Russia’s State of Denial
by Aisha Gawad
The past few months have been relatively quiet in terms of the long-standing Chechen conflict with Russia. Although there have been no high profile escalations of violence, the quiet is not necessarily due to improved relations between the Chechen separatists and the Kremlin, but more likely due to the stifling of dissent and the lack of accountability of the Russian government. Russian officials claim to be closer to “normalizing” relations with the Chechens, despite the fact that average Chechen lives in fear of being arrested, tortured, or “disappeared” by Russian-supported troops and that a wider range of Russians fear terrorist attacks by Chechen rebels.
The conflict essentially began in 1991 when Chechnya declared independence from Russia, although Russia, under the leadership of Boris Yeltsin, did not send troops in to reclaim the area until 1994. The Chechens defeated the Russians in 1996, but their success did not secure their independence and did not stop the violence from continuing. The political climate in Chechnya has been very unstable since; Chechen presidents have been assassinated and the rebel militia led by Shamil Basayev has taken hostages and terrorized civilians. Currently, almost all power over the Chechen government lays with Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov, the son of the late President Akhmad Kadyrov.
Ramzan Kadyrov, who became Prime Minister in March 2006, is widely known for leading an “anti-terrorism” squad called the Kadyrovtsy. Most human rights organizations blame this squad for “disappearing” people and arbitrarily detaining and torturing civilians. The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin named him a “Hero of Russia,” and the only reason Kadyrov had not been made president of Chechnya is because he is not yet 30 and does not meet the age requirement.
Human rights councils and courts are increasingly calling on Russia to acknowledge the gross violations committed against Chechens, investigate instances of abuse and disappearance, and take responsibility for its own role in fostering the situation.
On Oct. 12, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia is accountable for the execution of five people in 2000, because it failed to properly investigate the case. The victims included a baby and a pregnant woman, and their bodies were burned after being shot repeatedly. Several similar cases are currently pending before the court.
A few days earlier on Oct. 7, a well-known Russian journalist, Anna Politkovskaia, was killed, and it is widely believed that she was murdered because of her reporting on the human rights atrocities in Chechnya committed by Russian forces. The media attention following the death of Politkovskaia apparently did not encourage Russia to loosen its muzzle on dissent. The next week, a Russian court decided to shut down the Russian-Chechen Friendship Society, which spoke out against the Chechen human rights violations. Groups like Human Rights Watch see this move as an egregious example of the Russian government’s desire to silence opposition.
Russia is not only supporting the Kadyrovtsy, but is also at times directly participating in the torture and killing of Chechens. The number of disappearances committed by the Kadyrovtsy, other pro-Moscow squads, or Russian troops is estimated to be around 3,000 to 5,000 people in the last six years. “A ‘disappearance’ takes place when a person is taken into custody by state agents, and the authorities subsequently deny that the victim is in their custody or conceal the victim’s whereabouts,” according to Human Rights Watch. Often, these victims are tortured or killed following their disappearance. “To date, not a single member of the Russian armed forces has been held accountable for an enforced disappearance,” say Human Rights Watch.
The conflict has, in recent years, spread to other areas in Russia, and will continue to do so until Russian authorities take responsibility for the chaos and violence occurring everyday in Chechnya. In the summer of 2005, Chechen rebels attacked police stations in Ingushetia, killing one hundred people. In response, several people in the same region have been arrested or disappeared by Russian troops. In 2004, the rebels killed hundreds of school children in the Beslan massacre in what is believed to be an attempt to bring the North Ossetia area into the conflict.
Russia has also kept international monitors from the United Nations, especially the ones focused on torture, arbitrary execution, and involuntary disappearances, from making visits to Chechnya. Russia will only be able to quiet the voices of dissension for so long before there is another violent outburst in the region. By further alienating the Chechen people, the Russians are only fueling the terrorist rebels’ quest for independence by any means necessary. Relations between the two parties will never normalize until Russia acknowledges that there is a problem, and then attempts to deal with it. The current relationship between Chechnya and Russia is more characterized by fear and mistrust than it is by normalcy, and pretending otherwise will only deepen the divide.
Sources
1. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/03/10/russia10298.htm
2. http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/10/13/russia14384.htm
3. http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/10/09/russia14370.htm
4. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/10/13/russia14391.htm
5. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/27/russia13864.htm
6. http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/13/russia13731.htm
7. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3293441.stm
