Armed conflict in the world today: a country by country review
CHECHNYA/RUSSIAN FEDERATION
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CHECHNYA/RUSSIAN FEDERATIONStatement: The situation in Chechnya is a civil war. The history of Chechnya may support a claim of self-determination. Background: Although the czars began a three-hundred year attempt to subjugate the Northern Caucasus in 1560, by 1585 Chechnya and other areas of the Caucasus had been conquered by the Ottoman Empire and represented its northern reach into what has become modern Russia. Under Ottoman rule, the Chechens adopted Islam. Russia continued its attempt to capture the area and finally forced the retreat of the Ottomans by 1785. After winning the Caucasian war (1817-1864), the Russians deported hundreds of thousands of Chechens. In 1877, 1920, 1929, 1940 and 1943 the Chechens made unsuccessful attempts to rebel against the czars and then the USSR. While most of the Chechen males were fighting against Hitler in the winter of 1943-44, Stalin ordered Chechnya obliterated. Villages were burned, 500,000 people were deported to Kazakhstan and Siberia, and their land was given to non-Chechens. In 1957, the Chechens were allowed to return to their homeland. Dzhokhar Dudayev seized power in Chechnya in August 1991. After a popular vote elected him president that November, Dudayev declared independence from the Soviet Union, a month before its collapse. In August 1994, the Russian government began military action to stop Chechnya’s seceding, with aerial bombing and attacks on the capital of Grozny in December 1994 and February 1995. Subsequently, the rebel Chechen government moved to the hills and Chechnya was put under an armed Russian occupation. Six workers from the International Committee of the Red Cross were murdered in their sleep, allegedly by Chechen rebels, in December 1996, the worst premeditated attack in the history of the organization. The Russian army fully withdrew on January 5, 1997, following an August 1996 agreement granting the republic autonomy and establishing it as a free economic zone, with its final political status to be resolved before December 31, 2000. Russia and Chechnya (represented by Boris Yeltsin and Aslan Maskhadov, respectively) signed a peace agreement on May 12, 1997, in which Russia pledged never to use force or threaten the use of force in relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Chechnya. Even so, skirmishes were reported along the Russia/Chechnya border in 1997. On July 8, 1997, nine Russian policemen were killed when a truck carrying 15 border guards was blown up in neighbouring Dagestan.. Chechen presidential elections on January 27, 1998 were won by Aslan Maskhadov, the Chechen military chief of staff in charge of the war effort. President Maskhadov appointed Shamil Baseyev prime minister and asked him to form a new government. Baseyev is wanted for arrest in Moscow for his command of a hostage-taking in Budyonnovsk in 1995 that led to the death of 100 people. An estimated 100,000 people were killed in that phase of the war. Hundreds of thousands of Russians, Jews, Armenians and other minority groups have been expelled or have voluntarily fled (see “Georgia”). In 1998, there was increasing lawlessness in the Republic, including banditry, smuggling, and kidnappings. Foreigners, aid workers, and journalists have been especially targeted, causing most to leave the Republic. On October 3, 1998, a New Zealander and 3 British were abducted. Their beheaded remains were found on December 8 after a failed rescue attempt. On December 12, 1998, Vincent Cochetel, head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’ mission in North Ossetia was freed in Chechnya by Russian Special Forces after 11 months in captivity. On July 23, 1998, there was an assassination attempt against President Maskhadov. Current Situation: In August and September 1999, Baseyev twice lead a rebel force into neighboring Dagestan in an attempt join up with Bagaouddin, a local nationalist leader fighting Dagestani and Russian forces. In the process, they destroyed villages and created over 30,000 refugees. The Russian military pushed them back into Chechnya after severe fighting. Subsequently, there were several bombings of apartment buildings in Russia proper that killed around 300 people. Basayev is believed to be behind the attacks, but he has denied responsibility and there is no evidence that Chechens were involved. Since the bombings there has been an exponential increase in animosity toward all Chechens throughout Russia. In Moscow, there was a roundup of Caucasian people, and temporary camps were set up for people without proper identification. The Russian military invaded the Republic in October, 1999. It has been accused of shelling numerous Chechen towns and villages and using fuel-air bombs, which kill indiscriminately over a wide area and are capable of killing people hiding in underground shelters. Atrocities by Russian troops were reported in the town of Alkhan-Yurt in December, including looting, burning of houses, and the massacre of 22 civilians who attempted to protect their property. In early December 1999, Russia began to focus military action on Grozny but floundered. By mid-January 2000, Russia had renewed the assault on Grozny, and in early February, thousands of rebels fled Grozny to the mountains. There are an estimated 250,000 refugees from the renewed fighting. There have been reports of Russian authorities forcing refugees back into Chechnya and denying refugees food rations to make them return to Russian-controlled areas of the Republic, and of bombardment of refugee columns by Russian forces. Some refugees entering Ingushetia have reportedly been sent to secret camps where they have been beaten. On February 28, 2000, Alvaro Gil-Robles, Human Rights Commission of the Council of Europe, showing clear shock at the degree of devastation of Grozny, called on the necessity to end the war and to aid the civilian population as soon as possible. There have been reports that Russia considers Grozny too ruined to be rebuilt, but Commissioner Gil-Robles insists that the reconstruction of Grozny is “very important. It is a symbol for the Chechen people.” While Russian troops have apparently defeated the “main bands,” Russian authorities report that many small groups remain. There have been numerous small skirmishes. Attacks on Russian troops in Ingushetia have produced fears of a widening conflict and Russia now accuses both Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia of arming the Chechen groups. On May 31, 2000, Russian official Sergei Zverev and another high official were killed in Grozny. On June 8, 2000, the new Russian President Vladimir Putin announced “direct rule” for Chechnya, barely a week after a visit by American President Clinton, and on June 12, 2000, appointed Muslim cleric Akhmad Kadyrov as civilian leader of the Kremlin-controlled administration in Chechnya. On June 9, 2000, three Russian medical doctors were killed and a “suicide” bomber killed several soldiers in an attack on a Russian base. Sporadic gunfire continues almost on a daily basis. Meanwhile, Grozny remains in shambles. Casualty figures for this second stage are difficult to assess, but may exceed figures for the earlier stage of conflict. UN Action: Comm Res 2000/58. Sub-Comm Statement 1995. Sub-Comm Dec 1996/108. Rpt S-G (E/CN.4/1997/10). Rpt S-G (E/CN.4/1996/13 & Add.1). Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture: Nigel S. Rodley: E/CN.4/1996/35 & Add.1; E/CN.4/1997/7 & Add.1; E/CN.4/1999/61; E/CN.4/2000/9. Report of the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions: Bacre Waly N’diaye: E/CN.4/1996/4; E/CN.4/1997/60 & Add.1. Asma Jahangir: E/CN.4/1999/39 & Add. 1; E/CN.4/2000/3 & Add.1.
E/CN.4/1999/62. Report of the Working Group on Disappearances: E/CN.4/1997/34. Report of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: E/CN.4/1999/63. Report of Representative of S-G on IDPs: Francis Deng: E/CN.4/2000/83. Directory: docs docs -> Application for acem docs -> Observational Assessment of Teaching Practices Teaching Assessment Initiative Proposal Submitted to The Teachers for a New Era project docs -> Traditional British values docs -> From Warfighters to Crimefighters: The Origins of Domestic Police Militarization docs -> Borzoi Club of America Register of Merit Program I. What is a Register Of Merit docs -> Protecting the rights of the child in the context of migration docs -> United Nations E/C. 12/Esp/5 docs -> 9th May 1950 the schuman declaration docs -> Getting To Outcomes® in Services for Homeless Veterans 10 Steps for Achieving Accountability Download 0.5 Mb. Share with your friends:
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