http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/18/international/europe/18MOSC.html

African Students' Harsh Lesson: Racism Is Astir in
Russia
By SETH MYDANS

Published: December 18, 2003


MOSCOW, Dec. 17 — The morning starts with 100 push-ups
for Constant Olivier Diboi Kath as he prepares for the
most dangerous moment of his day — his subway ride to
chemistry class on the other side of town.

Mr. Diboi Kath, 23, is an exchange student from
Cameroon, and like many other African college students
in Russia he says he feels threatened by racist thugs
every time he leaves his dormitory.

He has been abused, beaten and even shot during his
five years at People's Friendship University, where
about one-third of the students come from developing
countries.

"At any hour you must be ready to fight," he said over
loud rock music in a campus cafeteria. "On the Metro,
on the road, on the street, everywhere. So every
morning you have to do your 100 push-ups."

Racist attacks on foreigners here — Asians, Arabs and
especially blacks — have been a continuing problem
whose victims have included diplomats and American
Embassy Marine guards as well as students.

Last year, ambassadors from 37 African nations
appealed to the Foreign Ministry for protection for
their citizens. Human rights groups have documented
widespread harassment, often with the compliance or
support of the police.

Racist attitudes lie deep within the Russian psyche
and are growing even worse now, said Aleksandr Brod,
director of the Moscow Human Rights Bureau, a private
group that monitors discrimination. The driving force,
he said, is the proliferation of white-supremacist
skinhead groups, which enjoy widespread support and
are fueled by nationalist political groups and
publications.

There are now some 200 nationalist publications around
the country with racial overtones, he said. In
parliamentary elections earlier this month, a dozen
parties campaigned on extremist nationalist agendas,
with considerable success.

"All this Nazi ideology gives rise to hatred of all
non-Russians," Mr. Brod said. "And so, many people
even think skinheads are not bandits and hooligans but
Russian patriots who are fighting for the purity of
Russian society."

As a result, he said, "literally every week in Moscow
and in other regions of Russia there are attacks by
skinheads on members of minorities," some of which, he
said, are fatal.

A suspicious late-night fire that took at least 42
lives at Friendship University three weeks ago has
intensified fears among minority students here. A
number of them — particularly Chinese students — have
cut short their studies and headed home, fellow
students said.

"If there is another incident like this, we are all
going to leave," said a 23-year-old student from Gabon
who would give only his first name, Georges. "I just
want to finish quickly and leave Russia forever,
forever."

The university, which now has 12,000 students, opened
as Patrice Lumumba University in 1960 to serve
students from countries the Soviet Union supported in
Africa, Asia and Latin America. 

Although the fire is officially described as an
accident, most minority students are convinced that it
was arson. They say that for weeks, both before and
after the fire, bomb threats forced students into the
cold streets during the class day or in the middle of
the night.

The fire took place in a dormitory for newly arrived
foreign students, including students from Angola,
China, Vietnam, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Ivory
Coast and Tahiti.

Survivors said the reaction of the college
administration only added to their feeling that they
were outcasts.

"They did not even give us one day off," said Sydney
Ocran, 23, a journalism student from Liberia who
videotaped the fire.

"There were students inside banging on the glass,
calling for help," he said. "I took a close shot of
the hands banging on the glass, and then their hands
just went down the glass, sliding like that, and they
were gone."

And that was that.

"They put out the fire at 4 or 5 a.m. and students
went to school at 9 a.m.," Mr. Ocran said. "That is
amazing to me. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I feel
that they do this because most of the victims are
foreigners."

At the Moscow Protestant Chaplaincy, where many
African students find spiritual refuge, talking about
the attacks has become a part of the service.

"Nearly every week, or every other week, someone
stands up and says, `Please pray for me, I had a
run-in with skinheads,' or, `Pray for my friend who
was beaten by the police,' " said the pastor, John
Calhoun.

Muslims can be targets as well. Last summer, a
19-year-old medical student from Malaysia was beaten
at a McDonald's restaurant apparently because she was
wearing a head scarf. " `Russia is for Russians,'
that's their motto," said the woman, who declined to
give her name. "They were just laughing, laughing. It
was because of my head scarf. They didn't like me
wearing this."

An attack can happen anywhere, Mr. Diboi Kath said,
but some times and places are worse than others. "Like
the Metro Green Line," he said. "If you want to die,
you go there at 6 o'clock."

National holidays and major sports events — with their
drunkenness and heightened passions — are times to
stay home, many students said. Mr. Diboi Kath said
that although he loved sports, he had never been to a
soccer stadium or a basketball game in Moscow. "It's
like a dream for me," he said. "The cinema is like a
dream. If you go to the cinema or to a stadium, it
means you want to die."

Mr. Ocran is a refugee who fled fighting in Liberia 13
years ago and took refuge in Ghana. From there, he won
a scholarship to study in Moscow, only to find new
dangers.

"The only time I feel safe is when I am in my room —
at least, 60 percent safe," he said. Unlike some
poorer students, though, he is able to take a break
during the summers to visit his wife and sons in their
refugee camp.

"When I return to Ghana, it's like I'm released from
prison, like I'm a free bird," he said. "I get so
happy. I am so happy when I sit on the airplane. I
don't have to worry who is going to beat me."

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