I posted this in the mudpit, but it is likely to get buried. I hope I can garner some good responses and thoughts from you guys.
From Helsingin Sanomat
Mari people complain of continued persecution by Russian officials
International appeal on behalf of small Finno-Ugric nation
The Finno-Ugric Mari people of the Russian Republic of Mari have complained of a wave of political oppression at the hands of nationalist Russians.
The attacks were prompted by the Presidential elections in December, in which the ethnic Mari put their support behind their own candidate, Mikhail Dolgovia. When the elections were won by incumbent Leonid Markelov, officials in the republic began a campaign of intimidation against the defiant Mari.
During the Markelov presidency, beatings of opposition supporters with iron pipes have become routine. At least two journalists and one head of a printing house have been killed in this manner. One male journalist has been beaten to within an inch of his life, and a female journalist was beaten with fists.
Threats have also been used to pressure head teachers of schools and local officials to resign. The dismissal of about 1,000 Mari officials is seen as a blow to indigenous culture.
On February 22nd an appeal was published on the letters to the editor page of Helsingin Sanomat on behalf of the democratic rights of the Mari. Its signatories included Finland's former Speaker of Parliament Riitta Uosukainen and Estonian President Lennart Meri.
Vladimir Kozlov, one of the leaders of the Mari opposition, shows a recent picture taken after he was beaten with an iron pipe in early February in the republic's capital Joshkar-Ola.
And
The Finns talk to the U.S. President about Mari People
01.03.05
Anneli Jäätteenmäki, Member of the European Parliament, HELSINKI
"Dear President Bush: When the United States sneezes, Europe catches 'flu. The saying aptly describes the unique cooperative relationship that Europe and the United States have. Our cooperation is important for the well-being and security of the whole world.
Let us join forces on behalf of ambitious, peaceful goals. We have not done enough for the elimination of such banes as poverty and illiteracy. Action on behalf of social and economic justice is also an effective way to fight terrorism.
We should intensify cooperation, especially in questions related to the environment, human rights, and humanitarian disasters.
I hope that you could also defend the rights of small nations. Discrimination and violence that have taken place recently in the small Russian Republic of Mari are also causes for concern. It would be important if you could draw the attention of President Putin to the human rights violations that have occurred in Mari."
From http://www.mari.ee/eng/soc/polit/hs1.htm
I find this outrageous. It isn't as if the minorities in Russia (Finnic, Finno-Ugric, Turkic, etc) haven't been oppressed enough already.
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