Further Action against Hate Speech in Russia European Commission on Racism and Intolerance Reports on Russia

18 May 2007

On 16 May 2006, the Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) made public its Third Report on the Russian Federation. ECRI's report contained extensive reference to the situation of Roma, followed by recommendations to Russian authorities, including:

"92. […] Roma in particular are victims of the deterioration of the general climate of opinion as regards racism and intolerance. It is generally accepted that Roma arts, and particularly music, are well appreciated throughout the country, as the significant number of Roma festivals and initiatives aimed at developing this culture show. However, this contrasts starkly with the dire conditions in which the majority of Roma live and with the general behaviour of the authorities and members of the public towards Roma communities.

93. Relations between the police and the Roma can be very problematic. The issues raised in other parts of this report concerning the conduct of law enforcement officials are particularly relevant to Roma: they are victims of arbitrary identity checks, detention, extortion of money and the fabrication of incriminating evidence by members of the police. There are allegations of some Roma having been ill-treated and even tortured by police officers, resulting in some cases in the death of the victim.

94. In 2002 a nation-wide operation was carried in order to combat drug trafficking. This operation was called "Tabor", which means "Roma encampment". It consisted of random police raids against several Roma encampments in order to find drugs and drug-dealers, without concrete reasons for believing that there were drugs in the encampments searched. Roma organisations have complained about this discriminatory operation to the Ministry of Interior, whose representative accepted that it was a matter for regret and promised that it would not be repeated. Unfortunately, it seems that since then, local police, such as the police of St Petersburg in 2004, have occasionally organised raids under the same pretext as "Tabor".

95. Many Roma encounter the difficulties described in other parts of this report in obtaining Russian citizenship and/or residence registration. As a result, they also face insurmountable obstacles in access[ing] public services. It has been reported that there have been cases of direct discrimination in access to public services against Roma based solely on their ethnic origin. (As regards access to education and to employment, see above).

96. Roma are also the victims of racially motivated violence on the part of members of the majority population and skinheads. The fact that many Roma live in compact settlements on the outskirts of cities apparently makes them more vulnerable to such racially motivated attacks.

97. The level of stereotyping of and prejudices against Roma disseminated in the media remains high. Roma are generally portrayed as naturally inclined to crime, especially drug dealing. In some cases, the media have even incited to racial hatred, notably by reporting open calls to murder Roma, without issuing any warning or condemnation.

98. ECRI notes that, alongside measures to promote Roma culture, the authorities have also set up programmes to facilitate Roma children's access to education or to improve the social and economic conditions of Roma. […] However, in the opinion of human rights and Roma organisations, such efforts are far from sufficient to solve the existing problems and the authorities should also make sure that Roma take a more active part in drafting and implementing such programmes, as well as in public life in general.

99. ECRI notes with regret that the Roma coming from CIS countries experience double discrimination resulting from their ethnic origin combined with their lack of Russian citizenship. Particular attention should therefore be paid to their situation in taking measures to combat racism and racial discrimination against the Roma in general, in order to ensure that they also benefit from these measures."

ECRI recommended that Russian authorities "do their utmost to tackle the problems of racially motivated violence and racial discrimination faced by Roma in their daily lives […] to ensure that relations between Roma communities and the police, as well as the media and the majority population, improve considerably and […] to regularise the legal status of many Roma."

(ERRC)