Minorities Under Siege: The Case of St. Petersburg

A St. Petersburg Datebook

In St. Petersburg, according to SOVA Center, there were three murders and 42 people injured in hate-motivated attacks in 2005. In his 2005 annual report, Vladimir Lukin, Russia's human rights Ombudsman who has spoken out on racist violence throughout Russia, cited St. Petersburg as being in the "leadership" in terms of hate crimes, citing ten serious assaults on foreigners.[7]

The gravity of the situation there has been highlighted by the growing national and international attention to escalating racist assaults and murders as the coming G-8 Summit casts a spotlight on the city. In the last several months alone, a wave of assaults against minorities – many with apparent racist intent – has focused greater attention on this growing problem in St. Petersburg.

On November 13, 2005, 20-year-old student, musician, and anti-racist activist Timur Kacharava was attacked by a group of some ten young people and stabbed five times in the neck. He died shortly thereafter. A companion was also stabbed and seriously wounded. Kacharava was well known for his activism and took part in a number of actions aimed at combating xenophobia in Russia as well as support for the homeless. It is widely believed that he was targeted for this work. The St. Petersburg prosecutor's office initially acknowledged that the murder was possibly motivated by Kacharava's active involvement in activity to oppose the racist violence of neo-Nazi groups.[8] Investigators have detained eight persons and charged them with murder with a motive of hooliganism.[9]

On December 24, 28-year old Kanhem Leon, a student from Cameroon, was attacked and stabbed to death by a group of youths. A student from Namibia, who was with Leon, was also attacked, but managed to escape. Earlier that same evening, a student from Kenya was also attacked, allegedly by the same group. He was subsequently hospitalized.[10] Police opened a murder investigation and are apparently considering the possibility of a racist motive.[11]

On January 5, 2006, a Chinese intern at the Rymsky-Korsakov Institute was attacked by a group of three young men while walking home a female companion. One of the young men beat him and hit him over the head with a heavy object. The other two apparently looked on, "correcting" the attacker in what law enforcement officials called an "orientation beating" of a skinhead group. The student was subsequently hospitalized with head injuries. Police opened a hooliganism investigation.[12]

On January 11, an Indian medical student, while on his way to the store, was attacked by three young men and beaten in the face and chest. He was later treated at the hospital for injuries. Police opened an investigation of assault with a motive of hooliganism.[13]

On January 24, a student from Cameroon was hospitalized after being attacked by a small group of youths. Police opened a hooliganism investigation.[14]

On January 30, a student from Uganda was attacked by a group of three young men, appearing to be skinheads, near a building of the St. Petersburg Medical Academy. He was later taken to the hospital for treatment of facial injuries.[15]

On February 19, a student from Israel was attacked by a group of unknown youths, who subsequently fled. The student was taken to the hospital the following day and treated for injuries suffered in the attack. Police are apparently treating the assault as "an ordinary fight," although haven't ruled out the possibility that antisemitism was a motive in the attack.[16]

On February 23, a citizen of Cote d'Ivoire, who had recently arrived in St. Petersburg to enter university, was attacked and sustained serious head injuries for which he was hospitalized. It was later determined that his money and mobile phone had been stolen after the assault. Police have detained one individual in connection with the attack and brought charges of robbery.[17]

On February 25, three men armed with knives attacked two women who worked as vendors in a St. Petersburg street market. Ainur Bulekbayeva, an ethnic Kazakh, was killed, and Ilfuza Babayeva, an ethnic Azeri, was hospitalized with an estimated 20 stab wounds.[18] Witnesses apparently heard the words "Russia for Russians" during the attack. Police said nothing was stolen from the two women, and opened murder and attempted murder investigations, although thus far without any reference to a possible ethnic motive to the attack.[19]

On March 23, a man from Ghana suffered a broken nose and a concussion after being attacked by two youths at about 8 p.m. He reported the attack to police officers and was treated for injuries at the hospital. Police detained two youths, who apparently claimed they were "just joking around" when they attacked the African. It has been reported that police have brought hooliganism charges against the two men.[20]

On March 25, nine-year old Lilian Sisoko, a Russian citizen of mixed heritage (the daughter of an ethnic Russian woman and a Malian man), was stabbed in the neck and ear three times by two young men as she was entering her apartment building. She managed to get back to her apartment, where her parents called for an ambulance in which she was rushed to the hospital.[21] Yekaterina Sisoko, the victim's mother, said that the attackers "had enough time to paint a swastika and graffiti that read, ‘Skinheads…we did it,' before leaving unnoticed." "The attackers had been given a license to attack and kill children because they are sure they will never be punished even if they are caught," she added in reference to the acquittal of the suspected murderer of a nine-year old Tajik girl two days earlier.[22]

Also on March 25, 2006 an anti-racism demonstration turned violent for three student participants who were apparently shadowed and later attacked by a group of skinheads. A Jewish student was beaten with particular severity and suffered a head injury.[23]

On April 2, a female student and citizen of China was attacked on the street near the dormitory where she was living. She was taken to the hospital and treated for injuries. Police opened an investigation of assault with a motive of hooliganism.[24]

On April 7, Lampsar Samba, a student from Senegal and a member of the organization "African Unity," was murdered as he left the Apollo night club with five other African students. The alleged murder weapon, a hunting rifle with a swastika drawn on it, was found not far from the scene of the crime.[25] This was one of the rare instances of a racist attack in which a firearm was used, leading minority rights activists to question whether this marked the start of a new level of violence being perpetrated by extremist groups. Police opened a murder investigation and immediately considered the racial motive. On May 18, police shot Dmitry Borovikov, one of the suspects in Samba's murder, reportedly while resisting arrest. He was wanted in connection with the creation of the extremist group, "Mad Crowd," several members of which were sentenced to prison sentences in December 2005.[26] In late May 2006, police arrested five other young men in connection with the murder of Samba. St. Petersburg chief prosecutor Sergei Zaitsev stated on May 24 that there is evidence linking them to a number of other assaults, including the murder of Nikolai Girenko.[27]

On April 15, two students from Mongolia were attacked in the metro by a group of about ten youths, apparently fans of a local soccer club. Other passengers on the train stood aside during the attack. The two students were subsequently taken to a hospital where they were treated for various minor injuries. Police opened an investigation of assault with a motive of hooliganism.[28]

On April 19, a medical student from India was attacked while on the university campus by two young men and stabbed in the neck. He was taken to the hospital where he was operated on. Police opened an investigation of attempted murder and racist motives are apparently being considered, although "not as a priority."[29]

On April 22, three youths attacked a Turkish man on the platform of a metro station. He was subsequently treated for injuries. Police have detained three young men and brought charges of assault. Racist intent is not apparently being considered.[30]

On May 4, a group of youths attacked a student from Vietnam. He was subsequently taken to the hospital with a concussion. Friends who were with him reported that the attackers were skinheads.[31]

On May 21, on a central city street, three youths attacked a citizen of Ecuador, who lives and works in St. Petersburg. He was subsequently taken to the hospital where he was treated for a serious head and eye injury.[32]

This list includes some of the most serious assaults against minorities and anti-racist activists, those that are reported in the press and reach the attention of hate crimes monitors. The actual number of such attacks – including those that go unreported and undetected – is likely to be far higher.