Chechnya: The Conflict the West always ignores

The conflict the west always ignores
Russian policy in Chechnya is breeding terrorists, writes Lindsey Hilsum

Two images from a forgotten war: an emaciated 13-year-old boy, unable to absorb food because of shrapnel in his stomach; and an old man who has lost his mind and is yelping like a dog, then is calmed by the sight of his own face reflected in the small mirror that his wife holds before him.

The images are from 1999, when Russian troops went to pacify what President Vladimir Putin called "a bandit enclave". Five years later, the war in Chechnya sputters on with no end in sight. Chechen rebels, who are mainly Muslims, lay landmines and ambushes that kill dozens of Russian soldiers every month. The Russian security forces are reported to use death squads that "disappear" anyone they think might support the rebels.

In the past year, a new force has come on the scene: a Chechen militia known as the "Kadyrovsky" because of its loyalty to Russia's puppet president in Grozny, Akhmad Kadyrov. The Kadyrovsky terrorises those who would resist his rule.

In Chechnya, human rights abuses and war crimes are not aberrations but tactics, an integral part of a war that, according to the American aid group Refugees International, has killed or driven into exile nearly half the Chechen population. Atrocities carried out by Russian troops and their proxies are well documented, but attract almost no censure from European or American governments because Putin's war in Chechnya is deemed to be part of the war on terror.

"We're not dealing with indifference. We're not dealing with ignorance. We're dealing with tactical expediency," said the former US national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski at a recent conference on Chechnya in Washington. "After 9/11, it is deemed better to sweep this issue under the rug, even though we know better."

Despite considerable danger to its staff, the Russian human rights group Memorial manages to document atrocities. In one case, a young woman described how masked men abducted her brother, Aslanbek, after two Russian soldiers had been blown up near where he was tending the family's cattle. She believed the kidnappers were Russian soldiers taking revenge, even though her brother had nothing to do with the explosion. "We are worried that we will never find his body and bury him," she said. "In Chechnya it is widely known that when people are taken without shoes, like Aslanbek was, it means they will never be seen again."

Shoes, according to the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, which monitors Chechnya closely, are something that can identify a body. The Russian army has learnt how to cover its tracks.

The main reason to question the European and US policy of turning a blind eye to the Chechen problem is that Russian tactics do not work. There is no evidence that Russia's hard line in Chechnya has discouraged Chechens from joining the Islamist networks that threaten terror attacks in Europe. On the contrary, the Russian campaign in Chechnya seems to be breeding terrorists.

The latest are the "black widows", who have carried out a series of bomb attacks in Russia and were behind the 2002 Moscow theatre siege. They are the widows, mothers and sisters of Chechen men, mainly Islamists, who have been killed by the Russians. Last year, one killed 14 people and injured 53 others at a rock concert in Moscow; and last month two detonated a bomb outside the National Hotel near the Kremlin. One thing that Chechnya isn't short of is widows. The Russian response, according to the International Helsinki Federation, has been a "growing number of crimes targeted at women", including disappearances.

Now the war in Chechnya may be spreading to the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia. Last year, Russian troops attacked Chechen refugee camps in Ingushetia and several clashes between Russian and Chechen forces erupted on the Ingush side of the border. President Putin has just announced that the remaining Chechen refugee camps in Ingushetia must close by 1 March - two weeks before the Russian presidential elections.

Putin has no chance of being ousted, but it is part of his election campaign to present the war in Chechnya as over. No matter if the refugees have nowhere to go because their homes have been destroyed, nor if they fear the dangers that await them back home.

Only the bravest journalists report from Chechnya - the chances of being kidnapped are high, while the cold, lack of electricity and general misery of the place make it difficult to work in. Moreover, the news likes things that change and Chechnya never does - the violence may alter as new forces appear, but the story essentially remains the same.

Tony Blair maintains that intervention in one place where people are tortured and oppressed doesn't mean we can or should intervene everywhere. But Chechnya is a shameful example of western leaders refusing to confront another government on human rights abuses and war crimes because, in the end, strategic and political issues matter more. Chechnya is complex and dangerous and miserable, and we just don't care enough to try to make a difference.

A Chechen website provides a weekly report - this is week 228 of the war. In broken English, it catalogues pain and violence. Last week's entry ended: "The world in which we live is full of dirt and meanness."

Lindsey Hilsum is the Channel 4 News diplomatic correspondent

So i guess, if that's how the Russian treating Chechnya. Kidnapping Children, Journalists, Innocent people from their houses, murdering while everyone turning a blind eye on them. I wouldn't be surprised if anything *similar* goes in Russia . . .

I see this way the Islamic radicals are taking advantage of the situation with these people and the oppression they are under to instigate attacks on others, very sad that they have to ask the worst allies Islamic radicals to fight the oppression, turning themselves also into terrorist.

Who should we blame for this?

Our friend fanoose here provides a refreshing breeze of Islamic fundamentalist news.

However,

Europe and the US didn't turn the blind eye on Chechnya. They provide shelter and asylum to some Chechens wanted back home for the crimes they committed, some for murder. Senator McCaisn suggested that terrorists should be negotiated with. So I'd say the separatists had plenty of support.

Europe and the US does turn a blind eye on the fact that 100% Russians have been driven out of their homes in Chechnya and/or kidnapped and/or shot, in a true case of ethinc cleansing against Russians.

Originally posted by Aelita
Our friend fanoose here provides a refreshing breeze of Islamic fundamentalist news.

Can you provide any evidence that this's an Islamic fundamentalist news?

Have you ever read the Human Rights Watch record of Russia, i'll be happy to post it here...

Originally posted by marg6043
Who should we blame for this?

But Chechnya is a shameful example of western leaders refusing to confront another government on human rights abuses and war crimes because, in the end, strategic and political issues matter more. Chechnya is complex and dangerous and miserable, and we just don't care enough to try to make a difference.

YES ..and uncle sam is supporting the chechnya terrorists as well as the brits ala Afghanistan v Russia in thegood ol days. WHAT THE F..

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
CHECHENS HELPED BY BRITAIN & UNITED STATES

Chechen Aslan Maskhadov & Akhmed Zakayv Helped By Britain & United States

NewsNight Hosted by Aaron Brown on CNN
NewsNight 09/07/04, spokesperson Richard Boucher from the U.S.
State Department admitted that the U.S. Government has been in
contact with Chechen terrorists. When the State Department
Boucher of the Bush Administration was saying this, he bowed his
head (probably in shame).

***

Russians Rally Against Terror, Bury Dead

The Foreign Ministry said Russia will take new steps seeking
the extradition of people it says are linked with terrorism,
including Chechen rebel representatives Akhmed Zakayev and
Ilyas Akhmadov. Zakayev, an envoy for separatist former
Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, has been granted refugee
status in Britain and Akhmadov in the United States.

Britain's Home Office Tuesday refused to comment on whether it
had received a request from Moscow for Zakayev's extradition.

Zakayev, in Britain, denied Maskhadov was involved and alleged
the detainee's televised statement had been extracted under
torture.

Putin rejected calls for negotiations with Chechen rebel
representatives.

"Why don't you meet Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), invite
him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask
him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in
peace?" Britain's Guardian newspaper quoted Putin as saying.

Link to article:
story.news.yahoo.com... ... id=518&ncid=716

***

Picture of Chechen Akhmed Zakayev on British flag:





A police officer stands in front of a slogan with a portrait
of Akhmed Zakayev and reading 'Want to help? Extradite
Zakayev!' during a mass rally against terrorism at the Kremlin
in Moscow, Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2004. Akhmed Zakayev, an envoy
for former separatist Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, has
been granted asylum in Britain and the Foreign Ministry said
Russia will take new steps seeking the extradition of people
it says are linked with terrorism. Tens of thousands of
Russians massed outside the Kremlin for a rally against
terrorism Tuesday.

its all to keep russia off balance and to keep russia out of contention as a major world player...so of course the u.s. will continue to turn a blind eye to the situation..wink wink. the u.s. does not want another 'world power' to emerge...no matter how big and tuff you are, there will ALWAYS be someone bigger and tuffer out there...and you will meet

Yep its NOTOURPROBLEM(tm)!

But come on Russia needs a good excuse to fight a "war on terror" too, in fact if it were up to bush everyone would get one at birth.

Originally posted by clearmind
its all to keep russia off balance and to keep russia out of contention as a major world player...so of course the u.s. will continue to turn a blind eye to the situation..wink wink. the u.s. does not want another 'world power' to emerge...no matter how big and tuff you are, there will ALWAYS be someone bigger and tuffer out there...and you will meet

wink wink. but looks like they doing more than turning a blind eye.
wink wink again.

why is uncle sam supporting terrorists???????????????????????????????

maybe they want to put a leash on them. controlled terrorism. uncle sam practise double standards.


....................


Hundreds Demand Extradition of Chechen Separatist From U.S.

Created: 10.09.2004 16:23 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 20:10 MSK

MosNews

www.mosnews.com...

At least 700 people gathered Thursday across from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to protest what has been called �double standards� regarding Chechen separatists that Moscow calls terrorists, and to demand the extradition of Chechen separatist emissary Ilyas Akhmadov, who has been granted refugee status in the United States.

Hundreds of young people and students rallied in front of the building in central Moscow, holding up signs like �Russian Oil Not for You, Bush!� and �Give us Akhmadov,� a MosNews correspondent who was at the scene reported.

Another banner was in English: �Akhmadov-Bin Laden � One and the Same,� while yet another poster accused the United States of helping terrorism. Muscovites called Akhmadov a �child killer,� and asked �Are you too, Bush?�

Another 700 people gathered in front of the British Embassy to protest Britain�s refusal to extradite another Chechen emissary, Akhmed Zakayev.

Earlier Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the West of using double standards in giving refuge to what Moscow has called terrorists. In a news conference after the Beslan hostage tragedy President Vladimir Putin blasted the West for the willingness of its officials to talk to Chechen separatists, whom he compared to Osama bin Laden.

A representative of one of Russian opposition parties has told MosNews.com that shortly before the meeting he had received a call from the organisers of the rally and they asked him if his movement can �provide� protesters. They even offered money � 200 rubles ($7) per person.

Akhmadov was granted asylum in the United States on August 6.

-------

Originally posted by fanoose
�����Shoes, according to the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, which monitors Chechnya closely, are something that can identify a body. ����.

So i guess, if that's how the Russian treating Chechnya. Kidnapping Children, Journalists, Innocent people from their houses, murdering while everyone turning a blind eye on them. I wouldn't be surprised if anything *similar* goes in Russia . . .

Seeing as how most of your posts that I have seen, you seem to be a mouthpiece for al-jazeera and Islamic fundamentalists why would you now want America to intervene in another Islamic country�..thanks for the post anyhow, I didn�t know until now that shoes are like fingerprints. live and learn i guess.

The West should butt out of Chechya its Russia's and those Chechen rebels are criminals!

they'd all either be dead or on crack in 10 minutes!



He who throws mud loses ground.

Diplomacy is the art of letting someone else get your way.

Originally posted by Corinthas
Yep its NOTOURPROBLEM(tm)!

But come on Russia needs a good excuse to fight a "war on terror" too, in fact if it were up to bush everyone would get one at birth.

"Not our problem" is right. The U.S. gets bashed for helping Iraq against Iran and all of a sudden it's more evil than Saddam. So why should we get enbroiled in Chechnya? We shouldn't do anything about it unless we get a guarantee that nobody's going to bash us for it twenty years later.


He who throws mud loses ground.

Diplomacy is the art of letting someone else get your way.

Originally posted by Shadowtrooper90
���������..? We shouldn't do anything about it unless we get a guarantee that nobody's going to bash us for it twenty years later.

�����

that ain�t gonna happen no matter what we do both sides will agree we didn�t do it right. so let them fight it out themselves.