Racism and Xenophobia in March 2016

The following is our review of racism and xenophobia in Russia during March 2016. The data we report are collected in the course of Sova Center’s daily monitoring activities.

In March 2016, we are aware of one racist attack, which targeted three victims, in St. Petersburg. Since the beginning of the year, no fewer than 7 people in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the Moscow and Vladimir regions were targeted in xenophobic violence. Another 2 received serious threats to their lives.

We also became aware of four acts of xenophobically-motivated vandalism in four regions of the country. In all, since the beginning of the year, no fewer than 11 such acts have been committed in ten regions of Russia.

Ultra-right activists made note of the tragic murder of a five-year old girl by a Uzbek national Gulchekhra Bobokulovaya, who was working as a nanny. The nanny decapitated the girl and, dressed fully in black, came to a Moscow metro station, where she shouted «Allahu akbar», swung the head, and threatened to set off an explosion. Russian ultra-right groups nearly universally devoted resources to covering the horrible incident, blaming it on the murderer's ethnic and religious backgrounds, accusing law enforcement of failing to prevent it, and also accusing Russian political figures of ignoring «problems with migrants» while drawing attention to the current situation in Europe. The majority of such groups released demands for a visa regime with the governments of Central Asia. One of the most aggressive anti-migrant campaigns was headed by the Moscow City Council of the Communist Party. The Party demanded the introduction of a lifetime ban on entry to Russia for foreigners who have committed criminal offenses in the Russian Federation; the introduction of a visa regime with the countries of Central Asia; the expulsion of all non-citizens who were detained with weapons; and a ban on Wahhabism. The stylized image of a woman in a Muslim dress with a severed head in her hands, used on a Communist Party poster, became one of the most publicized xenophobic symbols to appear after the tragedy on both ultra-right-wing websites and beyond.

Additionally, nationalists participated in a spontaneous action in memory of the killed girl on March 1 near the Oktyabrskoe Pole metro stop in Moscow. The vast majority of participants simply laid flowers without further action or display of symbols. However, a few young people showed up with ribbons in the color of the «imperial» flag, and demanded «tightening of the rules of residency for migrants in Russia.» Nationalist leader Dmitry Demushkin was seen among the participants, and two young men at the rally told national media that there were members of the National-Democratic Party.

Ultra-right public actions were generally unnotable in March.

On March 12 there were actions in support of Vladimir Kvachkov in several cities, but none of them attracted many participants. In Moscow, by the 1905 metro stop, a meeting was organized by the «People's Militia of Russia,» «Great Russia» and Russian Imperial Movement. In St. Petersburg, the RID and Russian National Front led an action in addition to a few pickets. There were also actions in Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod and Syktyvkar.

On March 26, the National-Democratic Party held rallies For a Visa Regime. In St. Petersburg, about 20 people from the NDP, RID, and Motherland gathered on Mars Field. In Novosibirsk, NDP's meeting on Pervomaysky Square brought together no more than 10 people. Authorities did not permit an action in Moscow.

We are aware of three March convictions against five individuals on charges of racist violence. They came down in St. Petersburg, Kirov, and the Tver region. The most notable was a March 17 ruling in St. Petersburg against Andrei Maiugin, a member of the neo-Nazi gang Borovikov-Voevodin. He was sentenced to 18 years in a prison colony. Recall that in June 2011, Maliugin was acquitted in a trial against the entire group, but was arrested again two months later on allegations that he participated in two murders.

In all, since the beginning of 2016, Russian courts have issued 6 rulings on violent crimes that considered hate as a motive, in 6 regions of the country. These rulings sentenced 11 individuals.

March saw 14 convictions, against as many people in 13 regions of Russia, for xenophobic propaganda. Among those convicted in March is Dina Garina, the leader of the ultra-right movement Russian SPb (Russian St. Petersburg); the basis of her March 3 conviction was a post on social media.

Since the beginning of the year, Russian courts have convicted 37 individuals from 27 regions of the country in 36 rulings on racist and other ultra-right-wing propaganda.

The Federal List of Extremist Materials was also updated four times this month, on March 1, 11, 18, and 23. Entries 3308-3362 were added. A wide variety of xenophobic materials were added, including Nazi skinhead videos from social media; songs by the groups Okolorap and Justified Terrorism; the book Jewish Yoke by one B. Mironov; etc. A variety of Islamist materials were also added, including militant videos; brochures entitled The Woman in Islam in the Judeo-Christian World (Between Myth and Reality) and Signs of the Nonbeliever (Mushrik); etc. Various radical anti-Russian publication from Ukraine were also added.