Manifestations of anti-Semitism in Russia and counteraction to it by the state. Speech by A. Verkhovsky

We publish the speech of the representative of the SOVA Center at the round table "Combating Anti-Semitism: Main Trends and Challenges in the OSCE Region", held in Vienna on March 17, 2009.

Manifestations of anti-Semitism in Russia and opposition to it by the state

Manifestations of anti-Semitism

Anti-Semitism is the ideological core for many radical nationalist groups in Russia, but is not the dominant manifestation of xenophobia.

In particular, Jews are rarely the target of direct violence, simply because they tend to be difficult to distinguish in a crowd. So, according to the monitoring data of the SOVA Center, in 2004 3 Jews were beaten for racist reasons, in 2005 - 4, in 2006 - also 4, but 9 more people were injured in an attack on a synagogue in Moscow. This episode should have been considered isolated, not indicative of a trend. Violence against Jews peaked in 2007. Then, as a result of 9 incidents, at least 13 people were injured. Such a surge of violence against the Jews occurred for no apparent reason and also inexplicably returned to the previous figure. In 2008, 5 Jews or people working in Jewish religious organizations suffered for racist reasons.

On the other hand, anti-Semitic vandalism is the dominant type of vandalism in Russia. A positive fact is that the number and share of such shares has been declining for the second year in a row. So, in 2006, we noted 36 acts of vandalism that had a pronounced anti-Semitic character, including those against Jewish objects, in 2007 - 30, in 2008 - 24, and in general, the activity of nationalistically motivated vandals in Russia does not decrease ( an average of 80-90 incidents per year).

After 19 deputies of parliament signed an open letter in early 2005 demanding the closure of all Jewish organizations in Russia, anti-Semitism hardly appeared in public political discourse. Some of these 19 deputies were re-elected to the new Duma on the lists of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Just Russia, but they do not make public statements of an anti-Semitic nature. During the election campaigns of 2007 and 2008, anti-Semitic rhetoric was used in campaigning by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Liberal Democratic Party, but little.

In the last three years, there have been no major scandals related to anti-Semitic publications in the respectable press.

On the other hand, the annual scandal associated with the participation in the international book fair in Moscow of publishing houses publishing literature of a pronounced anti-Semitic nature is traditional.

In the 1990s, all prominent Russian nationalist organizations were clearly anti-Semitic. Most of these organizations remain anti-Semitic. And the propaganda of anti-Semitism by radical groups is very active. At the end of 2007-beginning of 2008, there was a lively discussion in the ultra-right environment about the alleged Jewish origin of Dmitry Medvedev.

Since 2002, the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI) has emerged and rapidly gained popularity, campaigning against migrants, and not resorting to anti-Semitism. However, this trend did not last long. Since the second half of 2006, DPNI began to actively use public anti-Semitic rhetoric.

Countering antisemitism

Over the past few years, counteraction to anti-Semitism in Russia has improved markedly. If even in 2004-2006 the propaganda of anti-Semitism remained practically unpunished, then in 2007-2008 anti-Semitism became one of the most persecuted types of hate propaganda.

It is not always clear exactly what materials were convicted under Article 282 of the Criminal Code, which refers to hate propaganda. However, it can be said with certainty that in 2007-2008 at least 22 out of 70 convictions were made specifically for anti-Semitism. In particular, in 2008, the trial of the people who had beaten the leaders of the Ivanovo Jewish community in 2007 ended with a guilty verdict. It was for anti-Semitic slogans that sports fans were first prosecuted in Russia in 2008 (before that, fans had not been punished for racist slogans.

True, it should be noted that the number of conditional sentences without additional punishment is still high: out of the 22 above-mentioned sentences - 9. We are convinced that conditional punishment in itself cannot stop a convinced racist, including an anti-Semite. Of course, imprisonment is only an extreme measure of punishment for hate speech, but there are others provided by law - fines and restrictions on professional activities.

The main ultra-right ideologues actively promoting anti-Semitism still go unpunished. Many are not brought to justice, while others successfully delay the investigation and thus avoid punishment. So, in 2008, because of the expiration of the statute of limitations, the former Minister of the Press of Russia, Boris Mironov, escaped punishment. The leader of the Movement Against Illegal Immigration, Alexander Belov, who is being persecuted precisely for his anti-Semitic speech in November 2007, is obviously dragging out the investigation of the criminal case. Its statute of limitations expires in November 2009.

For several years, several radical groups whose ideology was based mainly on anti-Semitic myths were banned in Russia. So, only in 2006-2008. two neo-pagan groups (in Krasnodar and Astrakhan) and the Ryazan branch of Russian National Unity were banned. Under Russian law, the continuation of the activities of a banned group may result in criminal prosecution of activists. And one of the trials - in Omsk - for leading the activities of a previously banned organization has already begun.

In 2007, a list of extremist materials began to be published. These are materials prohibited by a court decision for mass distribution in Russia. By the end of February 2009, 318 items of materials were included in this list. At least a fifth of them are materials of an anti-Semitic nature.

Recommendations

For the OSCE:

Prepare a translation into official OSCE languages ​​and publish guidelines for NGOs on combating hate crimes (including anti-Semitism).

For OSCE member states:

Countries that have legislation in place to prosecute hate propaganda should focus on prosecuting the ideologues of major anti-Semitic groups and those who systematically practice hate propaganda.

In the statistics of hate crimes, the type of motive should be noted (anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, etc., etc.).

For civil society:

To step up opposition to manifestations of anti-Semitism, no matter who they come from. The main attention should be focused not only on marginal anti-Semitic groups, but on the actions of people representing the state.