Text-book hypocrisy: Armenia hosts Council of Europe conference on combating racism, xenophobia and intolerance in Europe

UPDATE on Unzipped: Gay Armenia: P.S. The action. Photo, video, media reports: Armenia human rights activists protest and enter CoE conference in Yerevan exposing ruling regime’s hypocrisy
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On Monday Armenia hosts Council of Europe conference on "Combating racism, xenophobia and intolerance in Europe".

Just to remind that racism and ‘blood purity‘ are part of the ideology of ruling Republican party.

Earlier foreign minister Nalbandyan “told the Assembly that the Armenian Chairmanship is supporting the No Hate speech Movement” (source). What? Supporting "no hate speech movement"?! Needless to say that Armenia has no hate speech or hate crime legislation. It's all words. One face for the outside world, the very different one - for internal consumption.

In reality, high level Armenian officials condone anti-gay attacks, stir-up nationalism, intolerance, hate speech, xenophobia and racism.

This legal vacuum was clearly illustrated in May 2012 with the attack on gay-friendly bar DIY. This fuelled a rise in violence against the LGBT community, including by high profile politicians from the ruling Republican party, as well as church representatives and local media, which frequently relay messages of homophobic impunity (Yes to domestic violence and Yes to attacking gays).

The notion of diversity was once again attacked few days later, when neo-nazi elements attacked Diversity march to mark United Nation’s World Day of Cultural Diversity. They were encouraged by endorsement of homophobic hysteria and anti-gay violence on a very high state level that followed firebombing of DIY bar.

Other examples? Repeated attempts to hold Azeri film festival in Armenia sparked hatred and xenophobia, with direct physical attacks and abundance of hate speech.

More examples? More recent ones? In abundance.

Here is perhaps the most outrageously bizarre one. Deputy sports/youth minister of Armenia, neo-nazi Asryan claimed that opposition MP Zaruhi Postanjian should be burnt alive (!) for her CoE question. And... nothing. Still holds his position. No criminal proceeding. No challenge from the human rights ombudsman. No nothing. You would think that MPs from ruling party of the Council of Europe chairmanship country would retract the insults, reprimand their colleague at the very least? Nope. Pro-Government MPs Stand By Insults with more racist and xenophobic comments.

Of course, there was no challenge from the ombudsman because he himself was busy flirting with neo-nazi. Armenia human rights ombudsman targets trans sex workers and cites neo-nazi website as a basis for his statement.

More? There have been direct threats on Armenian Facebook to attack women rights and activists as part of 'gender equality' law hysteria. And the very latest demonstration of hatred by groups linked to certain elements within the ruling regime and Russia. A demonstration headed by high level priests against the law on gender equality and against human rights of LGBT people. This instantly reminded of ‘taburetka syndrom’ observed in Tbilisi earlier this year.

*picture - as shared on FB

The above are only few examples. This list can go on and on.

Before hosting such forums, first and foremost Armenia authorities must ensure in-house their determination and actions - not words or signatures, but real life actions - to combat intolerance, hate speech, xenophobia and racism. Right now, Armenia is not necessarily an oasis of tolerance in the region. It could have been. But it's not.

What we are witnessing with hosting such conference is a text-book example of hypocrisy.

So when you read headlines about this conference hosted by Armenia authorities, repeat after me: hypocrisy.

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Group of human rights activists intend to hold a protest action in front of the conference venue on Monday, exposing hypocrisy of the ruling regime in Armenia.

FB event (AM): Հոկտեմբերի 21-22ը Երևանի Մարիոթ Արմենիա հյուրանոցում տեղի կունենա "Պայքար Եվրոպայում խտրականության, այլատյացության և անհանդուրժողականության դեմ" միջազգային խորհրդաժողով: Նույն օրը առավոտյան 10:15-ին Մարիոթ Արմենիա հյուրանոցի դիմաց վերոնշյալ խնդրով մտահոգ Հայաստանի ակտիվ քաղաքացինները իրենց բողոքի ձայնը կբարձրացնեն Հայաստնում իշխանությունների կողմից իրականացվող խտրականության, այլատյացության և անհանդուրժողականության դեմ:

“Towards secure Armenia”: Public admission of fail with bizarre stage-managed election campaign launch

“Towards secure Armenia”- this is Armenia’s ruling republican party slogan for presidential campaign. Effectively, this is a very public admission that president failed in ensuring one of his main duties, as per Constitution:

Article 49 The President of the Republic shall be the guarantor of the independence, territorial integrity and security of the Republic of Armenia. 

Their campaign launched with a music video where everyone is happy smiling and dancing literally everywhere. It depicts a disturbing picture of nation under drugs. The only dancing part that - unfortunately! - looks believable is dancing in the airport before the plane’s take off. “Towards secure Armenia”? Ha!

The very threat to the security of Armenia is a current political establishment headed by republican party with formally accepted neo-nazi style ideology. A party whose high level officials, including the spokesman, publicly and unashamedly support terrorism against a group of their own citizens and spread intolerance and discrimination towards anyone who does not fit into their ‘national standards’.

Never before my friends and relatives in Armenia were so indifferent to presidential election. It’s no news for them, just a time for occasional mocking (in a #funnysad way) looking at the clownery named “campaign” (with few exceptions of Heritage party leader, ex-FM Raffi Hovhannisyan and ex-PM Hrant Bagratyan).

Just how fake everything connected with the ruling republican party is perfectly illustrated in this video.... Not that we needed any additional proof. 

Here in this video, unzipping a blatant stage-management of the campaign, school children were trained to greet current Armenia president. The video then continues to present slightly different version of ruling party's presidential election campaign music clip. Closer to the reality.



And in case you were nostalgic of Soviet/Stalinist style “Dear party leader” nauseating lines, watch this pretty #funnysad clip from one of week No.1 election campaign meetings of current president Serj Sargsyan. I will never look at my childhood favourite Cheburashka the same way again. Not only they ruin the country. They ruin my childhood memories too.

To do: ‘Persona non grata’ on human rights grounds for certain Armenia officials, individuals and groups

Human rights abuses should never be considered an internal matter for any country.

I have already mentioned this in relation to recent events in Armenia when certain high level officials supported and encouraged anti-gay violence, and some of ultra-nationalist and neo-nazi groups and individuals attacked gay friendly venues and events.

Few of them are indicated in the Homophobia Hall of Shame. Examples: deputy speaker of parliament, spokesman of ruling Republican party Eduard Sharmazanov; now ex-MP, president of Armenia Football Federation Ruben Hayrapetyan (nicknamed ‘Nemets Rubo’); MP from ARF Dashnaktsutyun party Artsvik Minasyan; ultra-nationalist, neo-nazi groups Hayazn union, Armenian Aryan Union and so on.

There are more people, of course, re other human rights abuses too.

USA and European embassies should take this issue very seriously, and people who commit human rights abuses (whether alone or as members of groups or organisations) should be blacklisted and denied visa. [As far as I understood, the process is on]

At the very least this will create inconvenience and hurt their personal and business interests and reputation and send pretty strong message that anti-gay and other human rights abuses are certainly not OK.

Below is an example, as detailed by The Sunday Times, re some Russian officials:

[...] Details of the blacklist have been disclosed by the immigration minister, Damian Green, in a letter to a Tory MP. Green said a list of 60 officials, including prosecutors, judges, tax inspectors, police and prison chiefs, compiled by an American congressional committee, had been sent to the British embassy in Moscow. “[It] will be considered if an entry clearance application is received from any of the named individuals,”  

Green wrote. The minister said that the British government “was committed to applying the power contained in the immigration rules to refuse entry to those who have committed human rights abuses.” 

 */emphasis mine/ 

"I sign this petition in memory of my great-grandfather" - To the Government of Armenia: Honor the Constitutional Right of Each Citizen [including LGBT]

As I posted earlier, the Armenian Gay and Lesbian Association of New York has sponsored historic petition co-signed by 20+ leading Armenian cultural figures who have unified their voices to support human rights in Armenia. This is the first time such a petition has been created in support of LGBT human rights in Armenia.

Chairman of Golden Apricot International Film Festival, one of my favourite film-makers, prominent Canadian Armenian director Atom Egoyan is among those who co-signed the petition.

It has since been supported by more than 300 (at the time of writing this post) Armenian and foreign citizens, including well known activists, cultural, art figures.

Comments are being posted under the petition by people who signed it.

Here is a very touching one by Christine Allen:

My great-grandfather, Shukrey Sanjiyan, was brutally attacked during a pogrom in Tarsus on November 15, 1895. He managed to survive and made his way to the U.S. via France in 1897. The rest of his family was slaughtered during the genocide. It is in his memory that I, his lesbian great-granddaughter, sign this petition. My wife and I have been together for over 26 years and our youngest daughter, Kalie Sanjiyan, carries his name. I work for equal rights for all people in America, and I support equal rights for all people in the homeland of my heart, Armenia.

[For more comments - follow this link to the petition.]

Please sign and share the petition with all your friends, family and allies. [The Armenian translation has now been posted with English original]

Armenia: A Slow Slide Into Fascism? (Huffington Post)

Very powerful post by Christopher Atamian on Huffington Post. A must read that should act as an alarm bell.

"Now of course is not the time to abandon Armenia. Armenia continues to be a strong ally of the United States. Armenians around the world, in spite of the oligarchs' best efforts to destroy their people's reputation as an educated, hard-working minority, continue to be a symbol of survival and success. But LGBT organizations, the American government and the relatively powerful Armenian diaspora must unite in putting real pressure on the Armenian government to reverse the worrying anti-democratic and fascistic developments that threaten to completely engulf the country. The Armenian government must not only fight corruption, it must publicly oppose attacks on all minorities, particularly LGBT people, and promote an atmosphere of democracy and tolerance in the country. Not to do so is to shame Armenians around the world, not to mention the memory of 1.5 million people who lost their lives during the Armenian Genocide."

***

Read it following the link below; also re-posted on Unzipped: Gay Armenia.

Huffington Post

Armenia: A Slow Slide Into Fascism?

Christopher Atamian 

Writer, director, producer and translator 

Spokesman of Armenia Republican party Eduard Sharmazanov & co should be denied visa to civilised world as supporters of terrorism in their country

Absolutely disgusting and outrageous! Pretty much nauseating, in fact. 

Armenia ruling Republican party spokesman, MP Eduard Sharmazanov in a statement to local media explicitly supported firebombers of DIY bar in capital Yerevan. [Republican party of Armenia is a member of the European People’s party]. 

He dubbs terrorist act by firebombers against gay friendly DIY bar a “rebellion” and - echoing ARF MP Artsvik Minasyan - calls it “right and justified” (!!!) 

Another MP of ruling Republican party Hovhannes Sahakyan similarly supported the attackers and the stance of two MPs of ARF Dashnaktsutyun who bailed out firebomber and (in case of Artsvik Minasyan) justified the attack. He praised firebombers who made a “practical step” and have not just satisfied with online discussions (!!!). 

What is going on in Armenia? Are we seriously moving towards state sponsored fascism? I thought we were moving towards Europe... 

And this is happening in a country that made significant contribution to the fight against fascism... In a country that survived the Genocide... 

This can no longer be considered as "internal affairs" of Armenia. This is developing into a real threat towards lives and freedom of citizens of Republic of Armenia. Terrorists acts are being justified and encouraged at a very high state level of the Armenian parliament and ruling party. Anti-gay attackers are being effectively proclaimed as 'national heroes’.

Spokesman of Armenia’s Republican party Eduard Sharmazanov & co should be denied visa to civilised world as supporters of terrorism in their country.

For more details - read Unzipped: Gay Armenia

Read also: To do: ‘Persona non grata’ on human rights grounds for certain Armenia officials, individuals and groups

ARF Dashnaktsutyun Armenia MP Artsvik Minasyan justifies terrorism. Party must disassociate itself from disgraced MP statements

MPs of ARF Dashnaktsutyun party bail out neo-nazi attacker of DIY bar. Dashnak MP Artsvik Minasyan supports arson attack, effectively encouraging terrorism in Armenia 

...amid reports of new attack on DIY.

*picture by Lara Aharonian

For details - read Unzipped: Gay Armenia

HATE CRIME ALERT: popular free-spirited DIY bar in Armenia capital Yerevan under neo-nazi arson attack

"No to Fascism" - "I am DIY" 

On 8 May 2012 when countries in Europe, former Soviet Union and elsewhere started marking the anniversary of the end of World War II, Armenian neo-nazi elements decided to mark it with an attack towards the oasis of freedom in Yerevan, my favourite venue - DIY bar.


PICTURES, VIDEO, REPORTS FROM HATE CRIME SCENE - read Unzipped: Gay Armenia

Beware: zombies and Hitler lookalikes invaded downtown Yerevan

*Liberty sq, downtown Yerevan, 4 March 2012 (picture by Sergey Sargsyan)

...And this group “Hayots Artsivner” [‘Armenian Eagles’] is headed by deputy minister of sport and youth affairs Khachik Asryan. Disgusting is an understatement. Unacceptable and shameful for government official is an understatement. Shouldn’t be surprising though, taking into account that ruling Republican party is favouring such ideology: Exposed: racism and 'blood purity' part of ideology of Armenia ruling Republican party? [interestingly, website of the Republican party is not working as of now]

They - plus other neo-nazi groups, like Mek Azg etc. - look and sound more like clowns, and it’s hard, very hard to take them seriously.

However... We may laugh as long and as hard as we wish, but suddenly we may wake up with these people invading Armenia for real. Then, there will be a no laughing matter.

Ever was curious how I 'became' gay? What sort of "propaganda" turned me, a little child, into a homosexual guy?

Read this on Unzipped: Gay Armenia -

How I ‘became’ gay. A very personal reflection ahead of return to Stalinism and Fascism in Russia

Exposed: racism and 'blood purity' part of ideology of Armenia ruling Republican party?

Thanks to a Facebook friend of mine, I did something I have never done before (or never had any desire whatsoever to do). I looked at the library of ideological publications produced by Armenia's ruling Republican party. In particular, one ‘fundamental’ and pretty 'mind-blowing’ publication. Trust me, that was more than enough for me. What I read there is disgusting, and believe you me, "disgusting" is an understatement.

It's a publication about ‘foundations’ of Armenian family and gender roles (published by Republican party in 2002 and available under the “library” section of their official website).

It uses N-word to refer to black people and 'justifies' the notion of 'purity of blood' calling for no mixed marriages in order to preserve... yes, that very same 'purity of blood' + more racist rant. I am not even going further into their 'defining' of gender roles etc. If this is not a Nazi and racist ideology, then what is it?

For a country with European inclination, or in fact for any country, this is an appalling display of what should have no place in modern world, let alone as part of the ideology of ruling party.  I wonder if Armenia president and PM, as party leaders, are aware of these ideological 'pearls' and whether they share what is supposedly part of their own party ideology? Either they should immediately ditch them from their 'library' and distance themselves from what was expressed in this and similar party publications or people associated with the Republican party risk putting shame on themselves and on Armenia's reputation.

Just to illustrate the point, below are only few extracts from the “Armenian Family” (“ՀԱՅ ԸՆՏԱՆԻՔ” - AM) publication (Republican Party of Armenia, Yerevan 2002):

Երբ մի քանի տարի առաջ ժառանգաբան Նվարդ Քոչարին հարցրեցինք, թե արդյոք ինքը համաձայն կլիներ, որ հայը, օրինակ, նեգրի հետ ամուսնանար, նա պատասխանեց.

- Եթե ընտրեց, ամուսնացավ, այո, համաձայն եմ: Կարեւորը որ նա հայկական միջավայրում ապրի եւ հայանա: Ինչ վատ կլինի, եթե նեգրի երաժշտականությունը, ռիթմի զգացողությունը ներմուծվի:

Թե ինչպես պիտի նեգրը հայանա, նույնիսկ երեւակայությունը թույլ չի տալիս պատկերացնել: Իսկ որ հայերս երաժշտականության բնածին պակաս ունենք եւ ստիպված պիտի ուրիշից ներմուծենք, շատ անլուրջ է:

Ներկայումս խառնազգի ամուսնությունները մեզանում (լինի Հայրենիքում, թե Սփյուռքում) առավելապես կատարվում են հաշվենկատորեն, երբ, բարեկեցիկ կյանքի ակնկալիքով, շատ հայեր “ամուսնանում” են եվրոպացիների, ամերիկացիների, արդեն` նաեւ պարսիկների, արաբների հետ:

Արյունախառնության կողմնակիցները գտնում են, որ իբր խաչասերումից առաջացած սերունդն ավելի ոժեղ և խելոք է լինում: Դժվար թե: [...] օրինակ, մուլատների մոտ ակնհայտ են մտավոր պակասությունները:

Fascism during Vartavar

Armenian Aryans, ultra-nationalists, anti-semitic and homophobic group based in Armenia, apparently hijacked the Vartavar celebrations in Garni again.

Horrific picture.

No wonder that Norwegian right wing terrorist may have found links in Armenia too.

*picture by Onnik Krikorian

Norway terrorist’s alleged diary indicate links to Armenia far right nationalists

The extract below is believed to be from Norway mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik diary or manifesto. It suggests that this guy may have developed links to far right nationalists / neo-nazi in Armenia too.

Quote thanks to Nazarian posting /emphasis mine/:

“March 2010

I have ended my “email acquisition phase” ending up with a grand total of 5700 Facebook contacts (2 accounts) and a total of 8000 high quality email addresses (representing all spheres of cultural conservative thought). I now have a direct way forwarding my compendium to a good portion of the most dedicated nationalist oriented individuals in all Western European countries, including the US, Australia, Canada, South Africa, certain Eastern European countries, Armenia, Israel and even India. This task has taken me several months and it pained me to purge all my FB contacts. I’ve talked and discussed with hundreds of patriotic individuals (many whom are nationalist oriented intellectuals fighting the good fight), many good people, which made the decision to purge the contacts even harder. I have now moderated by FB profile considerably and transformed it to a politically correct profile. I do fear sometimes that my endeavours relating to the research of the book, and acquisitions of these addresses has resulted in me being put on various watch lists. I know that at least a few of the profiles I invited are fake, and used for information gathering for various European and US intelligence agencies. The question is; have they flagged me? I guess I will find out eventually...”
***
This information about possible links of Norwegian murderer to Armenian nationalist groups or individuals is very worrying, indeed. This is what should be considered a matter of national security and swiftly investigated by relevant agencies in Armenia.

I may only hope that the enormous tragedy in Norway will serve as a wake-up call for people and governments in broader Europe, including Armenia, on the rise of neo-nazi and other full-of-hatred groups in the continent.

Nationalists gone hysterical in Armenian sector of Facebook over Azeri Film Festival in Yerevan

It’s funny how Armenian nationalists, self-proclaimed propagandists or ‘defendants’ of Armenian interests (whether in Armenia or Diaspora) are all up in arms to express their “outrage” when Armenian writers, artists, or anything Armenia related get threatened, abused and discriminated against in Turkey or Azerbaijan. They are all up in arms to “protest” and “expose” discrimination and abuse directed at few brave Turkish or Azeri voices who express different to the ‘accepted’ views in relation to Armenia, Karabakh or the Armenian Genocide.

But look at the nationalist hysteria that was generated and going on after the event’s page was set up for the Azeri Film Festival in Yerevan, Armenia (see poster above and FB page). Many of the most vocal and repetitive haters are those born in/around early 90s, a so called ‘lost generation’, who probably saw this as a chance for self-affirmation or whatever.

I am not going to repeat totally sh*tty language they use to show off how ‘patriotic’ they are and how ‘treacherous’ the organisers or supporters/attendants of the film festival are.

I strongly believe that art, and culture, do not recognise borders. Even if countries are at the state of war. Art, and films, are the best way for ordinary people to get to know each other better, to break the ice, even or especially in case of closed borders. There is also internet, of course, and meetings outside the national borders.

I have no problem if there are people who protest the idea or the fact of the festival. It’s their right. But do it in a (at least remotely) civilised way, without engaging the lowest possible denominator of nationalist/racist crap, personal attacks and threats to individuals. There is a fine line when freedom of speech gets transformed into something that should be considered within the frames of legal/criminal code. Many have already crossed that line.

And they pour tons of hatred, slander, nationalist crap and threats towards (among others) one of the brightest and the bravest souls in contemporary Armenia, writer and activist, and dreamer Lusine Vayachyan, who happened to help the organiser to set up the event’s page in Facebook, and supports the idea of film festival. Vayach, you have my respects. If only we have more dreamers in Armenia...

It’s an unfortunate reality that ‘treacherous’ Armenians become heroes only after their death. R.I.P., Hrant Dink...

*Recommended reading:

Azerbaijan Film Festival in Yerevan Sparks Hatred and Xenophobia

Armenian Writer Threatened for Facebook Page on Azerbaijan Film Screenings in Yerevan

No Enemy Nations, Only Regressive Societies and Governments: Ara Nedolyan

Intolerance Hidden Under Veil of Patriotism is Dangerous: Opinion

Hatred and Xenophobia is Alive and Well

Armenian neo-nazi vandalised Holocaust memorial in downtown Yerevan

This is disgusting, and a reflection of leniency towards such hate groups in Armenia: neo-nazi, anti-semitic, homophobic...

Since its installation, this memorial has been repeatedly vandalised.

And this is happening in a country that suffered the 1st Genocide of the 20th century...

*picture - by Photolur, via A1+

Terrorist-like threat to Armenian government: silence the writer

Group of Armenian ultra-nationalists, a copycat of Russia’s and others’ neo-nazi, united under the so called Hayrenik (‘Motherland’) movement, published a post on their website threatening the life of Armenian author writing under the name Dori An. Dori An is the author of award winning gay-themed short story in Yerevan. In one of his posts, he also touches the recently headlining issue of gay Charents (prominent Armenian poet). This outrages ultra-nationalists which call it a “war against Armenian nation, therefore against us”. Of course, according to them, all is planned from the “outside” to “demoralise” our society. [This is in line with the recent surge of homophobic and hate attacks in Armenia, including some local media and comments in Armenian sector of Facebook.]

They provide Armenian government with the ultimatum type message: either you silence Dori An, using “legal means”, or we will do it by our means and methods. ‘Message’ is accompanied by Al-Qaeda terrorist-like picture, or its poor copycat.

[...]

Failing to produce any ‘results’ by ‘fighting external enemies’, and failing on all fronts, these ultra-nationalists try to create ‘internal enemies’ to justify their very own existence.

This is a direct threat to person’s life and the right for free speech, the very basic human rights protected under Armenian constitution. After all, this is effectively a terrorist-like ultimatum to Armenian government, and law enforcement agencies in Armenia should take up the case for further proceedings.

For more and comments - see Unzipped: Gay Armenia

*photo of Russia's neo-nazi, via San Francisco Sentinel

Zhirinovsky at “Tashir” Armenian Music Awards – OMG!

The 4th Armenian music awards ceremony “Tashir 2009” was held on 4 April at the State Kremlin Palace in Moscow. It’s one of the headlining dates in Armenian pop music calendar.

I am not going to discuss the show itself, except for in P.S. below. You may find many video clips on a YouTube channel. What I am disturbed with was the ‘performance’ of Zhirinovsky there.

Why on earth such an odious Russian nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky (Wikipedia ) was invited and had a speech devoted to the Armenian cause there? Was this a music show or what? Can’t we just have a nice Armenian music entertainment show, celebrating in this case a pop music, without involving politics, especially coming from Russian nationalists? Did the organisers actually think that just because Zhirinovsky delivered a ‘devoted’ to the “Armenian Question” speech full of hate to other nations and chauvinism would do any good to publicising our issues? He sounded more nationalistic but extremely fake (!) than those coming from some Armenian circles. I felt nauseous after watching his speech (video). Can’t some people understand that Zhirinovsky & co do not give a shit about Armenian problems, instead promoting their very own specific agenda. The PR-ed affiliation of such people with the Armenian issues could do only harm to their international perception.

P.S. Inga and Anush Arshakyan presented their Eurovision entry Jan Jan (Nor Par) at Tashir ceremony too. That was one hell of a messy choreography (video). Urgent attention needed.

The rise of Russia's neo-nazi

Luke Harding of San Francisco Sentinel details the rise of Russia's neo-nazi movement, providing (among others) a chilling account of the murder of ethnic Armenian by one of those groups in Moscow.


By LUKE HARDING

San Francisco Sentinel

It was 9.10pm and Karen Abramian was returning home to his flat in southwest Moscow. Abramian had been visiting his parents in a nearby tower block. His journey back took five minutes - past a series of grey high-rise buildings soaring into Moscow’s packed skyline and a children’s playground, and up a modest flight of steps. As he punched in the entrance code, two young men, one wearing a baseball cap and one a bandana, approached him from behind. And then they stabbed him. They stabbed him again - methodically slashing his head, neck, back and stomach. Abramian pleaded with his attackers. “Don’t do this. Please take my money,” he begged them. His assailants - two slight, boyish, almost nerdish figures - ignored him, stabbing him 56 times. At this moment, Abramian’s wife Marta peered out of their ninth-floor apartment window and spotted two boys beating a dark shape lying on the ground. The couple’s 14-year-old son Georgy, who had been playing nearby, found his father in the entrance, bleeding profusely. Georgy took off his T-shirt (it was April, still winter in Russia, and bitterly cold), wrapped it around his father and ran upstairs. Abramian was conscious when Georgy came back with a blanket and pillow. Georgy wrapped his father in it and they waited in the gloom for an ambulance. Abramian told his son simply: “They were skinheads.” Four hours later, in the early hours of 17 April 2007, Abramian was dead. Doctors had been unable to stem the colossal loss of blood.

The names of Abramian’s killers are Artur Ryno and Pavel Skachevsky, both 17. Their motive for murdering Abramian, the 46-year-old boss of a Moscow insurance company, was ideological. As they saw it, Abramian’s violent death was part of a national liberation movement - an ambitious, quasi-mystical struggle to get rid of Russia’s foreigners, in which they played the role of hero-warriors. The boys had picked Abramian because he was an ethnic Armenian. But his murder was an act of random racist violence: Ryno and Skachevsky spotted him on the street and decided impulsively to kill him. They were apprehended by a neighbour who witnessed the attack and ran after them. They insouciantly escaped on the number 26 tram, but the neighbour, a former investigator, flagged down a passing police Lada and gave chase. Police officers halted the tram and arrested both boys. Ryno and Skachevsky had turned their blood-soaked overcoats inside out; their victim, however, had managed to grab one of them by the arm, leaving behind a bloody print. They made no attempt to disguise their crime; on the contrary, they were proud of it. In their rucksack, detectives discovered 10in knives. In custody, investigators asked Ryno and Skachevsky whether they had committed other murders. To their surprise, the teenagers said they had. In a period of nine months, from August 2006 to April 2007, when they stabbed Abramian, they had killed 20 people and attacked at least 12 others, who had survived. Initially, the police were highly sceptical, assuming that the boys were delusional. Gradually, however, investigators began to confirm Ryno and Skachevsky’s fantastic claims. Prosecutors established that the diminutive pair had indeed killed 20 people.

Ryno and Skachevsky are among the worst mass murderers in Russia’s modern history. Three hours before Abramian’s murder the pair stabbed to death Kyril Sadikov, a Tajik. They ate some food, then set off in search of their next victim. The 45-page court indictment against them shows a disturbing pattern, with the skinheads lying in wait next to different suburban metro stations and stabbing their victims 15 to 60 times. The victims had one thing in common: they weren’t Slavs. Most were guest workers toiling in Moscow’s building industry or as cleaners in the capital’s communal courtyards and urban parks. Nobody knows how many low-wage gastarbeiter are currently resident in Moscow, a teeming metropolis of 12 million people - estimates range from 200,000 to 2 million. Typically, Ryno and Skachevsky’s targets had fled poverty and the impoverished former Soviet republics of Central Asia - Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Others were from China. A few were “of Caucasian appearance”, as the charge sheet puts it, from Russia’s troubled southern provinces of Chechnya or Dagestan.

Like all warriors involved in a holy war, as they perceived it, the boys sometimes made mistakes: several of their dark-skinned victims were actually ethnic Russians. […]

I later discover that most Russian skinheads revere the Führer, believing that his only mistake was to attack Russia. The average age here is about 15 or 16; the style is baseball caps, Burberry scarves and Lonsdale - the uniform of the British far-right. One skinhead even has a Union Flag jacket. There are several girls. The skinheads adhere to two ultra-nationalist groups - the Movement Against Illegal Immigration and the Slavic Union. […]

In December 2008, Ryno and Skachevsky were sentenced to 10 years in jail, the maximum sentence for a juvenile. Five other members of their gang were jailed for between six and 20 years. […] Ryno made a final speech to the jury. In a rambling address, he explained that he committed the murders for the “tsar, country, and monarchy”. Later he revealed that after prison he intends to embark on a new career. He wants to be a politician.

Marta Abramian shows off a photo of her husband, taken a month before his murder. As well as their son Georgy, the couple have two strikingly pretty dark-haired daughters, Meline and Karine, now 20 and 21. The photos show Karen dancing with his girls at a party; other snaps show the family relaxing on holiday in Egypt, next to a camel; there are black and white photos of Karen’s happy boyhood in Baku, Azerbaijan. The couple met and courted in Baku, but in the late 80s they moved to Moscow when war erupted between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Karen studied at Moscow University and then joined an insurance firm, rising to become its general director. He wrote poems and composed songs. “He was a wonderful father, a wonderful son and wonderful husband,” Marta says. “I never thought this could happen to my husband. We considered ourselves real citizens of Russia. We work here. We pay taxes. This is our country.”

We meet in the apartment of Karen’s parents, Asya, 75, and Georgy, 76. They sit together on the sofa holding their son’s framed photo; his murder outrages them still. After an hour punctuated by phone calls from the court - the skinheads’ trial is just ending - Marta takes us to the spot where Karen was murdered. Next to the entrance, she has planted a small fir tree; she and the kids still live upstairs on the ninth floor. “It’s so we can remember Daddy,” she says. “It’s very difficult without him. There is just an empty shape. Nothing can fill the emptiness.”

*photo - via San Francisco Sentinel

Armenian bachelors among the most desired in Moscow

For the third year in a row, the highest number of marriages with foreign citizens in Moscow in 2008 were with citizens of Turkey, reports Interfax (via Tert.am). This followed by Germany, US, Israel and the UK.

Among the CIS countries (ex-Soviet states), the ‘most desired’ are citizens of Ukraine followed by Armenia, Moldova, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan (all sharing the second place).

On one hand, this may sound like an encouraging statistics having the background of recent surge in racist, neo-nazi attacks on foreigners in Moscow, especially from the Caucasus and Asia. However, this perhaps a reflection of numbers of ethnic Armenians etc. who are Moscow residents and tend to marry their compatriots too.

Armenian neo-nazi get united and organised. Does anyone care?

In December 2008, just before New Year holidays, the Association of Armenian Nationalists was established in Armenia by notorious ultra-nationalist groups and individuals. Among them – Armenian Aryan Order, ultra-nationalist group known for its anti-semitism and homophobia. The declared aim of this newly established union is “bringing together similarly-minded people in Diaspora and Armenia, and the creation of a strong Armenian nationalist organisation”.

They made number of political statements in past, related to current issues; number of hateful speeches to put themselves into headlines. They did even small protest action against Israel over Gaza. Do not get fooled. The rights of the Palestine people are the least they care about. They have different agenda.

True, these groups’ influence seems insignificant for now, and the situation in Armenia is not as dramatic as in Russia where numerous ethnic Armenians, along with other foreigners or non-Russian locals were murdered by neo-nazi. However, prevention is the best way to deal with the problem. Surrounded by significant internal and external problems, more nationalism and intolerance is the least which Armenia needs now. The key to solving many existing problems in our society, as well as those facing internationally is more tolerance and less nationalism.

Any exhibition of hate by these groups or this newly established union should face the strongest opposition of mainstream political forces, civil society and law-enforcement agencies. This is, of course, more like a wishful thinking. Sadly, the reality is different, and at times it’s very difficult to discern voices of our mainstream political parties or civil society representatives from those of neo-nazi. In past, not a single politician, civil society representative or media outlet (one or two exceptions) condemned hateful statements by Avetisyan, head of Aryans.

Interestingly, as head of Aryans mentioned during a press conference yesterday, they will aim to collaborate with similar organisations in neighbouring countries, as well as Europe and... Russia. I wonder what the ‘outcome’ of their meeting with the Russian ‘colleagues’ would be. So far we are aware of only one type of ‘outcome’ after such ‘meetings’.

We do not want instances of hate graffiti and hate speech to evolve into something uglier, do we?


*source of photos: Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2007