"Amnesty International": hostility towards foreigners, Chechens and human rights activists grows in Russia

The "Amnesty International" human rights organization in its new report expresses concern with the growth of xenophobia in Russia and violations of human rights in the Chechen conflict.

"Foreign citizens from various countries of the world, including asylum seekers, refugees, students and labour migrants, have become victims of attacks on racial grounds, with lethal results in a number of cases," runs the 2005 report of "Amnesty International" disseminated today. The document contains information on the human rights situation in 150 countries.

In the "Russian Federation" section, representatives of "Amnesty International" note that during the last year at least 28 murders and 365 attacks on the ground of racial hatred took place in the country. "Citizens of the Russian Federation also became victims of attacks, especially Chechens and representatives of other North Caucasus ethnical groups," runs the report.

Representatives of "Amnesty International" also report on the "growth of hostility" towards human rights activists in Russia, and a wide spread of domestic violence in the country.

Additionally, the report notes violations of human rights in the Chechen conflict. "In most cases investigation of alleged violations yielded no results, while hearings on the several cases brought to the court were conducted with violations," assert the authors of the report.