Nazism and racist attacks on increase in Russia

MOSCOW - Russia is struggling to contain an upsurge in racist murders and attacks as skinheads in the country prepare to mark Adolf Hitler's birthday.

The past week alone has seen a slew of race-hate crimes perpetrated despite condemnation from politicians and threats of heavier jail sentences. Four Roma have been murdered and one Vietnamese man killed, and there have been at least seven "punishment beatings" of foreigners.

Anti-racism activists warn that Russia's estimated 60,000 skinheads appear to be attacking their victims with increasing impunity and that the problem has spun out of control.

The authorities are braced for April 20, the anniversary of Hitler's birth, when there is usually a peak in skinhead activity.

Few public figures seem willing to admit how serious the problem is. Many refuse to believe that their country, which did more than any to defeat fascism during World War II, has become such a potent breeding ground for neo-Nazis 60 years later.

On Monday two Roma brothers were shot dead by a man who burst into their home in Pskov, about 600km northwest of Moscow. Leaflets have been distributed in the calling for violence against the Roma, whom locals accuse of drug trafficking.

Last week 15 skinheads attacked a Roma camp near Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad. Armed with metal poles, they killed a 42-year-old man, a 45-year-old woman and injured a 14-year-old girl and an 80-year-old woman.

Nine skinheads, aged from 15 to 19, have been arrested in connection with the attack. Some of them have confessed to the crime, admitting it was motivated by nationalist sentiment.

A Vietnamese market trader, 50-year-old Chan Ngok Binh, was recently beaten to death outside his home by a group of children armed with wooden bats in the Voronezh region, 500km south of Moscow. Three children have been arrested and police are searching for another four.

On April 7 in St Petersburg, Senegalese student Lamzar Samba, 28, was shot dead as he left a nightclub. The murder weapon, a pump-action shotgun, had a swastika and the word "skinheads" stencilled on it.

There is also a steady stream of non-fatal assaults. This weekend Mongolian students and an Afghan were beaten up in St Petersburg by local football fans.

The authorities have promised to get tough but have yet to take any measures. The Government has suggested introducing jail terms for racist attacks of up to three years and wants to fine people who produce, distribute or use Nazi paraphernalia and propaganda.

- INDEPENDENT