AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CONCERNED OVER XENOPHOBIA BOOST IN RUSSIA
PanARMENIAN.Net
28.05.2008 14:52 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Amnesty International is concerned over xenophobia
increase in Russia, says the Organization’s annual report.
"The Russian authorities were increasingly intolerant of dissent
or criticism, branding it ‘unpatriotic’. A crackdown on civil and
political rights was evident throughout the year and in particular
during the run-up to the State Duma (parliament) elections in
December. Given the strict state control of TV and other media,
demonstrations were the flashpoint during the year for political
protests, with police detaining demonstrators, journalists, and human
rights activists, some of whom were beaten. Activists and political
opponents of the government were also subjected to administrative
detention," the report says.
"The number of racist attacks that came to the attention of the media
rose; at least 61 people were killed across the country. Although
authorities recognized the problem and there was an increase in the
number of prosecutions for racially motivated crimes, these measures
failed to stem the tide of violence."
Serious concerns were expressed as regards the situation in the
North Caucasus.
"There were fewer reported cases of disappearances in the Chechen
Republic than in previous years; however, serious human rights
violations were frequent and individuals were reluctant to report
abuses, fearing reprisals. Ingushetia saw an increase in serious
violations, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial
executions," it says.
"Violent racist attacks occurred with alarming regularity, mostly
concentrated in big cities such as Moscow, St Petersburg and Nizhnii
Novgorod, where the majority of foreigners and ethnic minorities lived.
While exact figures for numbers of attacks and racist incidents
were hard to verify, the non-governmental SOVA Information and
Analytical Centre reported that at least 61 people were killed and
at least 369 were injured in racially motivated attacks, an increase
on 2006. Anti-Semitic attacks and desecration of Jewish cemeteries
were also reported. The real level of such violence remained hidden
due to chronic under-reporting," says the report available on Amnesty
International’s website.