Three Hurt In St. Petersburg Clash

The aftermath of the Kondopoga riots on September 8 (ITAR-TASS) September 18, 2006 -- Three people were injured in clashes in the northern Russian city of St. Petersburg.

Masked assailants attacked a rally organized by the Movement Against Illegal Immigration, who were demanding the expulsion of non-Russians from the Karelian city of Kondopoga.


Two people were killed in Kondopoga earlier this month in ethnic clashes triggered by a restaurant row between local residents and migrants mainly from Russia's restive Northern Caucasus.


(Reuters, AP)

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.


RELATED ARTICLES

A Timeline Of Recent Racial Incidents

Russian Ombudsman Condemns Hate Crimes

Hate Crime Trial Highlights Mounting Racism

Minister Says Russia Can't Stop Xenophobia Alone

For African Students In Russia, Affordable Education Comes At A Price


ARCHIVE

To view an archive of all of RFE/RL's coverage of Russia, click here.



SUBSCRIBE

For a regular review of civil-society developments throughout RFE/RL's broadcast region, subscribe to "RFE/RL (Un)Civil Societies."


RFE/RL IN RUSSIAN: Visit RFE/RL's Russian-language website, featuring news, analysis, features, streaming audio, and more in Russian, courtesy of RFE/RL's Russian Service.