FBIS4-62028
"drsov092_a_94017"
FBIS-SOV-94-092
Daily Report
11 May 1994
RUSSIA INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
U.S. Consulate Seen Overreacting on Crime
U.S. Consulate Seen Overreacting on Crime
PM1105150594 Moscow TRUD in Russian 11 May 94 Evening
Edition p 5
PM1105150594
Moscow TRUD
Russian
BFN
[Vissarion Sisnev report: "Attention U.S. Tourists. The
U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg Has Warned Fellow Nationals
that Attending the Goodwill Games Poses a Threat to their Lives"]
[Text] Washington -- The American public got to know about
this 12-page guide from an account of it by COX NEWS SERVICE
correspondents. It is anticipated that about 5,000 sportsmen
from many countries will participate in the Goodwill Games in
St. Petersburg, and not only Russians but also thousands of
foreign guests will attend.
It was precisely this that the U.S. Consulate in St.
Petersburg had in mind when it put together a guide for
prospective tourists planning to visit Russia's "northern
capital." It is, however, not exclusively for them but also for
business people going there at any other time. In the first
place it is not at all advised that anyone do this alone, as
"the criminal situation in St. Petersburg has significantly
worsened over the last year and problems of personal security
are more acute than ever." The guide informs them that
"criminal acts, which are often carried out during the day or at
times when people are at home in their apartments, are becoming
more and more daring."
It goes on to say: "Criminals are better armed than ever,
are often well informed about their chosen victims, and take
less and less notice of the law-enforcement agencies, which they
are stronger than and which feel besieged." Some 15 cases over
the last six months are cited where the criminals' targets were
consulate staffers themselves, and in one case the attack took
place in the street in a densely populated area and no one came
to his assistance. On one occasion a consulate staffer was
"mercilessly beaten by four militiamen."
In general the U.S. diplomats have a low opinion of St.
Petersburg's law-enforcement agencies, especially of State Motor
Vehicle Inspection Administration staffers. For example, they
said the following about them: "Traffic policemen go as far as
threatening totally innocent motorists with blood tests using
unsterile needles in an attempt to extort bribes from them."
St. Petersburg State Motor Vehicle Inspection Administration
staffers, the document asserts, "are well-known for using their
power to stop drivers and extort fines from them for real or
imagined offenses."
Those who travel to this city by rail are advised to wind
wire around the compartment door's lock for the night because
the robbers check out in advance who gives the impression of
being vague or untogether. What is more, they have at their
disposal a strong, colorless gas with which they knock
passengers out. Businessmen are advised to keep a lookout for
literally everyone, including their Russian partners, as "U.S.
business people are with increasing frequency becoming the
object of violent attacks, kidnappings, and extortion, which are
sometimes planned by people with whom they have joint operations
here."
Immediately after this publication appeared, there was a
hearing in the Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, Narcotics and
International Communications, in which experts in this field
spoke. Russia was more or less the main focus of the senators'
attention, as according to CIA Director James Woolsey, the
Russian mafia is already working in close contact with the
Italian mafia and the Colombian drugs cartels. Senator John
Kerry of Massachusetts added that what we are dealing with is
the establishment of a "global mafia" and that Russian organized
crime, embracing 3,000-4,000 groups, is in control of no less
than 40 percent of the national economy.
But there is nothing in all this about which our own press
has not written. Therefore, there is no reason to accuse the
U.S. diplomats and politicians of anything -- what's true cannot
be altered. Tourists and businessmen have traveled here just
the same, though maybe not in the numbers we would have liked.
But articles by journalists or television reports are one
thing; people here regard them not so much with distrust as
according to the principle: Well they have to write about
something.... But they have another attitude toward official
warnings from state and diplomatic organs. U.S. citizens have
gotten used to paying attention to them, and they have saved a
large number of their lives when on the advice of the consulate
they have quickly packed their bags and quit a danger zone.
In any case the CNN radio and television corporation --
which
is behind the games -- clearly took the alarm bells in St.
Petersburg seriously, inasmuch as it considered it necessary to
assure the public: The consulate has overreacted, it is only
necessary to "show the same degree of caution as you would in
New York, or Paris, or any other big city." It was also
announced that plans are in preparation to guarantee the
security of athletes and guests at the Goodwill Games, and, as
has been the case with all other international sporting events,
additional forces drawn from the militia and Army will be
brought in to guard the participants and the sporting facilities.