VZCZCXRO4115
PP RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #0703/01 0731601
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 131601Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7119
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 000703 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREF SOCI SMIG RS
SUBJECT: SPATE OF HATE CRIMES RESULTS IN WORDS BUT LIMITED 
ACTION 
 
REF: MOSCOW 159 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary:  A string of deadly hate crimes committed 
since the beginning of the year has alarmed NGOs and 
compelled Putin to speak out against xenophobia and 
nationalism.  If the rate of fatalities resulting from hate 
crimes continues through the end of the year, the total 
number will be twice that reported in 2007.  NGOs which track 
nationalism and xenophobia called remarks by Putin 
windowdressing.  At the same time, the main NGO which tracks 
hate crimes notes improvements in Moscow.  End summary. 
 
NEW YEAR GETS OFF TO A BAD START 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U)  Since the beginning of 2008, 17 people have been 
killed and more than 50 injured in hate-related attacks in 
Russia, according to the Sova Center, which tracks 
hate-motivated crimes.  If the rate of fatal hate crimes were 
to continue through the end of the year, the result would be 
a total of 135 xenophobic killings -- double the number 
reported in 2007 (reftel).  This alarming trend and the 
extremely violent nature of the crimes committed have caused 
GOR officials, including Putin and Moscow Mayor Yuriy 
Luzhkov, to speak out. 
 
¶3. (U) The Moscow Prosecutor's Office has recorded 16 crimes 
committed on ethnic grounds since January 1.  Nearly all of 
them were committed by groups of youth, aged 12 to 19 years, 
who attacked their victims from behind with knives.  While 
acknowledging a problem, Vladimir Pronin, head of the 
Department of Internal Affairs for the City of Moscow, 
insisted in news reports that there is no organized network 
of skinheads in Moscow.  He said there are only separate 
groups that communicate through the Internet.  The victims 
were predominantly from CIS countries, with many coming from 
Kyrgyzstan. 
 
¶4. (U)  Some incidents in Moscow include the following: 
 
-On January 16, a young person from Kyrgyzstan died in a 
Moscow park as the result of 23 knife wounds. 
 
-On January 17, a young person from Kyrgyzstan was attacked 
in the Moscow region and suffered 36 knife wounds. 
 
-On January 29, a young man and woman from Kyrgyzstan were 
attacked in Moscow by three people who were subsequently 
arrested.  The young man died from knife wounds.  The young 
woman survived and was hospitalized with 9 knife wounds. 
 
-On January 31, an ethnic Tajik with Uzbek citizenship was 
attacked by two assailants in the center of Moscow.  He 
received 12 knife wounds. 
 
-On February 6, the body of a 30-year old from Kyrgyzstan was 
found in Moscow with 30 knife wounds. 
 
-On February 12, the corpse of a 20-year old native of 
Kabardino-Balkariya was found in a garage in Moscow with 
numerous knife wounds. 
 
-On February 14, two Tajik citizens were attacked in the 
center of Moscow by five teenagers with knives.  One of the 
victims died. 
 
¶5. (SBU)  Sova Center's Galina Kozhevnikova told us the 
reason for the high number of attacks against people from 
Kyrgyzstan is not that they are being specifically targeted. 
"These are the people in Moscow who generally work cleaning 
streets and courtyards and they usually work alone.  This 
makes them easy targets for skinheads," she said. 
 
SPEAKING OUT BUT DOING LITTLE 
----------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U)  Speaking at the opening of an informal summit of 
leaders of CIS countries on February 22, Putin declared that 
Russia is prepared to fight xenophobia, intolerance and 
threats to citizens from CIS countries.  "We will do 
everything to make sure these criminals are found, tried and 
punished," Putin said.  "Citizens in the CIS, including 
Russians, are now encountering a resurgence of xenophobia, 
intolerance and even threats to their lives," Putin said and 
acknowledged that nearly all CIS presidents had raised the 
issue with him.  Days earlier, Moscow Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov met 
with militia leaders to discuss the problem.  Ella Pamfilova, 
Chair of the President's Council for Civil Society and Human 
Rights, said there is "political will to solve this problem," 
given the attention it has received. 
 
MOSCOW 00000703  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Others saw the government's response as wholly 
inadequate.  Kozhevnikova dismissed Putin's remarks as 
"merely a public display of government action," and said 
there are no real efforts taking place to address xenophobia. 
 "Putin and Mayor Luzhkov only pay attention when hate crimes 
occur in the center of Moscow.  All other incidents are 
essentially ignored."  Aleksandr Verkhovskiy, also of the 
Sova Center, said earlier this year that the Russian 
government is "first and foremost concerned with stability 
and xenophobia and hate crimes are not perceived by leaders 
in the Kremlin as a threat."  William Smirnov, also of the 
President's Council for Civil Society and Human Rights, 
accused the Kremlin of encouraging tension among those who 
are not doing well economically and channeling their energy 
against various ethnic groups who make easy targets.  Valeriy 
Tishkov, Director of the Institute of Ethnology of the 
Russian Academy of Sciences and a member of the Public 
Chamber has said increased migration from former Soviet 
republics has fed a perception that ethnic Russians are 
targeted for attacks in the Caucasus. 
 
SOME SUCCESS IN THE COURTROOM 
----------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU)  Kozhevnikova praised the Moscow prosecutor's office 
for obtaining guilty verdicts against perpetrators of some of 
these crimes.  In 2008, there have been at least eight guilty 
verdicts against eight people.  The most high profile of 
these verdicts was against Maksim Martsinkevich (alias 
Tesak), the leader of the neo-nazi group "Format 18."  He was 
sentenced on February 18 to three years in prison for 
publicly inciting hatred following an incident in a Moscow 
club in which he interrupted a political debate and used 
phrases which were later examined and determined to be 
"extremist."  Prior to his arrest for inciting hatred he was 
known to have participated in numerous neo-nazi activities 
including a celebration of Hitler's birthday.  His three-year 
sentence is the most severe to be given for a non-violent 
crime related to propaganda in Russia.  Kozhevnikova posited 
that the unusually long sentence could be a reflection of a 
desire to "unofficially" prosecute him for his other 
activities.   She said his sentencing will be devastating to 
his followers.  "When you remove the leader from the scene, 
the unity of the group breaks up," she said.  She added it is 
not known for certain who ordered the arrest of Martsinkevich 
but she speculated it came from the Presidential 
Administration. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶9. (SBU)  While the work of prosecutors is bearing fruit and 
may reveal a fundamental shift in how seriously they view 
these crimes, the larger question is when authorities will do 
something to tackle the societal attitudes that give rise to 
these violent attacks. 
BURNS