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12.11.2007
 We
need...your help
“International support is vital and valued” explains
St Petersburg anti-fascist activist Bruno Garmson
It is not easy being an anti-fascist in Russia at the moment. We are
under constant attack from racists and fascists and we receive little
or no protection from the authorities. Several of our activists have been
murdered in recent years and even when the attackers are caught they often
walk free with suspended sentences.
The rapid decline of Russia’s fledgling democracy, marked by gross
violations of human rights during the government’s Chechen campaigns,
the granting by parliament of unprecedented powers to the secret service,
the abolition of elected executives (governors, mayors etc), the introduction
of censorship and political show-trials and murders have changed the political
atmosphere. This has enabled nazis and their extreme-rightist allies to
stage campaigns as well as using nationalism as an alibi to commit murders,
many of which go unpunished.
Outside Russia, this is not always easy to grasp.
In the heroic stories about the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 against
the Nazis that flicker almost nightly on Russian television screens, it
is nowadays hard to find any other motives described than “defending
the motherland”.
Unfortunately, there are few eyewitnesses left who can describe the genuine
anti-fascist enthusiasm they felt for the Republican cause in the Spanish
Civil War or spell out the common conviction, held during the Second World
War, that the Nazis intended to enslave and exterminate Russian citizens
as subhumans and explain how, therefore, the anti-fascist struggle was
above all a battle of humanity against fascist barbarism.
Today’s Russian nazis use official nationalist myths about the
war both as proof of Russia’s superiority and as an example of how
the Stalin regime misled the whole Russian people, sacrificing millions
of soldiers and civilians against Hitler’s anti-Bolshevik crusade
to “liberate” the Russians. Ignorance about Soviet history,
lack of a proper analysis of the theory and practice of fascism and the
reduction of the term “anti-fascism” to mean simply a nationalistic
fight against the enemies of Russia make it difficult to oppose such obvious
lies.
Real anti-fascism, challenging nationalism and facing down nazism, is
a risky course of action. Such “dissident” behaviour is viewed
as “suspicious opposition” to the policies of President Vladimir
Putin and the state. Any person displaying such behaviour is regarded
as an “extremist”, like the nazis. Openly opposing fascism
means being targeted by the violent gangs of nazis who patrol the streets
of Russia’s cities looking for victims to attack in broad daylight.
Young anti-fascists have started to fight back. The courageous stance
of young Russian anti-fascists against the growing street violence by
nazi gangs is often the subject of court proceedings, which have proved
inconsistent. The outcome of trials of nazi killers tends to depend on
what charges are brought by the public prosecutors: almost always hooliganism
(violently disrupting public order) or being involved in hooliganism.
There is no real pressure from the Kremlin or Duma (parliament) on public
prosecutors to use hate crime charges and there is a widespread practice
of negotiation between judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers to achieve
cooperation in trials. Finally and crucially, there is a lack of pressure
from anti-fascists who, because there is no deeply rooted democratic culture,
rarely get involved with investigations or court proceedings.
Here in St Petersburg, anti-fascists have actively helped the public
prosecutors as expert witnesses since the early 1990s and have run some
successful campaigns. The nazis reacted by murdering Nikolai Girenko in
2004, then the most visible anti-fascist specialist supporting the public
prosecutors in cases against fascists.
Now a younger generation of anti-fascists is emerging to oppose the nazis
in the courts and on the streets. Their battles are essential –
the alternative is capitulation – but expensive. It costs a great
deal of money to participate in court proceedings even when the lawyers
act pro bono. In the case against the murderers of Timur Kacharava, anti-fascist
funding enabled his family and friends to help put away his killers.
In Russia, there are no big trade unions, labour movements or long-standing
anti-racist structures with democratic anti-fascist traditions that we
can turn to for help. As a result, we depend on ourselves and the anti-fascist
movement internationally.
Support from our brothers, sisters, comrades and friends abroad is ever
more vital and valued.
Donate to the Russian Human Rights
Solidarity Fund
Please send donations to: Russian Human Rights Solidarity Campaign,
c/o Searchlight, PO Box 1576, Ilford, Essex IG5 0NG
Or pay directly into our account at: Russian Human Rights Solidarity
Campaign
Branch Sort Code: 40-03-36 Account Number: 41284479
IBAN : GB76MIDL40033641284479
SWIFT CODE : MIDLGB22 |
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Or donate through PayPal on the Searchlight
website.
 Antifa-Net
International Appeal
Solidarity With Anti-Fascists In Russia
ANTI-FASCISTS are under attack in Russia. Intimidation, terror and murder
by a new generation of neo-nazis are daily occurrences. The wave of violence
reached a peak this summer when film of the cold-blooded fascist assassination
of two people was posted on the internet.
That this is occurring in a country that lost many millions of people
toHitler’s Nazis in the Second World War is even more shocking.
The facts speak for themselves:
- 122 people have been murdered by racists and fascists in the past
two and a half years.
- There are an estimated 70,000 skinheads in Russia today.
- Anti-fascists are being systematically attacked and even murdered.
- The perpetrators are often charged only with “hooliganism”.
President Putin has promised to stamp out rightwing extremism but has
done little. Anti-fascists are not only few in number but are politically
isolated in the face of an enemy that whips up hatred and brutality against
immigrants and national, ethnic, religious and sexual minorities. Merely
“looking anti-fascist” means being targeted by the nazis who
patrol parts of most Russian cities looking for victims. In St Petersburg
and Moscow, nazis gather intelligence to track down anti-fascists, and
attack and, in some cases murder them.
Earlier anti-fascist campaigns against the public use of fascist symbols
and the sale of racist propaganda achieved some success but the nazis
reacted by murdering Professor Nikolai Girenko, one of the most highprofile
anti-fascist specialists who had supported these campaigns, at his St
Petersburg home.
The authorities talk proudly of the war against Hitler but do so now
from a nationalist standpoint. The nazis claim to be defending “Russian
identity” and “the interests of the Russian nation”
and the toleration of violent nazi gangs stems from the fact that Russian
nationalism is touted, even officially, as a remedy for the continuing
feelings of defeat resulting from the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Anti-fascists in Russia now desperately need financial and material assistance
but cannot generate this themselves. With funds, they can produce leaflets,
organise campaigns and pay for lawyers. They can also build up a more
organised, modern, computer-linked infrastructure to create proper networks
of resistance.
This can only come about through the international solidarity of progressive
people, and all anti-fascists and anti-racists outside Russia.
Donate to the Russian Human Rights
Solidarity Fund
Please send donations to: Russian Human Rights Solidarity Campaign,
c/o Searchlight, PO Box 1576, Ilford, Essex IG5 0NG
Or pay directly into our account at: Russian Human Rights Solidarity
Campaign
Branch Sort Code: 40-03-36 Account Number: 41284479
IBAN : GB76MIDL40033641284479
SWIFT CODE : MIDLGB22 |
|
Or donate through PayPal on the Searchlight
website.
Antifa-Net – The International
Antifascist Network for Research and Action was founded in January
2004. It has member groups in Germany, Great Britain, The Netherlands,
Austria, Norway, Denmark, France, Sweden, Switzerland, Poland, Russia
and the USA. Apabiz is one of the German representatives.
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