#8 - JRL 6524
Moscow Times
October 31, 2002
Editorial
Distinguish Terrorism From Separatism

Editorial By branding the Congress of the Chechen People a terrorist gathering and pushing for the arrest of Akhmed Zakayev, the Kremlin may have further solidified domestic support for more resolute use of force in dealing with the Chechnya problem.

But the reality is that not every Chechen separatist is a terrorist, even though some refugees have become so radicalized in the course of the brutal Chechen war that they openly supported the seizure of innocent civilians in Moscow and wished they were part of the hostage-taking group.

Russia should stop trying to portray all Chechens who favor self-determination as ruthless butchers acting on the orders of international terrorist networks that the international community should join forces against. The self-determination aspirations of a formidable part of the Chechen people is Russia's domestic problem, which no international anti-terrorist coalition would solve for the Kremlin.

Russia should try to distinguish between terrorism and separatism -- even though the division line between them can be blurred -- using adequate and proportionate force to cope with the former, but not the latter.

It is clear that by failing to personally condemn the hostage-taking before the standoff was over, Aslan Maskhadov has discredited himself. But civilized proponents of self-determination of Chechnya, who oppose terrorism as a means to achieve their goal, have not ceased to exist with the discrediting of Maskhadov, whose five-year term as president expired early this year.

And more bullets and bombs will not kill these aspirations of self-determination but radicalize them, as was the case with Dzhokhar Dudayev and Aslan Maskhadov.

There should be no doubt what this brutalized nation would opt for if given the immediate opportunity to vote on self-determination -- and that would be an unacceptable development for the Kremlin.

But the Kremlin can take one step without shedding control of the republic and that is holding elections for a Chechen parliament. This would give proponents of nonviolent self-determination legitimate representation and still allow for the establishment of a presidential republic.

The Kremlin can also soften the grievances of the people by stopping the indiscriminate use of force and encouraging economic and social development of this ravaged land.

If safety and decent living standards would not decrease the Chechen people's desire to break away from Russia, then nothing will.

But if representation in parliament and the reality of a safe and relatively prosperous Chechnya lead separatists to abandon the idea of using violence to achieve their goals, then the Kremlin could hope that these proponents of self-determination could become what Gerry Adams and Sinn Fein have become for Northern Ireland.