UCSJ: Russian Duma Elections and Antisemitism
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Subject: UCSJ: Russian Duma Elections and Antisemitism
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Felix Corley <[email protected]>
UCSJ: Russian Duma Elections and Antisemitism
For Immediate Release: December 20, 1999
Contact: Nickolai Butkevich (202) 775-9770 x12
Duma Election Analysis vis a vis Russian Antisemitism
PRESS RELEASE
UCSJ Challenges Russian Government to Back up Words with Deeds
Regional Bosses, Communists to Dominate Next Duma
Responding to preliminary results from yesterday's election to the
Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, the Union of Councils
for Soviet Jews (UCSJ) issued a challenge to the Russian government to
use its new power in the Duma to push through laws that will protect
Russia's Jews and other vulnerable ethnic and religious minorities.
"The emergence of a new centrist majority could exert a moderating
influence on the next Duma, and help the government push through much
needed reforms and hopefully, long delayed anti-extremist legislation
as well," declared Yosef I. Abramowitz, UCSJ's President. Russian
officials have for years submitted draft laws designed to check the
activities of hate groups and other extremists to the Communist and
nationalist dominated Duma, which consistently refused to adopt them.
In addition, both President Yeltsin and Prime Minister Putin have
recently promised to stamp out rising antisemitic activity in the
country if they were provided with authoritative documentation. In a
205 page report released last week Antisemitism, Xenophobia and
Religious Persecution in Russia's Regions: 1998-1999 (Available on the
Internet at: http://www.fsumonitor.com/stories/121599PRrep.shtml),
UCSJ gave a comprehensive assessment of the problem across 62 Russian
regions.
"We urge the Kremlin to use the information provided in this report as
a blueprint for government action against dangerous hate groups in
Russia," Abramowitz concluded.
At the same time, while the composition of the new Duma opens the way
for positive developments, it also brings new causes for concern.
"Both Unity and Fatherland/All Russia are parties based on the support
of Russia's regional governors, many of whom routinely violate human
rights and collaborate with extremist, antisemitic groups without fear
of sanction from Moscow," added Micah H. Naftalin, UCSJ's National
Director. "The victory of these new parties signals a greater
devolution of power from a central government that is somewhat
responsive to international concerns about antisemitism, human rights
and religious freedom to increasingly autonomous regional actors who
are almost exclusively focused on parochial concerns and are often
complicit in these violations."
UCSJ concluded in its report Antisemitism, Xenophobia and Religious
Persecution in Russia's Regions: 1998-1999, that in many regions, "Not
only do Jews face specific dangers through incidents of antisemitism,
but an infrastructure of antisemitism - at the grassroots and official
levels - is taking hold... influenced by communist, neo-Nazi, Russian
Orthodox and other sources of antisemitic activity." Because of the
collaboration or indifference of many regional authorities, these
antisemitic forces "act with complete impunity." "The results of the
parliamentary elections have not fundamentally changed these
conditions," Naftalin concluded.
In addition, the fact that the Communist Party, which a year ago
adopted antisemitism as an official plank in its campaign platform,
again appears to have won the most seats in the elections presents a
continuing threat to Russia's Jews and ultra-nationalist Vladimir
Zhirinovsky's party (the LDPR) is still a significant force in the
parliament.
In a separate report released Friday on antisemitism and xenophobia
during the election campaign, UCSJ documented the use of hate speech
by numerous participating parties, including the Communists and the
LDPR, both on national television and in regional campaigns. The
report, which is available on the Internet at:
(http://www.fsumonitor.com/stories/121999elections.shtml), concludes
that, "Given the ongoing economic crisis, the widespread and popular
racist jingoism stemming from the war in Chechnya, and the decreasing
ability of the West to exert a moderating influence on Russian
politics and decision making, it is clear that the explosion of
antisemitic and racist rhetoric which has occurred during the
parliamentary campaign has further legitimized antisemitism in
Russia's political life and has put Russia's Jews in an increasingly
dangerous position."
"Whether or not this vicious trend in Russian public life continues
must be carefully monitored, especially in the run up to next June's
presidential elections," Mr. Naftalin concluded.
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For more information on Jews and human rights in the former Soviet
Union,
please contact [email protected] or visit us on the web at
http://www.fsumonitor.com.
Union of Councils for Soviet Jews
1819 H Street, NW Suite 230
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 775 9770
(202) 775 9776 (fax)
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