WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING IN RUSSIA

 Rampant racism seems to be name of the game in Russia.  Where is the USSR when you need it?


From Moscow News.

Moscow riots have global resonance

Riots in Moscow have prompted an international response, with rallies in the US, Turkey and Georgia demanding an end to ethnically-motivated violence.

In the days after the Dec. 11 riot on Manezhnaya, the Caucasian diaspora in America gathered in Times Square to highlight the threats facing their compatriots back in Russia.

“A group of 60 people among whom where ethnic Caucasians came out to Times Square for a peaceful meeting under slogans ‘Human Rights, Not Human Fights’and ‘Unity Against Racism’,” Dana Wojokh, meeting co-organiser, told the Moscow News.

And Russia’s media contribute immensely to the ethnical hatred incitement, Wojokh claimed.

“Caucasians, like Russians and any other people of the world, strive for a better livelihood and to contribute to their community. However, in the media they are wrongly portrayed and this propaganda causes divisions and discord amongst all people and social classes.”

Authorities turning a blind eye?

Many believe that Russia’s authorities are discreetly stirring up ethnic strife, or at least tolerating the surge in nationalism.

And when some political commentators in Moscow say they can spot the Kremlin at work, they find a willing audience elsewhere.

“We saw when one Chief of Police cordially and calmly negotiated with one the nationalist leading the Russian-Caucasian hate riots, while the thug was still wearing a ski mask covering his face,” Zaid Vwich, who also joined the protesters, told The Moscow News.

“Now, imagine if 5,000 Caucasians decided to chant hateful, threatening slogans, things like ‘Russia leave the Caucasus’, ‘Caucasus for Caucasians’, ‘Caucasus not part of Russia’. They would all be immediately detained, tortured, and indefinitely be imprisoned. No negotiating, no sympathy."

“What happened to the 5,000 Russian nationalists? 64 were detained and released the next day.”

Closer to home

Monday’s meeting in the Georgian capital Tbilisi was organised by the “International Union of Young Caucasians”, and brought together people from different ethnic groups who demanded to stop unjust prosecution against Caucasians in Russia.

“Our protest is against Nazism and in support of Caucasians, because this aggression [the Manezhnaya riot] wasn’t provoked by Caucasians, it is Russia’s policy – ‘Caucasus without Caucasians’ – that has been sounded out by well-known politicians,” Timur Dorogov, one of the protesters, told the Georgia Times web-site.

In Turkey groups gathered in the three biggest cities, Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, with groups meeting outside the Russian consulates to make their point.

Meanwhile in Russia’s Chechen republic the patriotic youth group “Ramzan” set up its own meeting against extremism, according to the movement’s website.

Young Chechenss gathered together under the slogan “Peace for Russia, Peace for the Caucasus” nine days after the Moscow riots.