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+ REFUGEES Young Adults and Students | Parish Center | Task Force on Racial Attack and Harassment
Report of the Protestant-Catholic Task Force on Racial Attacks and Harassment Who are the Africans in Moscow? Moscow is the heart of Russia, but it also home to people from many nations. People from all over the former Soviet Union have flooded into the city-an island of relative affluence in a decaying Russian economy--in search of jobs and security. Men and women from the Caucuses, Ukraine and Central Asia have taken up residence in the city. Furthermore, Moscow is home to people from much more distant lands. Especially since the founding of the Lumumba University (later renamed the Friendship University), Moscow has hosted thousands of foreign students, primarily from African and Asian nations. Over the years people from around the world have developed contacts with the city. Students from Africa continue to come to Moscow where a university education is relatively inexpensive. Former students often stay in the city because of the danger of returning to their home countries; they become refugees after receiving their degrees. Other refugees join them. Though Russia is an unlikely destination for a refugee from Sudan or Sierra Leone, a surprising number turn up here. Some of them come because they studied here in the past; others are able to purchase visas from unscrupulous Russian embassy officials overseas. They hope that Russia will provide a measure of security. The English-speaking Moscow Protestant and Catholic Chaplaincies have become the spiritual homes for many African students and refugees. In this report we explain our concerns for our community. We witness terrible suffering among young men and women who are simply trying to gain an education or escape from dreadful wars. In particular, we are concerned about the prevalence of racial attacks in Moscow, and the police's reluctance to respond to these attacks. Racial attacks have been the subject of much private conversation in the hostels and church meetings of our community. Everyone among us seems to know that they happen with frightening regularity. Nevertheless, these facts are not widely known outside our own small circles. Before spreading information about this problem, we have undertaken to document it. Since mid-April 2001, a group of Africans from our congregations have been interviewing individuals who have experienced attacks. The following report is based on two-dozen interviews, along with our own experiences. Racism and the Skinhead Problem In the early 1990's the skinhead movement began to develop in Russia. Skinheads are usually young men in their late teens who shave their heads and dress in combat gear. Some are affiliated with groups of football fans (such as Spartak); others identify more fully with the neo-Nazi movement. Though the skinheads have various organizational affiliations, they all share one trait in common: a hatred of foreigners. Skinhead attacks seem to follow a pattern. A group of 10 to 30 teenagers will gather together and stake out a victim for an attack. The attack may be an assault with punches and kicking (with combat boots), or it may involve the use of weapons such as bottles and blunt objects. The following examples are illustrative: • Patrick B., a graduate student from Sierra Leone, was attacked by more than twenty skinheads in a metro station on March 25, 2001. The attackers threw beer bottles at him as he rode the escalator. One bottle struck him in the head, and he required stitches. • Nal S., a student from Sudan, was attacked in a pedestrian underpass in central Moscow on January 27, 2001. A group of around twenty skinheads, including one girl, approached him, yelling, "What are you doing in this country? Go home!" They then beat him, while the girl used the heel of her shoe to pound his mouth. He lost a tooth and sustained head injuries. • Yoro K., a French teacher from the Ivory Coast, encountered a group of twenty skinheads near a metro station on April 20, 2001. He explains the attack in this way, "The boys got on me while I tried to leave a store and cross at a pedestrian crossing. They kicked me until I fell to the ground. They continued their assaults until I lost consciousness." Yoro had to undergo an operation on his head; his head and facial injuries are severe. Skinheads are not the only perpetrators of such attacks, of course. In this city's climate of xenophobia, individuals also feel justified in behaving violently toward foreigners. They look for victims who do not appear Russian, such as people from the Caucasus or Asia. Africans are particularly vulnerable. For example, on April 17, 2001, a man in his 20's assaulted Salah A., a refugee from Sudan, in a subway car, bizarrely choosing to cut up his trousers from behind. One of the most frightening aspects of these attacks is their unpredictability. They can happen to anyone at any time. Patrick was on his way to church on Sunday morning; Yoro was leaving a French class in the early evening. People try to protect themselves by looking for patterns in the attacks. The attacks seem to be more likely to occur late at night, in areas remote from the city center, near football stadiums at match-time, and when a person is traveling alone. Even armed with this knowledge, it is hard to protect oneself. On April 7, 2001, a group of ten young Nigerians decided one evening to travel together and provide one another with security. A dozen teenagers attacked and beat them. Many attacks leave serious injuries. The perpetrators seem to focus on the head: the most serious and frequent injuries in our reports are head injuries. While refugees registered with the UNHCR are eligible for treatment in UN clinics, African students must navigate Russia's crumbling and corrupted health care system. Doctors whose salaries are but a pittance ask their desperate patients for money to pay for medications and tests. Students who subsist on stipends of just a few dollars per month are unable to pay. For example, Ninukpeku N., a student from Ghana, requires a CAT-scan after being beat over the head with a blunt object on March 7, 2001. He cannot afford one. The physical injuries are terrible enough, but the psychological injuries are also deep. Individuals are attacked again and again. Nearly all the individuals we interviewed said that this was not the first attack he had experienced; most have experienced three to five attacks. Njang N., a student from Cameroon, reports having been attacked ten times. These repeated attacks create an atmosphere of fear. Africans are afraid to move around the city. Many people sit at home, often alone for extended periods. Fear, loneliness, depression and hopelessness are the unseen injuries inflicted by racists. Staying close to home is often not protection enough. Students at Friendship University, where many Africans study, have been attacked by security guards who are supposed to provide protection at student hostels. For example, J., a student from Liberia, had just walked out the door of his hostel when he realized he had forgotten his identification card. He turned around to re-enter the building, but the security guard would not allow him to pass. J. asked the guard to accompany him to his room to get the identification card. The security guard refused and began to beat J. Later the guard filled out a report saying that J. was drunk at the time of the attack. Other students confirm that he was not. The police add to the climate of insecurity surrounding the Friendship University. They troll the area to carry out document checks. They sometimes become violent. For example, on April 7, 2001, they beat Antonio A., a student from Guinea Bissau, until he lost consciousness. Lack of Official Reports Most racial attacks do not result in official police reports and investigations. As a result, skinheads and other racists act in a climate of impunity. There are four major reasons why the attacks go unreported. First, refugees have problems with their documents, which makes them reluctant to interact with the police. The Russian police do not recognize the validity of the UNHCR document that legitimate refugees carry. Though these individuals should theoretically be eligible to receive refugee papers from the Russian government, the Federal Migration Service has not looked favorably on Africans' requests for refugee status. Most refugees live in legal limbo. They avoid contacts with the police lest they be detained, or possibly even arrested and deported to their war-torn homelands. Second, the police themselves often persuade victims not to file an official police report. For example, the police told the group of Nigerians who experienced the attack not to bother with a report "because you would only be wasting your time." Another victim reports more questionable activity: "I was forced to sign a document that I will not file this case with anyoneÖI was seriously warned." The police may discourage reporting simply to save themselves work. Many of them seem to consider racist attacks a form of teenaged "hooliganism," the kind of pranks they expect boys to play after a football match or a few beers. Third, many Africans are afraid of police misconduct. They fear that the police might plant drugs on their person, beat them or steal their goods. We have not documented many of such cases. We are aware of the above-mentioned case of the young man from Guinea-Bissau who was beaten by the police. Also, a Cameroonian student reports that the police stole his private belongings after detaining him during a document check on May 8, 2001. In any case, most Africans in Moscow have heard enough stories or rumors that they assiduously avoid contact with the police unless it is absolutely necessary. Finally, many individuals say that they do not report incidents because of their general hopelessness. Eric from Uganda says, "From the past record, I do not believe anything would be done even if I did make a report." Aninkon from Ghana echoes this experience: "I have reported on one occasion, and nothing came out of it." As a result of the lack of reporting, Moscow's city and police authorities are not fully aware of the scope of the problem of racial attacks. There are no reliable statistics on these attacks. How often do they occur? Who are the perpetrators? What type of injuries do they inflict? How are they affecting the climate of racial relations in Russia's capital and around the country? Moreover, the skinheads, as well as the general public, receive the implicit message that these types of attacks are acceptable. Recommendations The Russian government does not condone racial violence. In a speech in April 2001, President Putin made clear that racism was unacceptable in a country shared by people from many ethnic groups. Nevertheless, the Russian government has not yet found effective ways of combating the violence and the climate of hatred that underlies it. We believe that a coordinated response by government and non-governmental organizations can help to reduce the number of racial attacks and generally improve inter-ethnic relations in Moscow. We put forth the following recommendations in the hope of beginning a constructive conversation among all involved parties. We commit ourselves to co-operating with others in pursuit of a common goal: a Moscow safe for people of all races and nationalities.
Moscow race hate 'on the rise', BBC 4 September 2001 Human Rights Watch reports |
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