06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Numerous racially motivated attacks took place against members of minority groups and foreigners, particularly Asians and Africans; St. Petersburg's African Union reported 6 deaths in the city as result of xenophobia during first 11 months of 2006 ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 20132]

"During the year numerous racially motivated attacks took place against members of minority groups and foreigners, particularly Asians and Africans. According to Ministry of Internal Affairs statistics, 13,307 crimes were committed against foreign citizens and persons without citizenship in 2005, a 29 percent increase over 2004, although this figure covers all crimes against this sector of the population, not only hate crimes. The ministry's 2005 annual report reported 152 crimes "of an extremist nature" although it does not specify its criteria or the specific crimes categorized under that general heading. The St. Petersburg city prosecutor claimed 1.8 percent of the crimes against foreigners in the city were "extremist" in nature. According to the prosecutor, there were 39 foreigners killed in St. Petersburg in 2005 and only two of them qualified as hate crimes. St. Petersburg's African Union reported six deaths in the city as the result of xenophobia during the first 11 months of the year."

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27.03.2006 - Source: Guardian

St Petersburg: 9-year old mixed-race girl beaten and stabbed in the face and neck; racial tensions in cities on the rise ("Girl aged nine stabbed in face as Russian race tension spreads") [#47465],  [ID 11423]

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08.03.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Numerous racially motivated attacks against members of minority groups and foreigners, particularly Asians and Africans ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2005") [#46144],  [ID 11424]

"During the year numerous racially motivated attacks took place against members of minority groups and foreigners, particularly Asians and Africans. In some cases, observers believed the attacks were racially motivated. According to MVD statistics, 11,100 crimes were committed against foreign citizens and persons without citizenship from January to October.

For example it was reported that on July 9, about a dozen skinheads beat a Vietnamese man to death in a Moscow park. On September 14, a Congolese student was killed in St. Petersburg. A year ago the same student was attacked and hospitalized, at which time he gave evidence that the attack was racially motivated. On October 9, in Voronezh, a Peruvian student was killed and two other students, from Spain and Peru, were badly injured when a group of youths attacked them. There had been several previous attacks on attacks on foreigners in Voronezh. Later in October, the authorities charged a Russian student with murder and another 13 youths with lesser crimes for participating in the attack.

Not all of the attacks against foreigners were fatal. On February 11, two Korean students were attacked and hospitalized in St. Petersburg. On March 14, four skinheads attacked an African student of a pedagogical university in Lipetsk. On March 26, a Chinese student was attacked during daylight on a major city street in St. Petersburg. According to the MVD, 557 crimes against foreigners were registered in St. Petersburg during the first seven months of the year. The city administration appeared to have begun to take hate crimes more seriously, but law enforcement agencies did not do enough to address the issue, in part because they lacked the necessary resources and, in some cases, because some working-level staff sympathized with the nationalistic causes."

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05.02.2006 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Malian stabbed to death in St. Petersburg; racist attacks on the rise ("Malian Stabbed To Death In St. Petersburg") [#43474],  [ID 11425]

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21.06.2005 - Source: Amnesty International

Ghanaian national arrested in Moscow on 28 April and is held at prison in Ivanovo; he is reportedly beaten repeatedly and is believed to be at risk of further cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and torture ("Russian Federation - UA 171/05") [#33096],  [ID 11426]

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26.03.2004 - Source: BBC News

An African medical student killed in a racist crime in Voronezh/ the murder sparked protests by hundreds of foreign students ("African killed in 'racist' crime") [#20838],  [ID 11427]

"The murder of an African medical student in central Russia was a racist crime, a prosecutor has said.

Chief regional prosecutor Alexander Ponomaryov made the remarks on Russian NTV television.

Officials had said the stabbing of Amaru Antonio Lima, 24, from Guinea-Bissau, in Voronezh was caused by a personal conflict over a woman.

The murder, on 21 February, sparked protests by hundreds of foreign students in the city.

They have blamed the authorities for failing to investigate killings of seven foreign students in racial attacks in the past five years.

Mr Ponomaryov said on NTV that two of the three arrested suspects in the case had already confessed.

Russian news agency Itar-Tass also quoted Mr Ponomaryov as saying his office had taken up several previous cases of attacks on foreigners in the region, saying they had been closed without reason."

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