P-1 REFERRAL FOR RUSSIAN CITIZEN GEORGES BLEMOU

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 003998 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/15/2017 TAGS: PREF PHUM RS SUBJECT: P-1 REFERRAL FOR RUSSIAN CITIZEN GEORGES BLEMOU AND FAMILY Classified By: Charge Daniel A. Russell. Reason 1.4 (b and d). ¶1. (C) Post has identified Russian/Guinean citizen Georges Blemou and his family for referral to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. Blemou has been subjected to repeated assaults based on his race. In 2001, he was shot and pushed from a balcony, falling four stories, by unidentified attackers. His injuries from that incident have left him disabled. His wife, a Ukrainian citizen, is unable to obtain citizenship in Russia. His two-mixed race children have also been subjected to constant harassment at school and by neighbors. According to a psychologist working with the family, the treatment has left both children emotionally scarred. ¶2. (SBU) Names and biographic information is as follows: Blemou, Georges DPOB: 15 September 1957, Guinea PPT: Linkevich, Elena Vladimirovna DPOB: 21 March 1967, Ukraine Blemou, Mariya-Madelen Zhorzhevna 1 July 1999, Russia Blemou, Ann Kristin Zhorzhevna DPOB: 4 November 2002, Russia ¶3. (C) Blemou arrived in Russia in 1979 as a student from Guinea and obtained Russian citizenship in 1998 as the result of his marriage to a Russian woman. She died, and he married Linkevich in 2001. The couple have two children, both girls, who are racially mixed. ¶4. (C) In June 2001, Blemou was attacked by four unidentified men who forced their way into the family's apartment. Blemou was cut, sprayed with an unknown chemical, and then shot in the chest. Trying to escape from the attack by crawling out onto the fire escape, Blemou was pushed off by his assailants and fell four stories. Throughout the attack, the attackers screamed racial epithets at him. Blemou was hospitalized for 11 days and unable to work for two years. Police refused to investigate the case, and there has been some indication that the attackers may have been police officers. He has been declared an invalid by the GOR. Blemou told us he continues to experience discrimination and threats as a result of his race, although he has been able to return to work. In 2005, he was beaten on a Moscow street by unidentified attackers and said he fears for his safety. ¶5. (C) Linkevich told us that she has tried repeatedly to obtain Russian citizenship on the basis of her marriage, but that Russian authorities have refused to grant it to her. Although reasons for the refusal are not clear, she believes they are based on her marriage to Blemou. Moreover, Linkevich said that her children have been harassed and threatened on the basis of their skin color. Her older daughter was moved to four different kindergartens because teachers and other students discriminated against her. She has subsequently been mistreated by teachers and other children at school and by neighbors to such a decree that she needed psychological counseling. According to a psychologist's report, she suffers from anxiety, low self-esteem, and emotional distress. The family removed Ann Kristin from nursery school after only three months after being overtly discriminated against by staff. RECOMMENDATION -------------- ¶6. (C) We request Department acceptance of this referral because of the record of persecution of the Blemou family based on the race of Georges Blemou and his children. Despite the brutality of the assault, police refused to investigate and no one has ever been arrested. Moreover, the abuse suffered by the Blemou children has been so pervasive that they are suffering emotionally and are unable to obtain an education. Because of the rampant discrimination that the younger child has experienced in nursery school and kindergarten, her parents have held her out of school, and so she has not been able to receive an education. The migrants NGO Civic Assistance supports this case. Passport information will be provided separately. We request Department response soonest. RUSSELL