ARMENIANS PROTEST HATE KILLINGS IN RUSSIAN CAPITAL

MosNews, Russia
June 6 2006

Several dozen protesters rallied outside the Russian Embassy in Yerevan
on Monday, protesting a series of attacks on ethnic Armenians in Russia
by skinheads and racist nationalists, The Associated Press reports.

The demonstration, organized by rights activists, came just 10 days
after a group of apparent skinheads stabbed a teenager on a train
outside of Moscow – the sixth such fatal attack on ethnic Armenians
in or around Moscow this year.

Avetik Ishkhanian, head of the Helsinki Committee of Yerevan, said
protesters were calling on government authorities to condemn the
Moscow attacks.

Russia has seen a marked rise in xenophobia and hate crimes in recent
years, with a series of attacks on dark-skinned migrants, foreigners
and Jews. Rights groups say authorities do little or nothing to combat
the crimes.

According to the Moscow-based Sova human rights center, last year
31 murders and 382 assaults had racist motivations. So far in 2006,
14 people have been killed in xenophobic attacks.