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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4958
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHLN/AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG PRIORITY 3537
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK PRIORITY 1746
RUEHYG/AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG PRIORITY 1997

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 012311 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/RUS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM PINR PINS RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIA: NATIONALISTS TO MARCH ON NOVEMBER 4 
 
MOSCOW 00012311  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: On Russia Unity Day, November 4, a large 
nationalist "Russia March" is planned for several Russian 
cities, including Moscow.  Russia March is being organized by 
the Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI) and is 
supported by several other nationalist and fascist groups, 
and by some Duma members.  Mayor Luzhkov has banned the march 
in Moscow, but organizers are undeterred, creating the 
potential for clashes with the police.  Liberal groups are 
split between those who want extremist speech banned and 
those who support the right to assemble.  The Embassy plans 
to observe the marches from a safe distance.  END SUMMARY. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
2005 March: Neo-Nazis on Moscow's Streets 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. Russia Unity Day was first celebrated in 2005, when it 
replaced the November 7 "Accord and Reconciliation Day," 
which had in turn replaced the October Revolution holiday. 
Officially, the new holiday marks Russia's expulsion of 
Polish-Lithuanian troops from the country in 1612. 
 
¶3. In November 2005, a nationalist march was organized by the 
anti-American Eurasian Youth Union (EYU).  Several 
nationalist, fascist, and Russian Orthodox groups joined the 
march.  EYU, which is nationalistic, but fiercely 
anti-fascist, attempted to prohibit the display of fascist 
symbols, but some marchers (including DPNI members) wore 
swastika arm bands and shouted "Sieg Heil." The presence of 
neo-Nazis in the streets of Moscow caused an uproar. 
 
¶4. Television coverage of the 2005 march was minimal in 
Russia, and it downplayed the presence of neo-Nazis and 
fascist symbols.  Except for a few minor altercations with 
the liberal youth group "Defense" and the communist youth 
group "Vanguard of the Red Youth," the 3,000 participants 
marched without incident. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
2006 Russia March - Banned in Moscow and Other Cities 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶5. Russia March organizer DPNI is a nationalist, 
anti-immigrant group that supports the deportation of all 
illegal migrants, stricter immigration legislation and visa 
requirements, reduced employment opportunities for foreign 
workers, and the creation of volunteer anti-migrant brigades. 
 DPNI emerged in July 2002, following violent clashes between 
locals and migrants in Krasnoarmeysk and Novosibirsk, which 
resulted in several deaths.  It recently gained media 
attention following clashes between ethnic Russians and 
Chechens in the northwestern city of Kondopoga.  DPNI 
currently claims branches in more than forty cities. 
 
¶6. The 2006 Russia March, planned for nine cities, has been 
banned in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, 
Krasnoyarsk, Chita, Vladivostok, and Blagoveshchenk.  Several 
State Duma deputies wrote to Moscow Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov 
asking him to allow the march, but to no avail. 
 
¶7. The organizers plan to hold the march despite the city's 
decision.  In response, the city has announced 6,500 
policemen will be deployed to enforce Luzhkov's ban.  In a 
November 3 meeting, Chairman of the Moscow City Duma Vladimir 
Platonov promised that the police would "crush" any group 
defying the ban, although he allowed that some, "peaceful" 
groups had received permission to mark the holiday. 
 
¶8. Due to the ban, the Russia March first planned to 
literally move underground and assemble in a metro station. 
In a November 3 press conference, Duma deputy and Russia 
March "Chairman" Viktor Alksnis announced that DPNI would 
join a rally to be staged by the People's Will party and 
permitted by the city.  We do not know if this was 
coordinated with People's Will or if DPNI is being 
opportunist. The Russia March website is now directing people 
to meet at the site of that rally and asks the city and 
federal authorities to allow them to assemble. 
 
----------------------------- 
Some Duma Deputies Will March 
----------------------------- 
 
¶9. DPNI claims that 23 State Duma deputies will take part in 
the march, including former Rodina leader Dmitry Rogozin, 
Rodina deputies Nikolay Pavlov and Andrey Saveliev, and LDPR 
deputy Nikolay Kuryanovich.  On November 1, the LDPR expelled 
 
MOSCOW 00012311  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Kuryanovich from the party for his support of this march, 
among other things.  Rogozin has declared the decision to 
march as a necessary act of civil disobedience. 
 
¶10. Rogozin's decision to participate has worried some human 
rights workers, including the Movement for Human Rights 
leader Lev Ponomarev, who stated that Rogozin's participation 
"makes it an event backed up by prominent politicians, and 
not something concocted by those on the margins." 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Organizers Emphasize Nationalism, not Fascism 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶11. DPNI organizers are trying to portray a strongly 
nationalistic, but not ultra-nationalistic face.  On their 
websites (www.rusmarch.org and www.DPNI.org), they have 
posted recommended posters and slogans to be used during the 
march.  Signs include "Glory to Russia!", "Russians, 
Forward!", and "Kondopoga is a Hero City."  Many of the signs 
are designed to attract young men to the march, including 
several featuring alluring young women saying, "I'm going, 
are you?"  The fascist Slavic Union, unhappy with the march's 
moderate tone, withdrew from the march's planning committee 
but nevertheless plans to be on the streets with them. 
 
--------------------------- 
Other Groups Holding Events 
--------------------------- 
 
¶12. In addition to the Russia March and the People's Will 
rally, one other nationalist and one anti-fascist event are 
planned. A group of nationalist Russian Orthodox 
organizations will participate in a rally organized by the 
Orthodox Patriots.  The liberal Russian Anti-Fascist Front, 
which includes leaders from the Union of Rightist Forces 
(SPS), Yabloko, the Helsinki Group, and the committee "For 
Civil Rights," is planning a Fascism-Free Russia rally. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
Liberals' Dilemma: Oppose the March or the Ban? 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶13. In an open letter to Luzhkov, a group of liberal and 
human rights activists wrote that the Russia March should be 
banned "in the event that anti-constitutional or extremist 
banners and slogans are used."  Other liberals, while opposed 
to the march, believe the city's ban only helps the 
nationalists.  Andrey Babushkin, chairman of the "For Civil 
Rights" committee and organizer of the Fascism-Free Russia 
rally, said, "The ban on the march was wrong.  Permitting the 
march would strengthen the (nationalist) moderate wing and 
weaken the radical wing." 
 
¶14. Human Rights Ombudsman Vladimir Lukin opposes the ban on 
legal grounds and told the press, "Both freedom of assembly, 
which is in the Constitution, and the laws governing 
demonstrations must be observed."  He urged the government to 
allow the march, but to observe it closely and act if 
marchers violate laws on extremist speech. 
 
¶15. On October 27, skinheads attacked anti-fascist 
demonstrators who were protesting against the Russia March 
outside of the Russian White House.  The two groups were 
quickly separated by the militia.  There is a potential for 
additional clashes between pro-and anti-fascist groups, and 
for clashes with the police.  Pro-fascist websites are 
calling for attacks on members of the anti-fascist 
demonstrators following their rally. The embassy will attempt 
to observe Saturday's events from a safe distance. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶16. Last year's appearance of neo-Nazis in the capital was an 
embarrassment to city and federal officials, and Moscow 
authorities have been very clear that the neo-Nazis will not 
march this year. 
BURNS