Monday January 5, 2009, 4:57 pm
Do the Russian people feel this is right? They are the ones to change it...thanks, Ultra.

Tuesday January 6, 2009, 9:59 am

There is a lot of brutality in Russia (which is not to say there isn't elsewhere...) which needs to be addressed.

Putin has succeeded in gagging opposition parties & media, and it is a virtual dictatorship. Too many brave journalists, like Anna Politiskaya, get murdered, too. Human rights do not count for much. It would be very difficult to overthrow the undemocratic system that Putin has established.

There is a lot of racism and xenophobia, too. Hate crimes have been on the rise since 2006, certainly due to the fact that the authorities have not taken them seriously, choosing instead to simply dismiss them as 'hooliganism.' According to Sova, a rights group, there were at least 232 victims of hate crime in the first five months of 2008, including 57 murders.

Gangs of nazi skinhead youths single out non-white Russians for beatings and murders, stabbing and sometimes beheading their victims.
Non-'white Russians' from former Soviet Union Republics in Asia or the Caucasus, such as Azerbaijan or Dagestan, either working or studying in Russia, are frequent victims of this xenophobic sentiment and hate violence.

This was news in early December, although the crimes occurred in 2006 - 2007-- I think it is the first case ever to go to trial:
Seven Skinheads Convicted of 20 Racially Motivated Murders in Moscow + 12 Failed Attempts And can you believe the two ringleaders only got 10 years each? For killing 20 people, that's just 6 months per murder !

By the time the gang was back in court for sentencing, on Dec 16, the following had made the news:

From http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28194767/ --
"African-American Student Stabbed in Russia

18-yr-old exchange student from Rhode Island in critical condition after being stabbed twice in the chest.

Tina Robinson said her son had developed pneumonia, and said she was trying to arrange his transfer to a Western-style medical facility. "I'm very concerned about the care he's getting there," she said.

The U.S. Embassy declined comment, citing privacy concerns.

In recent years Russia has seen a rising number of attacks against members of non-Russian ethnic groups, particularly people from the Caucasus region and Central Asia, who often have darker skin.

Students and immigrants from Africa & India are also frequent targets of attacks."

Tuesday January 6, 2009, 10:04 am
Ayy, shame on me -- I mispelled Anna's last name -- it's Anna Politkovskaya, the Russian journalist who reported on human rights abuses in Chechnya & was murdered.

Tuesday January 6, 2009, 11:57 am
Man's humanity to man... or should I say woman... sad