The following is our monthly review of
instances of xenophobia and radical nationalism, along with any government
countermeasures, for December 2013. The review also includes preliminary
information for a summary of notable incidents and cases for the year 2013 as a
whole. It is based on material gathered by Sova Center
in the course of our daily monitoring.
In December 2013, three people were targeted
in racist and neo-Nazi attacks. In Moscow a
Tajik national was killed, while two Uzbeks were assaulted in St. Petersburg.
According to preliminary data for the year,
such attacks in 32 regions of Russia
resulted in the deaths of no fewer than 20 people and injuries to no fewer than
173. Additionally, nine people were targets of serious death threats.
The capital cities maintained their status
as the leading centers of racist violence, with eight killed and 53 injured in Moscow, and three killed and 32 injured in St. Petersburg. There were
many victims in the Lipetsk region (four killed,
9 injured); the Chelyabinsk and Moscow
regions (both with eight injured); and the Sverdlovsk region (two killed, four injured).
In 2013, the primary victims of attack from
far-right activists were natives of the Central Asian countries (13 killed, 39
injured), the Caucasus (three killed, 26
injured), people identified simply as bearing a “non-Slavic appearance” (one
killed, 28 injured), blacks (five injured), and Chinese (six injured). Others
who faced assault were the same groups targeted by repressive laws passed
recently: minority religious groups (24 injured) and the LGBT community (one
killed, 25 injured). At the same time, the number of attacks on leftist activists
and members of youth groups decreased (seven injured); these had formerly been
primary targets for the far right.
We are aware of only a single act of
neo-Nazi vandalism in December 2013, carried out against a Jewish community
center.
Accordingly, we recorded 79 acts of
ideologically motivated vandalism in 37 regions of the country this year. The
main targets were Orthodox churches (29 incidents), Jehovah’s Witnesses
buildings (11 incidents), and Jewish and Muslim objects (10 and nine incidents
respectively).
In terms of public actions, the ultra-right
laid relatively low in December.
In St. Petersburg
there was a march “Against Ethno-Terror” held on the anniversary of the
December 2010 events on Manezh
Square in Moscow;
it was organized by Dmitry Bobrov of the National Socialist Initiative, with
100-120 people in attendance. Moscow
activists organized by Aleksandr Amelin (of the Russian Renaissance) attempted
to pull off a similar action, but most were detained before it began.
Additionally, a small rally was held on
December 7 at Yauzskie Vorota
Square, near the monument to the “border guards of
the fatherland,” timed to coincide with the anniversary of the death of soccer
fan Egor Sviridov. The action, which brought together some ten people, was
organized by the Brotherhood of St. Vladimir (Moscow RONA led by Oleg
Filatchev) in conjunction with Pamyat.
December saw a few local conflicts that
sparked anti-migrant incidents among residents. The most important was in the
Nizhny Novgorod region city of Arzamas,
where riots turned into pogroms, leading to detentions. The source of the
unrest was a brawl at a local café that ended in a local’s death at the hands
of Armenian nationals.
Another notable event was the November 23
murder of boxer Ivan Klimov in Omsk,
which was made known on a December 10 edition of the Channel 1 show Let Them
Talk. The suspects in the killing are Roma drug traffickers. The broadcast
caused new excitement around the case, leading to a few rallies.
No fewer than three convictions were issued
this month for racist violence motivated by hatred, in the Vladimir
and Nizhny Novgorod regions and the Khabarovsk
Krai. Nine people were convicted. The most notable decision was the Prioksy
District Court (Nizhny Novgorod) verdict against
seven Nazi skinheads of the group White Flock. The convicts had been accused of
no fewer than 10 attacks on “nonwhite” people, or those “mistaken for
pedophiles” from 2010 to 2012. None of the group was sentenced to prison time –
instead, the group’s founder was given a suspended sentence, while two other
individuals were sentenced to hard labor. The case against the remaining four
was discontinued due to either reconciliation or amnesty.
As such, 2013 saw no fewer than 30 verdicts
for racist violence motivated by hatred in 23 regions of the country. These
decisions convicted a total of 54 people; four of them were exempted from
punishment for various reasons, while 12 were handed suspended sentences
without additional sanctions.
There were 14 verdicts (against as many
people) in 12 regions of the country for xenophobic propaganda in December
2013. One of those convicted was sentenced to prison time, one was released due
to an expired statute of limitations, and the rest were subjected to
non-custodial sentences.
For 2013 as a whole, there were 129 cases
against 131 people, in 57 regions of the country, on charges under Article 282
(inciting hatred) and Article 280 (public calls for extremist activity). Eleven
of those convicted received suspended sentences, 13 were given custodial
sentences, and almost all received accumulative sentences with account of
mostly violent criminal charges.
For organization of an extremist organization, or the participation therein (Article 282.1 of the Criminal Code), 2013 saw two proper convictions against three individuals, in the Irkutsk and Moscow regions. In Irkutsk, the Molotochniki group was sentenced along with the leader of the organization Spiritual-Ancestral Power Rus.
There were nine convictions for vandalism
motivated by hatred (Article 214 Part 2) against 12 people in eight regions
this year.
In December 2013, the Federal List of
Extremist Materials was updated three times (on December 6, 17 and 20). Items
2143-2179 were added. In total, 2013 saw the List expand from
1589 entries to 2179 over the course of 46 updates. Entry 1674 was excluded
from the list while the number was kept; entry 1844 changed as the number of
the materials in question was increased by one. As of December 30, 2013, the
list included 39 “zeroed” items (meaning those excluded while their numbers of
entry remained); five of these were deletions due to duplicate entries; 34 were
deletions based on rulings canceling a material’s status as extremist.
Sixty-two entries reflect duplicates of single rulings (not including those
concerning the same texts with differing output data), while two reflect
decisions already included in the list.
Four new groups were added to the Federal
List of Extremist Organizations in 2013. As such, as of December 30, 2013, the
list includes 33 organizations whose activities have been enjoined by a Russian
court, and whose continued activities are punishable under Article 282.2 of the
Criminal Code: the organization of activities of an extremist organization.
Also in 2013, the Moscow City Court banned the nationalist Autonomous Combat Terrorist Organization (ABTO) as a terrorist group, not simply as extremist. This is the first case where such a label has been applied to a far-right Russian group (indeed, to any non-Muslim group). As of December 30, 2013, the decision is not reflected in the online list of domestic and international organizations deemed terrorist by the Russian government (which is maintained on the FSB website). That list currently includes 19 other groups.