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Kyrgyz Man Savaged By Moscow Youths


(RFE/RL) November 21, 2006 -- A group of apparent skinheads severely beat a Kyrgyz man on a commuter train outside Moscow in the latest of a wave of recent attacks on foreigners in Russia.

Chingiz Kailypov was riding a commuter train to Moscow late on November 19 when a group of young men with closely cropped hair and heavy boots began beating him with metal bars for no apparent reason, according to witnesses.

A police spokeswoman said he could have been beaten to death if other passengers had not rushed to his rescue.

Kailypov, 23, remains unconscious in hospital.

Police have detained four of the suspected attackers. All were reportedly students of Moscow high schools.

Human rights activists report that 39 people have been killed in apparent hate crimes in Russia this year.

(compiled from agency reports)

Moscow Takes On Extremism

Moscow Takes On Extremism
Kamlizhan Kalandarov in RFE/RL's Moscow studio (RFE/RL)

COMBATTING THE HATRED: RFE/RL's Russian Service on August 21 spoke with Kamilzhan Kalandarov, a member of the Public Chamber and a leader of the NGO Our Russia. (Read the complete interview in Russian). Kalandarov spoke about efforts the authorities are making to combat the wave of hate crimes sweeping Russia.

Kalandarov: Xenophobia today threatens the national interests of Russia. But I agree that the authorities are making good progress in this matter. First, the order on withdrawing Russian forces from Chechnya was recently signed. That is a big plus because the source of extremism, the sources of Caucasus-phobia are partly in Chechnya. Islamophobia grew dramatically after the first Chechen war. Next, the Public Chamber was created. We have a subcommission on nationalities issues and a subcommission that drafts projects related to xenophobia. This work is ongoing, which is why I think the authorities are really interested in making sure this problem does not go any further.
We should also mention the courts. I think that in many cases judges themselves hold [xenophobic] views. Second, we have not created normal conditions for protecting witnesses. People are not physically protected from various types of influence. Judges are afraid and witnesses are afraid. Because they have to keep living in that city. This defenselessness leads to cases not being pursued and to not-guilty verdicts being issued.


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