WAR
TORN CHECHNYA
CHECHNYA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT OF THE CAUCASUS FOUNDATION. OCTOBER 2001
by Fehim Tastekin
The people of Chechnya
are driven into a second disaster on 23 August 1999 before they could
have got rid of the huge destruction caused by the military operations
of Russia that carried out in Chechnya. This small Republic of the
geography of 16,000 km2, as it has highly strategic importance owing
to its high quality oil reserves and being transit routes of pipelines,
was subjected to the invasion of Russia again.
Activities of some individual groups in Dagestan, who do not represent
the Chechen people officially and are not approved by the legitimate
government, which has come to power by an election, are used as justification
for the entrance of the Russian Army into Chechnya.
The terror activities that took place in Moscow on 31 August, 9 and
13 September 1999; in Buynaksk region of Dagestan on 4 September 1999
and in Volgadonsk city on 16 September 1999, were used to pave the
way for the Chechnya operations in order to manipulate the public
opinion. However, those who are arrested by the Russian authorities
with the claim of being connected with these activities, still have
not been showed to the public opinion. Besides, while Russian intelligence
service FSB has not been cleaned up from the accusations of being
"organizer of activities", legal process continues without
allowing the media to record proceedings.
The name of anti-terror operation is given to this military movement
in order to suppress the reactions of world public opinion. As a result
of what happened in Chechnya until now, it will be no exaggeration
to say; What the war in Chechnya targets is not terror as Russians
claim, but the civilian people as a whole are under attack. To call
a name for these operations in Chechnya, it doubtlessly fits the definition
of Genocide!
In addition to this, it is also added as a ground for this new war
that Chechnya has become a centre for the terrorist activities like
"kidnapping humans for ransom". Such terrorist activities
that on no account can be approved, could be a ground for total destruction
of a nation. However, Russia continues to run massacres in Chechnya
and violating the fundamental human rights principles, international
treaties of which Russia is also party to them and the bilateral agreements
signed together with Chechnya.
Moreover Russia, by starting such an aggressive attitude towards this
area, has disregarded the treaty signed in Khasavyurt by Russian President
Boris Yeltsin in one side and the President of the Republic of Chechen-Ichkeria
Aslan Mashadov in another side as two separate heads of the state
in 1996 and other bilateral treaties.
Chechnya has lost 120,000 casualties in the war out of its nearly
one million population during 1994-1996. Within this process, it is
known that 25,000 humans are tortured in the concentration camps.
It is also stated that the number of whom lost their lives after they
have been tortured in these camps reaches to 17,000.
The Chance That
Chechens Not Granted
It is one of the most important points that is ignored, is Russia
gave no opportunity to the Chechens to recover from its disastrous
position put by Russia itself. This land, which is completely surrounded
by the imposed embargos of all kinds since 1996, was pushed by force
into the state of instability and planned to be the nest of the evils.
Certainly, Russia is the biggest party to be blamed for this instability.
After the declaration of independence in 1991, president elections
are done in Chechnya under the supervision of international bodies
and observers from 42 countries and legal government started to perform
its duties.
Russia had undertaken in the treaties signed in 1996 and 1997, to
contribute to the reconstruction of Chechnya, which lost %80 of its
industry in the first war, but realized nothing.
Chechnya that can handle its levelled infrastructure and disrupted
economy only if Russia has satisfied its undertakings after causing
the destruction there, is forced to pay new prizes with the second
operations.
The Invisible
Side of the Disaster
Although the plight of Chechnya is many-fold when compared to what
has been perceived and reflected to the World, it has escaped the
attention of international community.
It is explained that the number of people who have died because of
the torture and ill treatment at the concentration camps alongside
those who died during raids and land operations has reached 100,000.
The facts such as 78, 000 people being drawn into the concentration
camps, their being tortured there and many of them being unable to
break the circle of death surrounding them during the attempt to create
a Chechnya without Chechens and trying to frustrate people through
a vicious war are hidden from general public.
Unless
there is permission provided for the media and the international organisations
to roam freely in the area, there is no likelihood for the whole world
to see the picture as it is. Even the Russian community who have now
had access to information and had been denied it before have started
taking a position against war. Some NGOs like Memorial, the human
rights organisation in Moscow, and the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers
reflect the sensitive reactions of the Russian society by means of
signature campaigns, protest demonstrations and reports. Even the
extent of what is seen by the whole world is enough to reflect the
ruthlessness and the magnitude of the human rights violations and
that the military operations go to the level of genocide. The world
media have not had the chance to reflect what has been going on at
concentration camps in Urus-Martan, Chernokozovo, PAP1, PAP5, Doykar-Oyl,
Khan-Kala, Naur and Mozdok, because of the monitoring of Russia's
internal intelligence service FSB.
The Gift of the Wild War to Humanity: Refugees
Another
tragedy the war has left us with is the case of refugees. More than
half of the Chechen population is now in this situation and expecting
their future which is being doomed in their own native land to be
returned to them.
It is impossible to express the tragedies experienced in the refugee
camps in Ingushetia, Georgia, Adygei, Poland, Czech Republic, Turkey
and Stavropol. Also, thousands of refugees living in difficult conditions
in places like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, North Ossetia, Karachai-Cherkessk,
Daghestan and Kabardino-Balkaria and other places people are waiting
for the war to end as soon as possible.
Missing People
Another big disaster people have been living in Chechnya is that the
number of people who are missing has reached thousands. People are
getting lost during the attacks on civil settlements and also those
who are being kept at military check points. The number uttered concerning
missing people is about 10,000 of whom nothing has been heard. The
number of people under captivity in camps at present is 15,000.
Corpse Trade
There are people among us who have witnessed cases like the ransoms
being claimed to free the people who have been captivated or corpses
being sold to their relatives at prices ranging between $ 100 to 3,000.
Omar Khanbiev himself, the minister of Health in Chechnya, is one
of the leading testifiers of the ransom circuit. He was one of the
lucky people who was rescued from the torture camp in Chernokozovo
as his relatives had paid the amount claimed.
The system works like this: Depending on how well-off the family of
the kidnapped or arrested person a certain amount in asked between
$100 - 3,000. If the amount is not paid what awaits is the death cave
which is a torture area. Those who die under torture are also sold
to the families.
The Russians who are aware of the fact that it is traditionally vital
for the dead body to be buried with a funeral for the Chechens under
whatever conditions they have died, have turned it into trade. The
Russians are certain that the relatives will pay so that they can
fulfil their final responsibility to the deceased. Khanbiev explains
that the details are like this: "If the Chechens die when under
arrest, they issue papers showing they were released while still alive.
If you are among the 10% who have survived it then you will be sent
to a concentration camp in Chernokozovo. There the cycle restarts.
If they cannot get the ransom, then the torture starts again. These
go on until all the captivated people die."
Furthermore, the corpses found out at mass graves are displayed in
a field so that the relatives can identify them for which they have
to pay $100-200, which is called 'corpse identification payment',
in fact a confiscation.
Mass
Graves
It is surprising that the world community has not paid as much attention
to the ditches where lots of bodies are buried together as they do
in other parts of the world when they were found out in Chechnya.
The dead bodies of people who had been lost since the beginning of
2001 have started to emerge in mass graves and the world has started
to question Russia about them, but the 'inquisitive mind' has again
gone out of the cycle. 25th February 2001 is a very important date
in that, it was the revelation of the first mass grave. 200 corpses
mass grave is found in Khan-Kala where there is a Russian military
base , near Grozny. The legs and arms of the bodies were tied up and
they were blindfolded. Before they could recover from this shock the
Chechen people faced the second mass grave of 50 people. There was
even the dead body of a one-year-old baby in that in Roshni-Chu.
There
were more to add to these which should be considered as crimes of
war on 14th April, 2001 in a district of Grozny: Avtorkhanovsky, of
three people, and on May 1st, 2001 in Dachni, Grozny with dead bodies
all internal organs removed, and yet another one containing 35 people's
bodies on May 4th 2001 in Khan-Kala.
On 5th May, 2001 when an explosion led to the death of two children
at the entrance of a building used as headquarters this event revealed
another mass grave of 70 people in the basement of that building.
In May, in Oktyabrsky, Grozny in the yard of a building which had
been used as headquarters again a mass grave of 17 was found. On August
30th the bodies of 56 people were dug out near the village Aleroy,
and on 15th October in Avtorkhanovsky area a mass grave of 50 people
was found.
Graves
Proving Organ Mafia
Mass graves enabled another truth to be known in public. After the
post-mortem practised on the corps took out, it revealed another fact
beside there have been brutally tortured before they were killed;
their internal organs were also missing. Then what happened to these
organs?
Claims of which the organs of humans are sold to the international
organ mafia and some organs were studied at laboratories as medical
experiment materials, have come up. Being most of the people especially
youngsters whose bodies were found in the mass graves after they have
been arrested and put in the concentration camps after they are arrested
or been lost, made the claims' credibility stronger. Because the mafia
is after the organs that are younger.
Only after an international independent commission to investigate
those claims is set up, public opinion will be able to be enlightened.
Let alone the investigation of the independent organizations in the
mass graves, even the requests of entrance to Chechnya from OSCE,
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, UN and international
human rights organizations have always been neglected. At last, OSCE
managed to open an office in Chechnya on 16 June 2001. But still its
carrying out independent activities completely depend on the establishment
of secured environment.
Land Of Ruins
Russian bombardment have destroyed 50,000 houses in Chechnya. 270
out of 424 villages are completely destroyed. 68 are partially destroyed.
Some of the destroyed settlements were housing about 10 thousand population
each. 14 of the 23 cities are heavily destroyed. End of war will require
huge amounts of finance and time to reconstruct the country.
Hundreds of thousands of land mines being planted all over Chechnya,
is the threat for the future generation. Russian Internal Forces Chief,
Sergei Aranin have admitted on 09 January 2001 that "Russia planted
over 500,000 land mines all over Chechnya." Children are the
victims of these mines. Association of Concentration Camp Victims
details that 2,300 children are crippled from mines, alone in year
2000.
Land mines and air/surface bombardment have poisoned the agricultural
lands of Chechnya and have destroyed the future of a nation. Communication
of Chechnya is destroyed in the beginning of the war and all possibilities
of reach are cut. Industry is levelled. Oil wells are bombed.
Chechnya Question after 11 September 2001
Chechnya
declared its independence at the dissolution of the Soviet Union in
year 1991 and abstained to join The Russian Federation? on 31 March
1991 and furthered its will by staying away from 12 December 1993
Russian Constitutional Elections. Russians in turn claimed Chechnya
as its "internal matter" and shed blood since then. Status
of Chechnya depends on agreement with the Russian Federation per free
will of The Chechen People. This agreement will be observed by international
community.
In view of the continuing war in Chechnya and with all the sufferings,
this is not an internal matter of Russia. Russian Federation is trying
to take advantage of USA terrorism of 11 September and exploits the
feelings of the world community against the conflict in Chechnya.
President Putin said on television that "The Russian war in Chechnya
should be considered as international terrorism." An obvious
covering effort of Mr. Putin to launder the crimes of the Russian
military invasion of Chechnya. President Putin's laundry efforts have
caused reaction in Russia itself and Russian human rights organization
Memorial and Helsinki Moscow Group and Russian Soldiers Mothers' Committee
and Sakharov Foundation collectively reacted to the
Kremlin intrigue.
Caucasian struggle of independence for the last 400 years can not
be diverted by empty terror talk of Kremlin Lords. Time again Mr.
Putin pops up and remarks peace thru his envoy Viktor Kazantsev and
mentions of the historical background of the Chechen conflict and
thereby admitted that Wahhabism is not enough to explain the conflict
in Chechnya.
In conclusion, Chechnya was the Caucasian barrier for Russia for 400
years. Russian Secret Services' terror perpetrations in Russia never
proved to be the work of Chechens. Any effort to relate Chechnya with
terrorism is a lie against History and will never explain the horrors
of Russian massacres and total genocide of a nation. Any deviation
may produce uncontrollable reactionary centres. Settlement of the
Chechen conflict will always require the realities of the region and
the History. The solution depends on acceptance by The Chechen People.
WAR TORN CHECHNYA
CHECHNYA HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT OF THE CAUCASUS FOUNDATION. OCTOBER 2001
by Fehim Tastekin
fehimtastekin@kafkas.org.tr
|
'Search
for Stability in the Caucasus II' Conference and Discussion
Sessions, Brussels, 25-26 October
Participant
list
|
