Racism and Xenophobia in Russia. Summary, June 2012

In June 2012, no fewer than seven people were attacked with racial and neo-Nazi motivations. One of those seven was killed. The attacks occurred in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. In total for the first half of 2012, five people were killed, one person received serious death threats, and no fewer than 77 people were injured in 15 regions of Russia.

Nationalists continued to participate in major opposition actions in June 2012. About 550 people participated in the “March of Millions” parade on June 12, 2012, in Moscow. They took part in similar activities in Saint Petersburg, Barnaul, Saratov, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, and Novosibirsk.

In order to mobilize their supporters, right-wing radicals once again attempted to implement their “Kondopozhsky Scenario.” In June, they used the domestic conflict between local residents and Dagestani refugees in the village of Demyanovo in the Kirov region. A similar push is taking place in Krasnodar.

In June, no fewer than 5 acts of vandalism motivated by hate or neo-Nazi ideology occurred. In total since the year began, no fewer than 29 such acts have taken place. In 2012, the vandal's main targets for attack have been ideological monuments and Jehovah's Witness buildings – 13 and 7 cases respectively.

In June 2012, no fewer than three convictions were made in cases of racist violence with hate recognized as a motive. These occurred in the Voronezhsky, Kostromsky, and Orlovsky regions. A total of 16 people were sentenced in these procedures (13 sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, two sentenced to compulsory labor, and one to correctional labor.) The most notable of these was the sentence of a member of the ultra-rightist group “Orlovsky Partisans.”

From the start of the year, at least nine convictions have been made against 25 people in cases of racist violence with hate recognized as a motive. One was sentenced to life imprisonment, 25 to imprisonment, four received suspended sentences, three were sentenced to compulsory labor, one to correctional labor, and one was exempted from punishment “in connection with the parties' reconciliation.”

At least three convictions against eight people were made for xenophobic propaganda in June 2012 – in Moscow, the Orlovsky region, and the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. Included in these statistics are those ultra-rightists from the “Orlovsky Partisans” group who were convicted of violence, and whose sentence included articles for propaganda and for distributing leaflets. Unfortunately, we cannot yet state the exact number of people among the "partisans" who were convicted under articles related to propaganda.

In total for the first six months of 2012, 37 convictions were made for racist propaganda. A total of 56 people (including those who were not punished to statutes of limitations) were judged in 30 regions of the country.

In June, the Federal List of Extremist Materials was amended four times, with pages 1199-1271 being added to the list. Most of the updates to the list are Islamic materials, including video footage of militants calling for a military jihad and performing on-camera and comments from the forums, as well as xenophobic materials including brochures from the Russian All-National Union and the Minin and Pozharsky Citizen Militia, new books written by A. Dobrovolsky (Dobroslawa,) a song by the band “Kolovrat,” articles by the blogger Ogurtsovaya about conflict in the “Don” children’s camp, and a painting by Alexander Savko from the “Forbidden Art 2006” exhibition.