Volume 2, Number 43
Friday, November 1, 2002

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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HOSTAGE CRISIS OVER BUT RETALIATIONS AGAINST NON-SLAVS FEARED. Russia is teetering on the verge of more ethnic violence in the wake of the crisis in Moscow's Dubrovka theater taken over by Chechen terrorists on October 23. Three days later, Russia's special forces pumped into the building a gas that the authorities now say was the powerful painkiller Fentanyl, stormed the premises, and shot some 50 of the hostage-takers. While the terrorists executed two of their nearly 800 hostages, the gas has so far killed 117 of them, and left others in a critical condition. On October 28, Moscow's "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" ran a headline: "When Will the Attack on 'Non-Russians' Begin: Following the Tragedy in Moscow, Patriotism Could Become a Synonym for Vengeance." The newspaper reported that in the first hours after the crisis began, "it became clear that this terrorist act would give rise to a wave of ethnic conflicts not only on the streets of Moscow but throughout Russia. So it did, and the only thing that is holding people back as yet is the increased vigilance of the law-enforcement authorities, which will persist for a day or two longer at most."

Farhat Agamaliev, press spokesman for the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Moscow, gave a careful response when interviewed by "Nezavisimaya Gazeta": "Sound, mature appeals of politicians and other public figures to people not to give way to vicious and hostile emotions are being heard constantly today. I believe that we need to clearly separate the villains that have done this from the ordinary people. Let us hope that common sense will prevail. I hope that there will be no outburst of aggressiveness. I am counting on Russians' good sense." Gagik Saadzhyan, assistant to the Armenian ambassador in Russia, was quoted as saying: "The problem of ethnic relations in Moscow and throughout Russia did not arise today. I am expecting an intensification of this process. It could assume simply wider proportions. I believe that this is an unpleasant but perfectly logical development of events because the parties continue to misunderstand each other. And, unfortunately, this misunderstanding is being transformed into an unacceptable strong-arm confrontation contrary to all the principles of civilization. I expect an outburst, but at the same time I am hoping for very serious intervention in these matters."

The first reports of people from the Caucasus getting beaten appeared on October 24. Near the Petrovsko-Razumovskaya metro station exit, a crowd of young Muscovites brutalized a man who looked like someone from the Caucasus. On Saprunov street, adolescents attacked a 15-year-old Georgian adolescent and stabbed him. According to the web site "regions.ru" citing SeverInform, several acts of violence against people who appear to be from the Caucasus occurred in Vologda Oblast on the night of October 23-24. Mikhail Surov, a local legislator known for his racist statements, recommended that people from the Caucasus refrain from taking walks by themselves in the evening or participating in heated discussions.

On October 25, a Russian language web site focused on terrorism-"terrorizm.ru"-reported that in the village of Serebryanka in Tver Oblast, a paramilitary group was formed with the stated goal of "eliminating" the 900 Chechens who live in the area. Police reportedly arrested the extremist group, and the authorities announced that they are ready to prevent any "attempts at vigilantism." The same day Interfax reported that the Federal Security Service (FSB), the Ministry of Interior, and other parts of the Russian government received email messages containing threats against Chechens. The messages threaten to take hostages in revenge, especially in Chechen neighborhoods throughout Russia. Interfax quoted "the unofficial opinion of Moscow police officers" to the effect that manifestations of nationalism, the most extreme included, are to be expected. In St. Petersburg, the municipal administration received a barrage of calls threatening Chechens living in the city.

Perhaps in response to such reports, on October 25 Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a strong statement condemning what RTR TV called "an escalation of threats against Chechens." "I am sure that sowing ethnic strife happens to be among the terrorists' aims," Putin said. "Under no circumstances must we allow such a negative development of events to take place. Under no circumstances must we yield to provocations that the criminals are trying to get us to do." After meeting with Minister of Interior Boris Gryzlov and FSB Director Nikolai Patrushev, Putin ordered the establishment of a special hot line on extremism. However, according to "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" of October 28, the capital's main internal affairs administration recorded no incidents in Moscow to date, and the brawls involving natives of the Caucasus "are wholly unconnected with the hostage-taking." On October 31, Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandr Chekalin said that police will prevent extremist actions against people from the Caucasus, particularly Chechens, according to Interfax. He said that some extremist youth organizations, are looking for any pretext to display their extremist inclinations, but the Interior Ministry won't let them do it. So far only isolated cases of extremism have taken place, Chekalin said.

Nevertheless, Moscow Oblast authorities have taken steps that in the opinion of several newspapers could exacerbate ethnic conflict: They have begun to prepare for the deportation of "unregistered persons." According to "Izvestiya" of October 25, in the subway and on the street Moscow police randomly stop people of Caucasian appearance to check their identity documents. For the estimated 100,000 Chechens living in Moscow, the newspaper wrote, this means that they cannot leave their homes, attend school, or go to work. Salambek Maigov, deputy chairman of the Eurasia Party and a leader of the Chechen diaspora, said that on October 24 he was stopped and searched, allegedly for narcotics and weapons. The same day, the Chechen cultural center Daimokh was closed. In September 1999, when the second war in Chechnya began, the center's director, Abuyazit Apaev, recalled, "we didn't manage to close in time, and the Interior Ministry came and trashed the place."

The press department of Oblast Governor Boris Gromov said that from now on construction companies hiring citizens of other regions of Russia and the CIS countries without registration for temporary work will be subjected to "the most thorough checks."

"There are police officers that are detaining people, planting weapons and drugs on them," "The New York Times" of October 31 quoted Edi Isayev of the Moscow office of the pro-Russian Chechen government, which has opened a hotline. "They should have been so vigilant when the bandits came to Moscow, but now they're going after people who are law-abiding, who came here so their children could go to school." According to Aslanbek Aslakhanov, a Chechen member of the State Duma, Chechens have filed more than 500 complaints of discrimination.

News reports say that street stalls by natives of the Caucasus have disappeared from the center of Moscow. The quote to keep in mind comes from Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov who told Interfax on October 26: "Under no circumstances are we going to encroach upon the rights of people of different nationalities in Moscow."

CHECHENS TRACKED DOWN, THEIR BUSINESSES SHUT. "A hunt by Moscow police for accomplices of the hostage-takers has left some ethnic Chechens unable to work and at least one family without a place to live," according to a front-page report in the "Moscow Times" on October 30. The article added that the presidential human rights commission promised to monitor the police for human rights violations. The daily quoted Chechens to the effect that police officers have been checking their apartments and businesses for the past few days, shutting down some businesses and extorting bribes. One woman interviewed said police came to her apartment and detained her husband and brother, both construction workers. They were released the same day after being fingerprinted, but the brother, who doesn't have a Moscow residence permit, was told to return to Chechnya within three days. Another Chechen woman said she was thrown out of her apartment because her landlord did not want Chechens any more. She said her family of five was trying to find a place to live but the landlords she has called hang up after hearing her Chechen accent. In another case, three Chechen employees of an auto shop were detained and taken to a police station. They were told to admit to having either ammunition or drugs, and when they declined to "confess," they had weapons planted on them, a representative of Chechnya's pro-Moscow administration told NTV television on October 29.

"No one should check people's IDs or take their fingerprints based on a mere fact that that they are Chechens, Tatars, Jews or Russians. This is categorically prohibited," Russian human rights activist and State Duma member Sergey Kovalev told the news agency associated with the influential radio station "Ekho Moskvy" on October 29. Ethnic discrimination is illegal, he continued, explaining that for such actions, police need a warrant based on a substantiated suspicion of a person's involvement in a crime or violation of the law. Kovalev's comment followed a statement by State Duma deputy from Chechnya, Aslanbek Aslakhanov, to the effect that Chechens were being forced to give their fingerprints throughout Russia.

The resolution of the hostage crisis has strengthened President Putin's hand and boosted sagging support for the continuation of the war in Chechnya. In a poll of 1,600 Russians approached from October 25 to 27 by the All-Russia Center for the Study of Public Opinion, 85% of respondents said they approved Putin's actions during the crisis and 82% approved the actions of law enforcement agencies. The Russian military should continue its campaign in the rebel region, 46% of the respondents said, as opposed to 44% who called for peace talks. In a similar poll taken in September, 34% supported the war and 57% said that peace talks should begin.

The poll did not probe reactions to the use of the lethal gas and the unavailability of antidotes for the hostages who suffered from its effects. It appears that a broad majority of the Russian population is ready to back policies designed to intensify pressure on people of Caucasian origins and to escalate the war in Chechnya.

ARMENIANS IN MOSCOW USE HOTLINE TO REPORT INCIDENTS. Following the terrorist seizure of a Moscow theater, forces of the neo-Nazi Russian National Unity (RNU) and "formations of skinheads" have been arriving in the Russian capital, the chairman of Moscow's Armenian national club Miyabanutyun, Smbat Karakhanyan, told the Armenian news agency Arminfo. He called on his compatriots who live in and around Moscow "not to yield to possible provocations" but "keep their national dignity," and to use the club's hotline in case of an incident. Up to the writing of the dispatch on October 25, the hotline had received more than 70 calls, mainly from people who were detained, "legally or illegally," on account of their passports. Others reported that law-enforcement agencies visited their homes to check their documents.

MOSCOW GOVERNOR MULLS BAN ON MOSQUE CONSTRUCTION. Moscow Oblast Governor Boris Gromov is considering an appeal from the Union of Russian Orthodox Citizens to ban immediately the construction of a mosque in the oblast town of Sergiev Posad, "Vremya novostey" reported on October 25. The head of the Sergiev Posad District told journalists that no decision has yet been made and estimated the area's Muslim community at 10,000.

NO EXPLOSIVES FOUND NEAR ANTISEMITIC SIGN. A plastic bag suspected of containing explosives found near an antisemitic sign in the Sergiev-Posad district of Moscow Oblast on October 28 turned out to be a dud, Interfax reported. The sign was placed on a highway between the villages of Mishutino and Krapivino. The first booby-trapped sign with an antisemitic slogan was spotted by Muscovite Tatiana Sapunova on May 27. She sustained injuries when she tried to remove it, triggering an explosive device.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNS RUSSIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES. In a 102-page report on Russia, titled "Denial of Justice" and released on October 29, Amnesty International (AI) charged Russian law enforcement and security forces with "serious” violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. The release also marks the launch of AI’s year-long campaign on behalf of human rights in Russia. The report emphasizes the obstacles faced by victims, particularly women, children, and members of ethnic minorities, in obtaining justice. The report details a lengthy list of charges, from torture techniques to demeaning treatment of detainees. A lack of appropriate standards and reliable due process means that many arrests and convictions are based on faulty evidence or forced confessions. "A pernicious cycle of human rights abuse exists in Russia today," AI declared. "If President Putin wants to promote Russia's role as a global player, he must begin by delivering real justice and rights for everyone in Russia."

AI called the failure of the Russian authorities to protect key rights a "betrayal of the hope of justice." "The violations of the Soviet era are behind us, but today's violations in the Russian Federation are vast and severe, and are a betrayal of the hope of justice that arose 11 years ago," said William F. Schulz, director of AI USA. "As we have done with U.S. authorities regarding human rights violations in the United States, so we insist that the Russian Federation must do more to uphold and defend basic human rights. A critical next step in Russia must be to ensure that the justice system is able to hold the perpetrators of human rights violations accountable."

Even though AI condemned last week's hostage-taking as "a despicable abuse of human rights," it believes that such violence is a "terrifying reminder of the unsolved situation in Chechnya." In the report, AI criticized the Chechens for their own human-rights violations, but focused on Russian abuses such as torture, rape, and extrajudicial executions. AI "is concerned that the authorities have failed to investigate allegations of violations by Russian forces adequately and to bring those responsible to justice," the report says. "This has created a climate in which Russian security forces believe that they can continue to violate the fundamental rights of the civilian population in Chechnya with impunity."

Alluding to Putin's vow to strike hard in Chechnya to avenge the hostage-taking, AI warned that Moscow "must not use the war against terrorism to avoid confronting the denial of justice that permeates all of Russian society."

LUKASHENKO SIGNS REPRESSIVE RELIGION LAW. On October 31, President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed Belarus' new religion law, called by many the most restrictive in Europe. (For a discussion of the law, see this newsletter dated October 4.) The new law outlaws unregistered religious activity including those taking place in private homes; requires compulsory prior censorship for all religious literature; bans foreign citizens from leading religious organizations; and allows only faiths with ten registered communities to provide religious education. According to a survey by Keston News Service, minority religious communities and human rights groups have reacted to the president's signature with a mixture of resignation and defiance.

SEN. WELLSTONE REMEMBERED AS A CHAMPION OF HUMAN RIGHTS. Americans committed to the cause of human rights mourn the tragic death of Sen. Paul Wellstone, a champion of civil liberties and the protection of refugees. He raised concern regarding violations of human rights and international law in Chechnya, called attention to the repressive regimes in Central Asia, and helped enact the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. "Wellstone was a real leader on human rights issues," said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. "His voice was among the first to be heard when victims of persecution needed help. You could always count on him to do the right thing." "As a Washingtonian with extensive family roots in Minnesota, my thoughts and prayers are with the Wellstone family," said Micah Naftalin, national director of UCSJ. "Senator Wellstone was an unambiguous champion of the underdog. Several years ago he addressed a Capitol Hill rally organized by UCSJ and the former Soviet Jewish emigre community to plead successfully for the protection of refugees in the pending Welfare Reform legislation. He was a happy warrior in the Hubert Humphrey tradition -- a mensch."

* * * QUOTE OF THE WEEK * * * Commenting on Russian officials making statements on the hostage-crisis, Boris Kagarlitsky, a political scientist and the director of the Globalization Institute in Moscow said, according to Canada's "Globe and Mail" of October 30: "They lie. They lie all the time. For Russian bureaucrats, lying is the natural way of communicating with the public. If they started suddenly telling the truth, I'd think something was really wrong."

FROM EAST TO WEST, THE NEW POLICY ON MIGRANTS SAYS 'NO'
The Gates Are Closing

While Russia is increasingly citing security considerations to justify draconian measures to slash the number of its non-Slavic migrants, West Europeans are gradually replacing with stern exclusionary rules a once generous policy toward refugees from less fortunate lands. United in purpose from east to west, Fortress Europe is battening down the hatches.

In advance of the national elections on November 24, the Austrian government is discouraging the influx of "economic migrants" by designating most Third World and ex-communist countries as "safe" -- or "free of political persecution" -- and thus canceling free room and board for their citizens while they await a court decision on their application for political asylum. Reuters quotes Christoph Riedl, a refugee care coordinator for a local Christian group, to the effect that about 1,000 people across Austria have been excluded from state care, with many more to come among the 7,000 living in state-maintained housing complexes. The new rules that came into effect on October 1 still allow nationals of "safe" countries to apply for political asylum, but the decision is now on "a fast track" and the responses are likely to be routinely negative. "In less than a month, Austria has evicted hundreds of asylum seekers from state housing, leaving them to choose between a life on the streets, a government-paid ticket home or the chance of a place in emergency shelters set up by private aid agencies," says an October 29 dispatch from Traiskirchen, Austria's largest refugee center, originally a cadet school of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, later a Nazi youth club, and then barracks for the Soviet occupation forces.

The presence of refugees in the world's eighth most prosperous country is a potent election issue, just as it was in 1999, when far-right populist Joerg Haider's Freedom Party captured more than a quarter of the vote on an anti-immigration platform. Interior Minister Ernst Strasser says that his new policy offers the voluntary repatriation of people who withdraw their claims and acknowledge that they are economic migrants. In Strasser's view, the majority of the more than 20,000 who have sought asylum in Austria this year are not political refugees. While an appeals process is in place, critics argue that the new policy "effectively starves people out of the country." Reuters quotes lawyer Nadja Lorenz as saying: "National and international agreements prevent the state from suddenly and with no reason putting out on the street people whom it had taken in for care and who fulfill the relevant criteria."

However, for many of the newcomers getting kicked out of Austrian shelters means looking elsewhere in the European Union (EU). The magnet is hospitable Germany, described by one asylum seeker as offering "hundreds of euros and a flat." Others head for France despite its traditionally unfriendly bureaucracy, and if that attempt to find a new home fails, they will try to cross the Channel, to Britain.

But, Reuters predicts, "time might be running out, as the 15-nation bloc tries to agree on common policies to avoid secondary movements of asylum seekers," whose number is estimated to total half a million a year. One proposal that may be adopted later this month would allow EU governments to pass on a request by an asylum seeker who came from another EU member state back to the country of his or her first arrival.

European authorities have opened yet another front in their search for ways to reduce the flow of refugees. In October, the police forces of Austria, Germany, Slovakia, and Hungary synchronized dawn raids, netting 27 suspected "people traffickers," including alleged bosses. According to the Austrian police, the operation began in July and found "large stashes of euros and dollars" in the homes of suspects as well as proof of a money-laundering network that sent profits from Europe as far as Pakistan. Another Reuters dispatch quotes the International Organization for Migration as estimating that between 500,000 and 700,000 people are moved illegally across borders worldwide every year and that the global trade in refugees and slaves generates profits in "billions of dollars" for organized crime.
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