HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST PREDICTS RISE IN HATE CRIMES IN RUSSIA IN 2009

Interfax
Jan 19 2009
Russia

Human rights activists have pointed out to the growth of hate crimes
in Russia at the beginning of the year.

"The first two weeks saw 15 attacks stemming from aggressive xenophobia
resulting in 10 people being killed and nine injured," head of the
Moscow Human Rights’ Bureau Alexander Brod told Interfax on Monday.

Most of the attacks were registered in Moscow – nine killed, eight
injured. There were also attacks in St. Petersburg (one injured)
and in Ulyanovsk (one killed), he said.

"The most frequent victims of attacks were Uzbeks (four killed, one
injured), Vietnamese (two killed), Armenians, Chechens, Kyrgyz and
Africans (one killed each)," Brod said.

He said he expected an upsurge in hate crimes in 2009.

"The current social and economic situation does not give a chance for
any optimistic forecasts. It is likely that the number of xenophobic
attacks and murders will continue growing at the same or higher pace
than in 2008. The economic crisis may have a strong impact on the
activities of radical nationalist groups," Brod said in an interview
with Interfax earlier.

In 2008, the bureau registered about 300 hate attacks in which 122
people were killed and some 380 wounded.

According to human rights groups, Russia has tens of thousands of
skinheads and activists of various radical nationalist organizations,
who mainly attack people from Central Asia and the Caucasus as well
as members of youth subcultures and sexual minorities.