Chechnya Country Profile
Conflict History
In the past decade there have been two related wars in the Chechen Republic, a former Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic located in the North Caucasus region of the Russian Federation. The first of these wars was fought primarily as a nationalist-separatist struggle against Russia, with religion (Islam) playing a peripheral role mainly as it pertained to the identity of the Chechen people. The second war, on the other hand, was characterized largely by religion and involved Russia, a pro-Moscow Chechen government, Wahabbist rebels and the nationalist-separatist former regime.
Following the breakdown of the Soviet Union, pro-independence factions within Chechnya declared sovereignty and began constructing an independent government. Moscow, fearing further claims of secession in other federal republics, sent troops to Chechnya in 1994. Armed conflict between Russian troops and Chechen pro-independence fighters resulted in the displacement of as many as 250,000 people into neighboring Ingushetia and Dagestan. This displacement triggered a humanitarian catastrophe because of the significant drain on the resources of the host countries and the infrastructural damage in Chechnya. In mid-1996 a ceasefire was drawn with an agreement between the Chechen and Russian leaders to reconsider Chechen independence after five years of stabilization.
In 1997, Aslan Maskhadov was elected President of the Chechen Republic. Among his first moves was consolidation of the pro-independence factions by incorporating the religiously-oriented rebels into the secular government and instituting Shari ‘a law. However, a rift grew between the nationalist-separatist and religiously-oriented movements based on the former’s approach to conciliation with Moscow (a rift that Maskhadov sought to avoid by appointing Shamil Basayev, Islamist rebel leader, as Prime Minister). Basayev eventually resumed a regional campaign against Russia, based on Wahabbist thought imported to the North Caucasus after the fall of the atheist USSR. In 1999, Basayev’s fighters joined forces with Islamists in Dagestan in an attempt to create a united regional Islamic state. They waged attacks in Russia and the Caucasus, prompting a heavy military response from Moscow.
Russian forces again entered Chechnya in 1999, seeking to quell what they deemed terrorist activity and reassert control over the Chechen government. Since 1999 there has been a steady flow of attacks on civilians, with significant occurrences of human rights violations committed by both sides.
President Vladimir Putin selected a former leader from the nationalist-separatist movement, Akhmad Kadyrov—who also had a history as a Chechen religious leader—to take over the Chechen government, thus further dividing the pro-independence factions within Chechnya.
“Chechenization”
Following widely discredited elections in 2003, in which Kadyrov was elected President, Putin began to allow the Chechen administration to take over the war against Basayev and his partners. Moscow left forces in Chechnya in support of the Chechen government while simultaneously portraying the conflict as a Chechen civil war. In the meantime, the conflict in Chechnya has become an important issue in Russian politics. The continuous violence and escalating humanitarian crisis in the region also made it a human rights liability in the eyes of the international community.
Kadyrov was assassinated in 2004 and was succeeded by Alu Alkhanov, another pro-Moscow leader, and by Kadyrov’s son, Ramzan Kadyrov. While Ramzan Kadyrov was officially posted as Prime Minister, he has since held de facto authority due to his command over the Chechen Interior Ministry troops, a 15,000 strong pro-Moscow military faction. It is assumed that he will become president when he turns 30, the minimum age for such position.
It is estimated that close to 100,000 people have been killed in the conflicts since 1994.
International Role
The international community has largely remained uninvolved in the Chechen conflict, sending occasional humanitarian aid to help the Chechen people. Moscow has asserted that the conflict in Chechnya is a Russian domestic concern that does not require the involvement of the international community. Russian policies in the North Caucasus region (which includes Chechnya, South Ossetia, Dagestan, and Ingushetia) have been framed as part of the global war on terror, specifically as it is shaped by a power struggle with radical Islamists. As such there has been little traction to address this crisis within international or multilateral forums, such as the UN Security Council. In the post- September 11, 2001 climate, few members of the international community take the opportunity or command the authority to speak out against the Russian “anti-terror” campaign.
Continuing Issues
Displacement and Humanitarian Crisis
As many as 100,000 people remained displaced between different parts of Chechnya, Ingushetia and Dagestan. Due to severe infrastructural damage in Grozny and elsewhere there is not enough housing, jobs or social services to accommodate a mass return (as advocated by Moscow), even if the security situation were to improve significantly. Furthermore, the tightening of public space in Russia has impacted the work of inter- and non-governmental agencies; humanitarian workers are becoming more and more hesitant to offer aid to civilians suffering from the ongoing armed combat in Chechnya. The humanitarian crisis is further augmented by the fact that the Russian government under Putin permits only limited foreign aid and access to Chechnya by imposing restrictions on NGO registration and funding and preventing international organizations, such as the ICRC, from working with Chechen prisoners.
Media
Chechnya is reputed to be one of the most insecure areas in the world for journalists and humanitarian workers. During the first and second Chechen wars, there were a number of kidnappings of foreign workers. In October 2006 the prominent, Russian investigative reporter and consistent critic of President Putin’s policies in Chechnya, Anna Politkovskaya, was murdered in her Moscow home. Russia’s Deputy Prosecutor announced that one popular theory behind Ms. Politkovskaya’s death is that the killing is “linked to the victim’s social or professional duties.” (“Russia hunt’s journalist’s killer,” BBC News Online.) This case will not only shape the future of independent journalism in Russia, but it may likely influence future diplomatic or military pressures between the Russian government and Chechen leaders.
Politics
Alu Alkhanov was appointed by Moscow—and later elected in Chechnya—to lead the administration in Chechnya, replacing the formerly elected president, Aslan Maskhadov. However, Maskhadov maintained leadership over a now unrecognized Chechen pro-independence government, creating a situation where two governments are competing for power amidst an ongoing independence struggle. The Moscow-backed administration receives recognition by the international community, while the former government is managed in exile and receives negligible official support outside of Chechnya. Aslan Maskhadov was assassinated in March, 2005 and succeeded by Abdul-Khalim Saidullayev, who was assassinated in June, 2006. The next month, in July 2006, Russia claimed to have killed Shamil Basayev, leading many to consider the Wahabbist rebellion over. However, Saidullayev’s successor claims they will continue to fight for independence.
Further Resources
-
United Nations
-
Civil Society
|
Email this page
