Hate Crime Report Card - Russia

I. Systems of Monitoring and Reporting

What Data is Collected?

The Interior Ministry publishes annual figures on crimes in the Russian Federation. There is, however, no separate reporting on crimes carried out with a bias or hate motivation or break down of data on particular crimes in order to distinguish victims from different population groups. The Interior Ministry's annual report includes data on crimes "of an extremist nature" that to some extent overlaps with the concept of hate crime. In 2007, there were 327 such crimes.[1] By contrast, in 2006 the Interior Ministry reported 263 such crimes, up from 152 in 2005.[2]

While the published statistics do not provide a breakdown by specific crimes considered to be of an extremist nature, inter-ministerial instructions provide a list of the articles of the criminal code that fall within that category. These include common crimes defined in articles 105, 111, 112, 117, 214, 243, 244 when they have been determined to have been aggravated by "national, racial, or religious hatred." For the purposes of the statistics, an extremist crime also includes any crime in which enhanced penalties were sought under article 63, according to which national, racial, or religious hatred is considered an aggravating circumstance.[3] 

Unofficial Statistics

The SOVA Center for Information and Analysis, a Moscow-based nongovernmental organization that monitors hate crimes in Russia, documented 660 victims of racially motivated violence, including 77 fatalities in 2007, marking a steady rise over the past several years.[4] In 2006, the SOVA Center documented 541 victims of hate-based attacks, including 55 racist murders. This compares with 462 overall victims, including 47 murders, documented by the organization using the same criteria in 2005.[5] Because these figures come largely from a tabulation of press reports and analysis by local sources, the actual number of hate crimes is likely to be much higher.

The SOVA Center also disaggregates its statistics on the basis of the following victim group categories: "dark-skinned" people, people from Central Asia, people from the Caucasus, people from the Middle East and North Africa, people from the Asia-Pacific region, other people of "non-Slav appearance," members of youth subcultures and leftist youth, others, or not known. People from Central Asia and the Caucasus are the victims in the largest percentage of the most serious attacks.[6]

II. The Framework of Criminal Law

Legislation on Bias-motivated Violence

Bias Types Covered by Provisions on Aggravating Circumstances

Bias as an Express General Aggravating Factor

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation contains provisions that expressly enable the racist or other bias motives of the offender to be taken into account by the courts as an aggravating circumstance when sentencing.

Article 63 of the Criminal Code is a general sentencing provision that identifies aggravating circumstances that give rise to more serious penalties, including under part (1)(f) "a motive of political, ideological, national, racial, religious hate or enmity or a motive of hate or enmity towards a certain social group" in the commission of crimes. It does not set out the scope of these enhanced penalties. While article 63 would appear to provide a basis for enhanced penalties for bias attacks charged as common crime, there is no evidence that prosecutors regularly seek enhanced penalties under this provision or that courts hand down such sentences.

Bias as an Aggravating Factor in Specific Common Crimes

Other provisions of the Criminal Code provide for more severe, specific penalties when bias motivation is shown in particular crimes. Article 105 punishes murder with incarceration ranging from six to fifteen years. Article 105(2)(k) defines murder "with a motive of political, ideological, national, racial, religious hatred or enmity or a motive of hate or enmity towards a certain social group" as punishable "by incarceration for eight to twenty years, or by a life term of incarceration or by the death penalty."[7]

Other provisions of the Criminal Code that can be applied to violent hate crimes include article 111 (Deliberate infliction of grievous bodily harm), article 112 (Deliberate infliction of moderate bodily harm), article 115 (Deliberate infliction of mild bodily harm), article 116 (Assault), article 117 (Torture), defined as "the causing of physical or psychological suffering through systematic beatings or other violent actions...," article 119 (Threatening murder or the infliction of serious bodily harm), and article 150 (Involving a minor in the commission of a crime). Higher penalties are established for each of these crimes when committed "with a motive of ideological, political, national, racial, religious hatred or enmity or with a motive of hatred or enmity towards a certain social group."

As a result of the August 2007 amendments to the criminal code, bias motivations as an aggravating circumstance are also included in article 213 (Hooliganism). Even minor acts of hooliganism are now subject to a maximum punishment of five years imprisonment if accompanied by a bias motivation. Observers have expressed concern however that such provisions can also now be used against members of political opposition groups.

The criminal code also punishes violent acts against property, with more serious punishments now available in the event that an act of vandalism (article 214) or desecration (article 244) is accompanied by a bias motivation. For example, whereas the desecration of human remains or places of burial without the aggravating factor can be punished with up to three months imprisonment, prosecution as a hate crime can result in up to 5 years imprisonment.

Although there had been a steady increase between 2004-2006 in the extent to which hate crimes had been recognized and prosecuted as such, 2007 marked a step back in that respect. According to the SOVA Center, there were nine guilty verdicts in hate crime charges in 2004, 17 in 2005, and 33 guilty verdicts (involving 109 defendants) in 2006. In 2007 however, there were only 24 guilty verdicts (involving 68 defendants) even though the number of incidents had increased dramatically.[8]

For more information on the Russian Federation, read:

The Russian Federation country chapter of the 2008 Hate Crime Survey
The Russian Federation country chapter of the 2007 Hate Crime Report Card [pdf]
Minorities Under Siege: Hate Crimes and Related Intolerance in the Russian Federation [pdf]

[2] "Obshchie svedenie o sostoyanie prestupnosti - 2006," Interior Ministry, available at: http://www.mvdrf.ru/files/oX0.HjeEnTMwA9d.pdf; "Obshchie svedenie o sostoyanie prestupnosti - 2005," Ministry of the Interior, available at http://www.mvdrf.ru/files/4001.pdf.

[3] Also included as crimes "of an extremist nature" are those qualified under the following articles of the criminal code: article 136 (violation of the equality of rights and freedoms of citizens by virtue of their sex, race, nationality, language, origins, social or official status, place of residence, relationship to religion, convictions, relationship to public organizations or to some other social groups), article 141 (interference in the carrying out of electoral rights or in the work of electoral commissions), article 149 (interference in the conducting of gatherings, public meetings, demonstrations, marches, pickets or participation in them), article 208 (organization of an illegal armed formation or participation in one), article 212 (mass disorder), article 213 (hooliganism), article 239 (organization of associations infringing upon the individual or the rights of citizens), article 277 (attempt on the life of a state or public figure), article 278 (violent overthrow of the government or violently holding onto power), article 280 (public calls for the carrying out of extremist activity), article 282 (incitement to hatred), article 282-1 (creation of an extremist society), article 282-2 (organization of the activity of an extremist organization).

[4] Galina Kozhevnikova, "Radical Nationalism in Russia and Counteraction to it in 2007," The SOVA Center for Information and Analysis.

[5] SOVA Center, "Radical Nationalism in Russia and Efforts to Counteract it in 2006," May 22, 2007, available at: http://www.xeno.sova-center.ru/6BA2468/6BB4208/93A572E (accessed on August 29, 2007).

[6] SOVA Center, "Radical Nationalism in Russia and Efforts to Counteract it in 2006," May 22, 2007, available at: http://www.xeno.sova-center.ru/6BA2468/6BB4208/93A572E (accessed on August 29, 2007).

[7] Although the Criminal Code provides for the death penalty, there is currently a moratorium on its use, in line with policies of the Council of Europe, of which the Russian Federation is a member. Russian law allows for jury trials in "especially grave" crimes, which are those punishable by imprisonment of more than 15 years, life imprisonment, or the death penalty. Because murder aggravated by a motive of national, racial, or religious hatred is among those crimes that can be considered "especially grave," the defendant in such cases has the right to call for a trial by jury.

[8] Galina Kozhevnikova, "Radical Nationalism and Efforts to Counteract it in 2007," SOVA Center for Information and Analysis, available at: http://xeno.sova-center.ru/6BA2468/6BB4208/AC15D1E#r5_2.