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
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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