#6
Asia Times
October 11, 2001
Putin's Chechen spin has rights groups in a whirl
By Sergei Blagov

MOSCOW - In the wake of the US-led air strikes against the Taliban, Russia has tightened security around water supply and nuclear installations in Moscow.

Hundreds of people died in Moscow in September 1999 when two high-rise apartment blocks were blown up in what the authorities described as terrorist attacks by the Chechen rebels, supported by Osama bin Laden.

The Kremlin has accused Chechen separatists of maintaining close ties with bin Laden and the Taliban, but rights groups are not convinced. " President [Vladimir] Putin has tried to use the events of September 11 to get carte blanche for the conduct of Russian forces in Chechnya," said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of the HRW's Europe and Central Asia division.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) claimed that it has documented "very serious violations of human rights" by Russian forces in Chechnya, including summary executions, torture, disappearances, and indiscriminate bombing. Diderik Lohman, the HRW representative in Moscow, told journalists last week that recent Russian security operations in Chechnya amounted to collective punishment of the civilian population.

Last week Putin gave the Chechen separatists 72 hours to lay down their arms, promising that those who have not committed grave crimes will be pardoned. But human rights advocate and State Duma deputy Sergei Kovalyov claimed that the Russian Air Force bombed Chechen villages following expiration of Putin's ultimatum as no sizeable rebel defection was recorded.

Putin's aide in charge of human rights, Vladimir Kalamanov, dismissed HRW's claims as "baseless", and Kovalyov's statement as "a figment of his imagination".

Putin told journalist during a Russia-EU summit in Brussels last week that Moscow is ready for dialogue with the Chechen separatists, but that they must first cut all ties with international terrorists. EU officials have softened their criticism of Russia's actions in Chechnya in the interests of building a broad coalition against international terrorism. "The European Union expressed its support for the efforts of the Russian authorities to find a political resolution" in Chechnya, a joint Russia-EU statement said.

Sergei Yastrzhembsky, the Kremlin's chief spokesperson for Chechnya, told journalists in Moscow that at least four of the perpetrators of the September 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington had fought against Russian forces in Chechnya. He also claimed that Chechen rebels receive "millions of dollars" from no less than 100 terrorist sources abroad.

Putin's envoy in Chechnya, Viktor Kazantsev said that he is ready to meet Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov to set terms for disarmament, but warned that Moscow will never accept the Republic's bid for independence. Yastrzhembsky also mentioned "telephone talks" between government officials and Maskhadov's representatives. Until recently the Kremlin ruled out any possibility of talks with Maskhadov. "It is impossible to hold talks with someone involved in terrorism," said Kazantsev.

Last summer about 100 Chechen refugees held a hunger strike and demanded talks between Putin and Maskhadov, elected in 1997 but now declared an outlaw by the Kremlin. "The Federal authorities should have no contacts or talks with Maskhadov or his supporters," Chechnya's chief administrator Akhmad Kadyrov told journalists in the Chechen capital Grozny recently.

During the war in Chechnya, Russian troops conducted searches of Chechen villages, known as zachistki, or cleansing. Officially, the searches aimed at checking documents and finding rebels. However, there have been numerous allegations of abuses and looting by troops. Large-scale "cleansing" operations, including house-to-house searches and massive identity checks, by federal troops in Chechen villages have sparked another refugee outflows to neighboring Russian region Ingushetia, where more than 100,000 Chechens have found an asylum. Russian officials described the operations as "tough but necessary" measures to find separatists among the civilian population.

The Russian army retook Chechnya in 1999 in the wake of 1996 defeat by separatists. More than 3,000 servicemen have died in the course of the "second Chechen war", according to Russian official accounts. Russia's official media outlets describe life in Chechnya as returning to normal, although Russian troops still suffer casualties from rebel attacks daily. Separatists also kill pro-Moscow Chechen village chiefs, trying to intimidate anyone cooperating with the federal authorities.

Chechen conflict is deeply rooted in the Chechen society itself, Sergei Rogozin, State Duma deputy, said recently. "All decision relating to Chechnya's future must be taken by the Chechen people," he sadi. However, it remains to be seen whether a viable solution in Chechnya can be worked out soon - especially with a backdrop of military action in Afghanistan and softened Western criticism.

(Inter Press Service)

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