Racism and Xenophobia in November 2011

The following is our monthly review of xenophobic and radical nationalist activity in Russia, and any response by the government, for the month of November 2011. The overview is prepared based on Sova Center’s daily monitoring activities.

In November 2011, seven people were injured in racist and neo-Nazi attacks, including one Nigerian who died as a result of his injuries. The victims this month were individuals of “non-Slavic appearance” (three people), Jehovah’s Witnesses (two people), Central Asians (one person), and blacks (one person). The attacks took place in Moscow and the Moscow Region, St. Petersburg, and the Arkhangelsk Region.

As such, in 2011, racist violence has killed 18 people and injured 120, while another five individuals have received race-motivated death threats. Racist attacks have been recorded in 33 regions of the country, mostly happening in Moscow city proper (eight dead, 26 injured), the Moscow Region (four dead, eight injured), St. Petersburg (three dead, 24 injured), and the Kaluga Region (11 injured).

This month we recorded at least seven incidents of neo-Nazi vandalism in the Bryansk, Kaliningrad, and Novosibirsk regions and in the Perm Krai. The targets of vandalism in this period were Jewish (three cases), Orthodox (three cases), and Muslim (one case). To date this year, we have recorded 76 acts of such ideologically motivated vandalism in 30 regions of the country.

The “Russian March,” a significant public event organized by far-right organizations, was held again this year on November 4. The main event in Moscow began at Lublino and gathered about six thousand marchers. So-called “Russian Marches” also took place in at least 39 other Russian cities; some of these took the form of actual marches while others were rallies or picket lines.

At least two November convictions for racist violence took the hate motive into account, in Tomsk and Orel. These trials convicted eight people in total. Of these, five were imprisoned to varying prison terms; two to probation; and one to corrective labor. Additionally, the Angarsk City Court (of the Irkutsk Region) delivered its verdict in the trial against a group of neo-Nazis accused of attacking and seriously injuring a group of ecologists in 2007; one victim died in hospital. The attackers were convicted under Part 2 of Article 213 of the Criminal Code: hooliganism committed with the use of objects used as weapons by a group with prior agreement; and Part 4 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code: intentional infliction of grievous bodily harm dangerous to human life, by a group of hooligans resulting in the death of the victim. Four men were sentenced to lengthy prison terms, while another 16 were given probation.

Since the beginning of the year, at least 49 convictions have been made in cases of racist violence taking the hate motive into account. One hundred and eighty-three people in 29 regions of Russia were subject to such cases: eight received life imprisonment and 103 to varying prison terms; 56 received suspended sentences; three corrective labor; one to detention in a disciplinary military unit; 9 were exempt from penalties; three were acquitted.

At least five people were issued sentences in the same number of cases of xenophobic propaganda in the Arkhangelsk, Voronezh, Vladivostok and Kaluga regions; and in the Komi Republic. Four of those convicted were sentenced to suspended prison terms, while the other was sentenced to compulsory works.

This year has seen a total of 64 penalties against 70 people in 38 regions of the country in cases regarding racist propaganda. Twenty-five were put on probation; 13 sentenced to compulsory works, 12 to prison terms, 12 to fines, one to restricted freedom; two were released due to an expired statute of limitations; two were acquitted and one person was released in connection with demonstrated repentance.

An activist from the organization “Tribal Spiritual Power Rus,” arrested in September on charges of participation in the activities of an extremist community (Part 2 of Article 282.2 of the Criminal Code), was convicted. He will serve one year in prison.

Four other similar sentences have been delivered in 2011 to date: in September and August three leaders of the Northern Brotherhood were punished, and earlier in the year, the leader of the Protvino chapter of the DPNI was sentenced. The latter was also charged under an article relating to the organization of an extremist community.

The Federal List of Extremist Materials was updated on 16 and 28 November to include entries 979-1041. The new entries include: Muslim texts including materials relating to "Hizb ut-Tahrir" and a book by Shamil Basayev; articles from the ultra-right "Arch" and "Athenaeum” magazines; newspapers, pamphlets and books from the "Russian Truth;" a brochure of the "All-Russian militia on the behalf of Minin and Pozharsky "(NOMP); a page on the NBP website "Kavkaz-Center" and the article posted therein; and various xenophobic websites and videos.

The Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI) was added to the Federal List of Extremist Organizations this month, due to an April decision by the Moscow Regional Court deeming the group extremist. The decision was upheld by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation in August, and as such the group is now included in the list published on the Ministry of Justice’s website. This list now includes 28 organizations, not including those the Russian government considers terrorist.

On 29 November, the Federation Council approved the presidential bill "On amending the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation." The main purpose of the amendment is to humanize Russia’s criminal legal code. Among other things, the bill proposes to transfer some crimes from the category of ‘moderate’ severity to ‘low;’ it also prohibits imprisonment for first offenders if they are legal minors and the offense was committed without aggravating circumstances.