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RUSSIA INVESTIGATES ATTACKS ON MINORITIES
By Anton Troianovski, Associated Press Writer
Hinesberg Journal, Canada
July 3 2006
MOSCOW - Prosecutors said Monday that they are investigating the
weekend stabbings of five ethnic minorities as hate crimes.
Russia has seen a wave of hate crimes in recent years, with hundreds
of attacks reported, including many on dark-skinned immigrants from
former Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus Mountains region.
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian condemned the attacks
and urged Russia to do more to head off a rising tide of violent
xenophobia.
Meanwhile, three suspects in the Saturday stabbing of a Kazakh
citizen were arrested for a racially motivated crime, the Interfax
news agency reported.
Alexander Brod, who heads the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights, said
the surge in attacks might be tied to two high-profile conferences
that opened in the capital on Monday before a summit of the Group of
Eight major industrialized nations that begins next week in St.
Petersburg.
Interfax quoted an Armenian community leader, Ara Abramian, as saying
the attacks were "a direct provocation before the G-8 meeting,"
and sharply criticized Moscow law enforcement for failing to prevent
such assaults.
By Anton Troianovski, Associated Press Writer
Hinesberg Journal, Canada
July 3 2006
MOSCOW - Prosecutors said Monday that they are investigating the
weekend stabbings of five ethnic minorities as hate crimes.
Russia has seen a wave of hate crimes in recent years, with hundreds
of attacks reported, including many on dark-skinned immigrants from
former Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus Mountains region.
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian condemned the attacks
and urged Russia to do more to head off a rising tide of violent
xenophobia.
Meanwhile, three suspects in the Saturday stabbing of a Kazakh
citizen were arrested for a racially motivated crime, the Interfax
news agency reported.
Alexander Brod, who heads the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights, said
the surge in attacks might be tied to two high-profile conferences
that opened in the capital on Monday before a summit of the Group of
Eight major industrialized nations that begins next week in St.
Petersburg.
Interfax quoted an Armenian community leader, Ara Abramian, as saying
the attacks were "a direct provocation before the G-8 meeting,"
and sharply criticized Moscow law enforcement for failing to prevent
such assaults.