A/HRC/4/19/Add.3 page 21 59. Representatives of student associations reported that between 2004 and 2006 violent attacks against the African community had resulted in at least six deaths, and some 90 persons had been beaten up and seriously injured, mainly in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Voronezh and other big cities in Russia. Particularly disturbing was the assassination in April 2006 of Samba Lampsar, a Senegalese student and active member of the NGO African Unity, an organization working for the promotion of tolerance and the elimination of racism in St. Petersburg. A shotgun decorated with a swastika and the inscription “white power” written on it was found in the surroundings of the place where he was murdered.20 60. Particular reference was also made to the fire which in November 2003 swept through a dormitory of the University of Friendship between Peoples in Moscow, causing the death of 44 persons and severe injuries to about 150 students, mostly from Africa and China, an incident viewed by many students as a racially motivated act, given the number of racist threats and aggressions that occurred in the weeks preceding the fire. In addition, students strongly condemned the way in which the rescue operation was conducted, suggesting that it was hampered by racial prejudice.21 61. In the view of the African community, the increasing intolerance among the general population and rising violence by extreme right groups is to be combated mainly through the recognition of the existence of the problem by the authorities and the expression of the determination to combat it; the provision of adequate protection to foreign nationals and ethnic minority groups at risk of racial attacks; the delivery of appropriate sanctions to the perpetrators of such acts, in line with relevant legal provisions; and the implementation of a federal-wide education campaign that takes into account the richness of cultures and traditions in Africa, thus contributing to the promotion of tolerance and the elimination of negative stereotypes. Anti-Semitism 62. Anti-Semitism, like in most of Europe, has deep roots in Russia, where during both the times of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union it was used as a tool for political aims. The adoption of repressive legislation and the practice of pogroms, particularly in the last years of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, propelled massive waves of Jewish emigration. 20 In this case, the St. Petersburg Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal case on the evidence of an offence contrary to article 105 par. 2 (k) of the Criminal Code (homicide motivated by ethnic or religious hatred or enmity or blood feud). Seven members of the extremist group “Mad Crowd” were arrested on suspicion of committing the offence. Up to today, however, no charges for the murder of Samba Lampsar have been brought up against those persons. 21 Following the fire, six officials, including the former acting university principal and the district fire inspector, were charged with negligence for lack of safety precautions and for violating fire safety regulations.