Translated material
Patriot Games
Human rights activists note the “growing up” of xenophobia in Russia
Xenophobia in Russia has moved from the “broad masses of the people” to the government offices and is now being consolidated there, disguised as patriotic slogans. This conclusion is made by experts from independent human rights organizations monitoring nationalist activity in our country. Therefore, at yesterday’s presentation of the collection “The Tops and Bottoms of Russian Nationalism,” prepared by the SOVA Information and Analytical Center, it was not so much about the “bottoms” as about the “tops.” “The ideas of grassroots ethnic nationalism have emerged from the marginal sphere and are moving into the mainstream of public consciousness,” stated SOVA expert Galina Zvereva.“Xenophobic rhetoric is used at all levels, by representatives of almost all parties, by officials at various levels,” said Galina Kozhevnikova, deputy director of the human rights center. According to her, over the past year this trend has also had a very practical manifestation - in the form of anti-Georgian and anti-Estonian campaigns , carried out, if not on instructions from above, then certainly with the tacit approval of the authorities. “Ethnic, even racist language is increasingly being used by high-ranking political activists and officials,” says the director of the center, Alexander Verkhovsky, according to whom, at this stage of Russia’s development, there is more ideological competition between the two variants of patriotism - “sovereign” and ethno-nationalist. The last one wins. “The idea of creating an ethnic nation-state on the site of a collapsed empire, such as was understood in Europe at the end of the 19th century and between the two world wars, is becoming increasingly popular,” says Mr. Verkhovsky.
“We analyzed the lists of five parties for candidates who have already established themselves as people who used xenophobic rhetoric. It can be stated: nationalists are going to the Duma, candidates professing such views - including outright Nazis - are very widely represented,” says Galina Kozhevnikova. The record holder, according to her, was the People's Union of Sergei Baburin , which did not reach the final stage - the lists of this party, as is known, were not approved by the Central Election Commission. “But there are also enough nationalists in other parties - in A Just Russia, and, of course, in the LDPR, and in the list of Patriots of Russia. “Now the Patriots of Russia have the most clearly presented candidates,” the deputy director of the SOVA center cited the results of research.
Human rights activists claim that nationalist ideas are also preached by some members of United Russia - the most outspoken, they say, was the Russian Club, headed by Ivan Demidov. The Russian Club is very active on the Internet - if you go to this site, you may see things that are inexplicable at first glance. The rudest, wildest, uncensored words are translated into respectable, noble words, into a system of basic concepts that should be used not only by intellectuals, but also by current politicians,” said Galina Zvereva. “Oddly enough, now the “Russian Project” of “United Russia” is the most vibrant of the nationalist projects,” Kozhevnikova supported her colleagues. Human rights activists believe that nationalists, taking advantage of the pre-election situation, will try to emerge from the underground and virtual space into the legal space as quickly as possible.
At the same time, SOVA representatives note that in comparison with the Duma elections of 2003, when the openly nationalist Rodina bloc entered parliament, now participants in the election race are not openly appealing to the idea of “Russia for Russians.” Ms. Kozhevnikova believes that the absence of “xenophobic rhetoric” in the parties’ election advertising can be explained by the desire to get into the Duma, acquire legal status and, from the Duma, try to lobby the interests of their groups. “This tactic was chosen by Andrei Savelyev, Nikolai Kuryanovich, Viktor Alksnis, Sergei Baburin, who, with their parliamentary requests, provide official pressure on the investigation in certain cases related to manifestations of nationalism,” the human rights activist claims.
SOVA experts also touched upon the topic of contacts between the authorities and one of the most “promoted” nationalist organizations - the Movement against Illegal Immigration (DPNI). True, Galina Kozhevnikova admitted that although “there are many rumors about significant support for this movement in government structures,” it is impossible to prove this information. From her point of view, information about the connection between right-wing radical groups and official sports and military-patriotic clubs seems more reasonable. “Everyday nationalism, grassroots xenophobia does not have its own language - but this language can be provided by those who can conceptualize it,” summarized Galina Zvereva. — The tendency seems very dangerous when those who call themselves Russian intellectuals give this language to banal everyday ethnic nationalism. This is one of the reasons for the growth of xenophobia.”
In addition, the nature of the “lower classes” is also changing. According to Galina Kozhevnikova, over the past two or three years there have been serious “mutations” among skinheads . If previously it was a subculture of non-ideologized young people, now this phenomenon is degenerating into a radical political movement. If previously, at the age of 18, a young man, as a rule, had already “outgrown” the skinhead subculture, but now - at least judging by court verdicts - the average age of criminals belonging to far-right groups is growing. People with prison experience are returning to the movement. “Far-right groups are establishing connections with the criminal environment, which can provide a skinhead who ends up in prison with comfortable conditions,” Kozhevnikova emphasizes. -- In the absence of a serious attitude from law enforcement agencies, the feeling of impunity among members of far-right groups increases. That is why we see how skinheads take on 20 murders and 50 – in order to feel like a “hero of the white resistance.”
In Russia as a whole, the number of crimes motivated by ethnic hatred increases annually by 20%. “The most information comes from Moscow and St. Petersburg, with Nizhny Novgorod in third place,” Ms. Kozhevnikova said. According to statistics collected by SOVA experts, since the beginning of the year, 214 people have become victims of racist and neo-Nazi attacks in the capital, of which 34 were killed (for comparison, in 2004 the number of victims was 79 people). “There is information about serious troubles in Volgograd, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, but we cannot get information about specific cases of attack from there, especially from law enforcement agencies - simply because people do not go there,” human rights activists say. The only region where, according to SOVA, the situation has changed for the better is the Voronezh region, where, thanks to the efforts of local human rights organizations, it was possible to “push through” the prosecutor’s office and conduct four show trials of nationalists. In general, as Mr. Verkhovsky noted, the number of cases initiated for the promotion of hatred still significantly exceeds the number of court verdicts.