Abuse of Roma reported in the Russian press

02 April 1998

The Russian daily Izvestia reported on December 8 that Interior Ministry troops and police conduct regular raids on Roma in the Moscow metro. The ERRC has been receiving reports of raids on Moscow metro stations, train stations and city parks since mid 1996, as well as similar allegations from other cities in European Russia. Izvestia reported on September 4 that pogroms had taken place against ethnic Azerbaijanis in the Shira settlement in the Khakasian Republic in Siberia on April 8. Following the attacks, a meeting was allegedly held in which the expulsion of Roma was discussed.

The Service of Informational, Analytical and Legal Provisions of the Governor of the Yaroslavl District (SIALPGYD) reported that in June 1997, two Romani camps moved to the district of Yaroslavl, approximately 250 kilometers northeast of Moscow, became engaged in a violent conflict with the militia and subsequently left the region. Also according to the SIALPGYD, three locals attempted to kill two Romani individuals on June 17, 1997, in the town of Sokolovka, near Yaroslavl. The locals allegedly shot at the Roma with automatic rifles, injuring but not killing them. The SIALPGYD also reported that there is an influx of Roma from Tajikistan and the southern republics to Russian cities such as Yaroslavl. In Yaroslavl, the immigration service reportedly stated, „They are not our clients, they are Roma.”

(Izvestia, Service of Informational, Analytical and Legal Provisions of the Govemor of the Jaroslavl District)