You're reading: Assaults revive fears of racially motivated crime

A group of seven Ukrainian youths attacked two foreigners, a Pakistani and an Indian, about 9 p.m. on March 24 in the heart of Kyiv near the National Tchaikovsky Conservatory

The group didn’t attempt to steal money or other valuables, giving rise to fears that the attack by the white youths was racially motivated.

The incident highlights the nation’s ongoing problems with racial discrimination and racially motivated violence, much of which goes unreported because of official indifference.

According to an eyewitness, police stood within 50 meters of the incident, but did not rush to respond to shouts for help.

 

Pakistani Salman Ahmed was hospitalized after being attacked by white youths on March 24. (Courtesy)

Assailants broke the nose of Pakistani Salman Ahmed, who came to Kyiv the day before for an ecology conference, and beat Indian steel businessman Zubair Chogle. The foreigners were released from a hospital on March 28.

Ahmed and Chogle were a couple of meters behind their friends when they were attacked from behind. Ahmed said that he fainted after being hit and regained consciousness in a pool of his blood.

They didn’t demand anything from us. They didn’t say anything. They were just beating us.”

Pakistani Salman Ahmed.

“They didn’t demand anything from us. They didn’t say anything. They were just beating us,” recalled Ahmed.

“I’ve no other explanation to it, but they attacked us because we had different skin color,” he added.

The victims were not able to identify their assailants.

“It was dark when those guys attacked us from behind, I couldn’t see them well,” Chogle said.

Shevchenkivsky district police spokeswoman Maryna Makarenko said an internal investigation is under way into whether police nearby responded properly.

Racial tolerance among some Ukrainians is exacerbated by police officers and politicians. Statistics on the number of racial crimes are unreliable, since many incidents go unreported or unclassified.

Heather McGill, a researcher at Amnesty International, is convinced that such incidents are underreported.

“Most of the foreigners are reluctant to tell about the racial attacks. For one, they don’t always have the proper documents to stay in Ukraine and therefore don’t want to deal with the police. Secondly, they don’t think that police would solve the crime,” McGill said.

McGill recalled an incident in 2007 when a black student from Zaire was attacked by a group of Kyiv football fans. A police patrol stopped to examine the student, but refused to help and advised him to stay at home to avoid trouble.

Most [non-white] foreigners stay at home in the evenings and avoid dangerous places, such as Kontraktova Ploshcha, for example.”

– Heather McGill, a researcher at Amnesty International.

“Most [non-white] foreigners stay at home in the evenings and avoid dangerous places, such as Kontraktova Ploshcha, for example,” McGill said.

Farooq Siddiqui, chief operating officer for the ISTIL Group, whose friends were the victims of the attack near the Conservatory, said the situation is disturbing.

“Ukraine isn’t the most attractive country to foreigners, but what will happen if we become notorious for racism also?” Siddiqui asked.

 

Kyiv Post staff writer Katya Grushenko can be reached at [email protected].