUTORS CHARGE SECURITY GUARD WITH HATE CRIME. A security guard in Volgograd was charged with a hate crime and other offenses, according to a July 2 report by the Sova Information-Analytical Center. On April 22, 2008 the guard assaulted a citizen of India while screaming racist abuse. He then attacked a police officer responding to calls for help from witnesses to the attack. On July 1, the guard was charged with "hooliganism motivated by racial, ethnic, or religious hatred" along with threatening to use violence against a government official and publicly insulting a public official. The suspect has a criminal record, having been found guilty on illegal weapons possession in the past.

AFTER A THREE-MONTH MANHUNT, POLICE DETAIN NEO-NAZI. Police in Volgograd, Russia detained an 18-year-old neo-Nazi after a three month long manhunt, according to a June 24 article in the local paper "Gorodskie Vesti." The young man was allegedly the leader of a five-person neo-Nazi gang that organized an attack on an anti-fascist activist in the town of Volzhsky. The neo-Nazi leader allegedly lured his victim to an isolated spot and hit him in the head with a hammer. The activist survived. The suspect now faces assault charges, but to date, no extremism charges have been filed against him.

LIGHT SENTENCES FOR EXTREMISTS WHO INCITED VIOLENCE AGAINST JEWS. Three antisemitic extremists who called for violence against Jews and other minorities received only suspended sentences in Blagoveshchensk, Amur Region, according to a June 30 report by the Sova Information-Analytical Center. The three members of the local branch of the Union of the Russian People (a group named for an organization that murdered Jews in the waning days of the tsarist empire) were convicted of inciting ethnic hatred and forming an extremist organization. The prosecution collected video clips, the group's publications, and eyewitness testimony to demonstrate that the defendants regularly incited hatred against Jews and planned to arm themselves to "take action" against them. However, the court did not take the latter accusation seriously and declined to send them to prison.

FAR-RIGHT ACTIVISTS CONVICTED FOR THREATENING JURY. Two far-right activists who sent death threats to jury members presiding over the trial of Russian police officers accused of torturing Azeris were sentenced to six years and two years in prison, respectively, according to the national daily "Moskovsky Komsomolets" of June 25.

Aleksandr Matasov and Aleksandr Kovalyov sent death threats to jury members and witnesses in a case that became a cause celebre for the Russian far-right: the trial of two police officers accused of torturing ethnic Azeris in the Moscow suburb of Serpukhov. After receiving the threats, which the defendants signed "Russian National Unity" (a notorious neo-Nazi group), some witnesses and jury members dropped out of the case, and in one instance fled the country. Ultimately, the two police officers were found not guilty. Left unmentioned in the report is whether or not prosecutors will revisit the original trial or investigate if an attack on the judge presiding over the officers' trial was related to the death threats.

UZBEKISTAN CONTROLS IMPORT OF RELIGIOUS LITERATURE. The import and production of religious literature in Uzbekistan remains under tight state control, even for texts such as the Koran and the Bible, Forum 18 News Service reported on July 1. Defending the practice of not importing Islamic texts, a student at the state-controlled Islamic University told Forum 18 that "I don't think scholars from other countries are better than ours. We have no need to import from abroad." Imam Obidkhon Nazarov, the exiled former imam of Tashkent's Tukhtaboi mosque, told Forum 18 that even books by renowned Muslim scholars are no longer published.

Nazarov emphasized that "people have a right to know. If there are good books on Islam and the Koran published abroad, why should people be deprived of opportunities to read them?" Religious minorities have also run afoul of the state's tight web of censorship laws and regulations. Christians are concerned about a shipment of Bibles and related books held by customs since May. For instance, Jehovah's Witnesses are anxious to hear about the fate of a shipment held since August 2006. In both cases, there is also the possibility of the state imposing extremely expensive official charges for storage on religious minorities.

* * * QUOTE OF THE WEEK, KREMLIN PLANS MORE JAIL TIME FOR FOE * * * Responding to the presentation of additional charges of money-laundering and tax evasion by Russian prosecutors of against imprisoned tycoon and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, his lawyers told the press on June 30: “We are convinced that whichever legal gimmicks may be in the works, the referral of the case to a court with the slightest sign of independence will cause these far-fetched charges to fall apart.”

TURMOIL IN THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
Despite One Bishop’s Disobedience, Church and State Likely to Grow Closer

1. CHURCH REMOVES BISHOP DIOMID FROM OFFICE. On June 28, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church took the severe step of removing Bishop Diomid of Anadyr and Chukotka from the administration of his diocese, the Moscow Patriarchate informed Interfax. Over the past year and a half, Diomid often criticized in public Patriarch Alexis II and other prominent hierarchs and called for a renunciation of the dialogues with state authorities and representatives of other religions and confessions. He has also been quoted as objecting to globalization, Russia’s joining the G-8, and any form of ecumenism.

According to the Moscow Patriarchate, participants in last week's assembly voted overwhelmingly against Diomid: 178 to 3 with 2 abstentions. However, Diomid is said to have popular support in his diocese and beyond it, including overseas. Some commentators have predicted that Diomid will publicly air his views, challenging the Russian Orthodox Church hierarchy in a full patriarchal court. One analyst even suggested that Diomid’s supporters are far more numerous than the church or the Russian government standing behind it would want to admit.

At its session, the Bishops' Council called for Diomid’s immediate repentance and the cessation of his pastoral activity. A definite period of time was set within which the bishop should declare his repentance. If he doesn’t do so by the next session of the bishops, usually held in mid-July, he will be officially "divested of episcopal orders."

2. DEFIANT DIOMID PROTESTS ‘CHURCH AUTHORITARIANISM.’ “Of course, in our country people do not like to listen to other opinions,” Diomid told “Nezavisimaya Gazeta” after the Sunday service in the church of the Transfiguration of the Lord that he conducted despite the synod’s order not to lead any religious event. “I spoke out in defense of the Orthodox faith, against diluting it with other faiths.” He said that his protest is against “church authoritarianism.”

He declared: “The high church leaders flirt with the Catholics and the authorities, and they have forgotten about service to God. I am not the first they have divested of orders; that's already happened, but justice and truth will inevitably triumph. We will fight for our ideas and opinions.”

He said he will hand over his office to his successor but stay in Chukotka and serve the church as a monk.

3. ORTHODOX CHURCH STATES: FREEDOM OF CHOICE IS NOT AN ABSOLUTE VALUE. The Russian Orthodox Church believes that freedom of choice "is not an absolute value" and is making an appeal to combine it with moral responsibility for the choice made, Metropolitan Kirill, the head of the department of external church relations, announced to journalists on June 26 in the course of the Bishops’ Council.

As reported as the official state news agency RIA Novosty, the Bishops’ Council adopted a document titled "The foundations of the Russian Orthodox Church's teaching on human dignity, freedom, and rights." Metropolitan Kirill said that the document, which had been drafted under his leadership, will now form the basis of the church's dialogue with society, state, and human rights activists.

"While acknowledging that the freedom of choice is a value, the [Orthodox] church insists that it is not an absolute value, because one can make a choice in favor of evil, disease, death, and destruction," Metropolitan Kirill said. He expressed disagreement with the secular concept of human rights that holds the freedom of choice [AS] an absolute value. He added: "It is very important for the sake of what we make our choice, how we choose to use our freedom. … The combination of the freedom of choice with moral responsibility is very important--and this is the message which the Church is addressing to the world."

4. MINORITY CHRISTIANS DEMONIZED AT RYAZAN UNIVERSITY. Observers have been asking if the frequent denunciations of minority Christians by the Russian Orthodox Church amount to a coordinated campaign or represent only a manifestation of a traditionally hostile attitude. Those who hold the former view point to conferences and articles that suggest an organized campaign.

Most recently, at a June 18 conference, titled "The Destructive Activity of Religious Organizations on the Territory of Ryazan Oblast," professors at Ryazan State University’s department of theology, local state security officials, and the head of the local Russian Orthodox diocese's missionary department labeled Baptists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and Pentecostals dangerous "sects," reported on June 25 the local youth newspaper "Molodyozhnaya Sreda."

The article began with the author wistfully recalling: "If in earlier times heretics were mercilessly destroyed, nowadays in conformity with the 'Declaration of Human Rights' everyone has the right to choose his own religion." The writer defined a sect as a religious group that is not the ruling faith of a country and added that, "people who become followers of sectarian teachings lose their identity" through brainwashing, isolation, and starvation of their adepts (including children) into submission. The writer accused Baptists of refusing blood transfusions, confusing them with Jehovah's Witnesses, and compared "sects" to skinheads and other destructive elements of society. The article ended with the address and phone number of the local Russian Orthodox diocese, where readers can report the activity of "sects."

That same day, the local supplement to the country’s most widely read newspaper, "Komsomolskaya Pravda," published an article that contained extensive quotes from the head of the local Orthodox Church diocese's missionary department, Father Arseny. The article began with a dire warning: even religious groups that at first glance appear harmless "can enslave the personality of even a stable person." Father Arseny accused "sects" of operating in secret and fooling youths with what appear at first to be harmless activities such as anti-narcotics therapy. He characterized Pentecostal, Baptist, Mormon, Hare Krishna, and Jehovah's Witnesses congregations in Ryazan, some as small as five people, as threats to the public, and gave specific information about their locations. (Neo-Nazi and some pro-government youths groups have attacked minority Christians and their churches in recent years.) He then expressed alarm that Baptists have worked at a local orphanage for 12 years, and stated that: "The children that grow up there already don't see themselves as part of Russia. They are ready to go the States."

The article concluded with a stern warning: "It's worth noting that sects present a serious threat, influence people's psyches, suppress their personalities, and take away their money. Falling into a sect means losing yourself, your loved ones, your relatives, and your friends."

5. PUTIN LAUDS ORTHODOX CHURCH AND PLEDGES MORE SUPPORT. On June 28, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin thanked the Russian Orthodox Church for its great contribution to the unification of "the Russian world" and promised it the state's support, Interfax reported. "I want to thank from my soul all who make a small contribution to the good work of unity of 'the Russian world,'" Putin said in the Kremlin at a celebration devoted to the 1020th anniversary of the baptism of Rus, the first Russian state. He added: "The state intends in the future to support the initiatives of the church directed to the strengthening of civil and inter-religious harmony and its social, cultural, educational, and charity mission.”

Putin separately expressed words of thanks to Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexis II.

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