RIA Novosti, Russia
Dec 27 2007
Xenophobia in Russia on rise – human rights group
Moscow, 27 December: The number of attacks and conflicts motivated by
xenophobia in Russia in 2007 grew by 30 per cent against last year,
the number of fatalities grew by 20 per cent and casualties almost
doubled, the Moscow Human Rights Bureau (MHRB) said today.
"We can speak about 230 instances of attacks and conflicts motivated
by xenophobia in January-December 2007. As a result, 74 people have
died and at least 317 have been hurt," the MHRB statement said. These
figures prove that [the number of] "such attacks continues to rise".
According to the MHRB, among those most attacked in 2007 were
Russians (13 dead and over 50 injured), Uzbeks (12 dead and 102
injured), Tajiks (six dead and 11 injured), Azeris (five dead and 43
injured) and Armenians (six dead and three injured), the MHRB said.
Moscow and Moscow Region are the locations with the highest number of
attacks (44 dead and 107 injured) followed by Ingushetia (12 dead and
seven injured), St Petersburg (10 dead and 43 injured), Kalmykia
(over 25 injured), Nizhniy Novgorod Region (253 injured) and
Rostov-na-Donu (four dead, 13 injured), the MHRB added.
The bureau said that "96 people were convicted for attacking people
for motives of xenophobia". Five of them were fined, 21 people were
given suspended sentences, one person was sentenced to community
service, two were sentenced to terms in penal settlements, three
people were sentenced to under one year in prison, 26 people to
prison terms between one and five years, 18 between five and 10
years, eight between 10 and 15 years, three between 15 and 20 years,
one to 25 years in prison and one person was given a life sentence.
According to the MHRB, attacks motivated by xenophobia are
increasingly turning into well-organized acts prepared by radical
nationalist groups that have been involved in dozens of attacks.
Members of virtually all social groups and youth subculture groups
have become the target of abuse, the MHRB said.