By BAGILA BUKHARBAYEVA,

AP

Posted: 2008-01-29 10:26:33

MOSCOW (AP) – Hate crimes are on the rise in Russia with a growing number of attacks resulting in fatalities, while authorities often exploit xenophobic sentiments for political purposes, a leading Russian rights center said in a report released Tuesday.

Sixty-seven people were killed and more than 550 injured across Russia in 2007 in ethnically motivated attacks, representing a 13 percent increase on the previous year, according to the annual report by the SOVA rights center that monitors hate crimes.

There is “an obvious steady rise in racially motivated violence” and attacks are becoming more brutal, SOVA’s deputy director Galina Kozhevnikova said at a news conference. “Neo-nazis are out not to beat up (their victims), but to kill.”

Nationalist and neo-nazi groups have mushroomed after the 1991 Soviet collapse, reflecting widespread social frustration, particularly among the youth, amid a dramatic economic decline. Xenophobia has been fueled by a massive inflow of dark-skinned guest workers from impoverished ex-Soviet republics in the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Students from Africa, visitors from Asian countries, Jews and Russian anti-Nazi activists have also become frequent victims of attacks by Russian nationalists in recent years.

Rights activists say authorities have done little to combat xenophobia. Many apparent hate crimes are treated as simple hooliganism, which carries a far milder punishment. Some activists say the extreme nationalist sentiments are a natural outgrowth of the Kremlin’s attempts to rebuild a strong state.

Kozhevnikova said that in 2007 Russian courts delivered only 24 convictions related to hate crimes.

She said that authorities turn a blind eye to the ultranationalists’ actions, including public marches, “as long as they abide by certain rules: do not criticize authorities, show loyalty and stick to city outskirts.”

“The most worrying trend is that pro-Kremlin organizations are beginning to actively use the methods of ultra-right groups,” Kozhevnikova said.

She cited the Nashi pro-Kremlin youth group saying it used ethnic and racist slogans, such as “We won’t let migrants rule (Russia),” in the run up to the December parliamentary elections.

The government did not immediately comment on the report. In the past, President Vladimir Putin has publicly condemned the rise of hate crime, xenophobia and neo-Nazism and called on prosecutors to do more to fight the phenomenon.

Nashi spokeswoman Kristina Potupchik denied that their organization uses ethnic slogans, saying it was “not true.”

On the contrary, she said, part of Nashi’s agenda is to fight xenophobia.

While pro-democracy opposition groups are denied permission to hold rallies in Moscow, authorities allowed about 5,000 nationalists to march in the capital in November, raising their right hands in a Nazi salute and chanting “white power!”

The Sova report said, however, that in a positive sign in 2007 authorities prosecuted leaders of several regional nationalist organizations for spreading xenophobic materials.