28-03-2011
Action against racism in Kyiv
A group of seven young persons attacked Pakistani and Hindu on March 24 at 9 p.m. in the very centre of Kyiv nearby the building of National Conservatory named after Chaikovskyi. Assailants were beating the foreigners silently not asking for money or valuable things. According to the words of eyewitness, policemen being 50 m before the incidents did not hurry to help in spite of cries. Pakistani Salman Ahmed arriving to Kyiv for international conference on ecologic standards a day before has such injures as broken nose and cut lip. Indian businessman Zuber Chogla’s nose is also broken and there is haematoma under the eye who has been engaged in affairs between Ukraine and India in the course of ten years. They stayed in the hospital till March 28.
The incident happened when the group of foreigners were walking along the market place and came up to the conservatory in order to take some photos. The suffered men, Ahmed and Chogl dropped behind their friends for some meters when they were attacked from the back. Ahmed said that he fainted and came to himself in the pool of blood.
“They did not demand anything from us, they said nothing and just beat us, – he recollects the details of ill-fated evening. – I do not have any explanation as the colour of the skin and shape of eyes.”
The criminal case as to this incident was opened because abused persons refused to go for identification of suspected persons. “We were attacked from the back, it was dark and we did not almost see these guys”, – Hindy Chogl stated.
Investigative officer refusing to tell his name as he does not have a right to give comments says that such incidents take place every day.
Ukraine does not have accurate statistics neither of the number of crimes committed on race basis nor complaints about racist attacks as well as the number of complaints according to which court decision was made. In answer to inquiry of Amnesty International about racist crimes in November 2009 Ministry of Interior declared that only 2 cases of such a kind were registered in the course of 9 months of 2009.
However, Heza Macgill, investigator from Amnesty International — international movements supporting the stopping of gross violations of human rights is sure that the number of these crimes was much bigger.
«Besides, there is no adequate statistics in Ukraine, majority of the foreigners either do not wish to retell about racist attacks not to have problems with police in future as they do not have documents permitting them to stay legally in the country or they do not believe that police will help”, – says Macgill.
Macgill remembered the incident of the year 2007 when black-skinned student from Zaire was attacked by the group of football funs. Police car slowed down passing by seeing the beaten student but did not take any evidences advising him to stay at home. Majority of foreigners from the risk group [those having different colour of skin and shape of eyes] do not go out of the house in the evening and avoid the potentially dangerous places…