The
Chechen Republic (
pron.: /ˈtʃɛtʃɨn/;
Russian:
Чече́нская Респу́блика,
Chechenskaya Respublika;
Chechen:
Нохчийн Республика,
Noxçiyn Respublika), commonly referred to as
Chechnya (
/ˈtʃɛtʃniə/;
Russian:
Чечня́,
Chechnya;
Chechen:
Нохчийчоь,
Noxçiyçö), also spelled
Chechnia or
Chechenia, sometimes referred to as
Ichkeria (
English: Land of Minerals), is a
federal subject (a
republic) of
Russia. It is located in the southeastern part of
Europe in the
North Caucasus mountains. The
capital of the republic is the
city of
Grozny. Population: 1,268,989 (
2010 Census).
[6]
After the
dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the
Chechen-Ingush ASSR was split into two: the
Republic of Ingushetia and the Chechen Republic. The latter proclaimed the
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, which sought independence. Following the
First Chechen War with Russia, Chechnya gained
de facto independence as the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Russian federal control was restored during the
Second Chechen War. Since then there has been a systematic reconstruction and rebuilding process, though
sporadic fighting continues in the mountains and southern regions of the republic.
History
Prehistory
The oldest settlement found in the region dates back to 125,000 BCE.
In these mountain cave settlements, people lived who used tools,
mastered fire, and used animal skin for warmth and other purposes.
[11][12] Traces of human settlement that date back to 40,000 BCE were found near
Lake Kezanoi. Cave paintings, artifacts and other
archaeological evidence indicate that there has been continuous habitation for some 8,000 years.
[11]
Early history
In classical times, the northern slopes of the
Caucasus mountains were inhabited by the
Circassians on the west and the
Avars on the east. In between them, the
Zygians occupied
Zyx[citation needed], the areas of north
Ossetia, the
Balkar, the
Ingush
and the Chechen republics today. Chechnya was a country in the Northern
Caucasus which has been in almost constant battle against foreign rule
since the 15th century. Eventually the Chechens converted to Sunni
Islam, largely encouraged by the motive of receiving help from the
Ottoman Empire against Russian encroachment.
[13][14] The Russian
Terek Cossack Host was secretly established in Chechnya in 1577 by free Cossacks resettled from the
Volga to the
Terek River. Later Ermolow declared Chechnya as a part of Russian Empire.
Caucasian Wars
Map of the Caucasian
Isthmus
by J. Grassl, 1856.
Main article:
Caucasian War
In 1785, Russia and the eastern Georgian kingdom of
Kartl-Kakheti (which was devastated by Turkish and Persian invasions) signed the
Treaty of Georgievsk,
according to which Kartl-Kakheti received protection from Russia. In
order to secure communications with Georgia and other regions of the
Transcaucasia, the Russian Empire began spreading its influence into the
Caucasus mountains. The current resistance to Russian rule has its
roots in the late 18th century (1785–1791), a period when Russia
expanded into territories formerly under the dominion of
Turkey and
Persia. The territories of Georgia and Chechnya were transferred to Russia by
Persia/
Iran as a result of the
Russo-Persian War (1804–1813) and the
Treaty of Gulistan. Under
Mansur Ushurma—a Chechen
Naqshbandi (
Sufi) Sheikh—with wavering support from other North Caucasian tribes. Mansur hoped to establish a
Transcaucasus Islamic state under
shari'a
law, but was unable to fully achieve this because in the course of the
war he was wounded and captured, and for unknown reasons, died. Its
banner was again picked up by the
Avar Imam Shamil, who fought against the Russians from 1834 until 1859.
Soviet rule
Chechen rebellion would characteristically flare up whenever the
Russian state faced a period of internal uncertainty. Rebellions
occurred during the
Russo-Turkish War, the
Russian Revolution of 1905, the
Russian Revolution of 1917, the
Russian Civil War (see
Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus), and
Collectivization. Under Soviet rule, Chechnya was combined with
Ingushetia to form the autonomous republic of
Chechen-Ingushetia in the late 1930s.
The Chechens again
rose up against Soviet rule during the 1940s, resulting in the
deportation of the entire
ethnic Chechen and Ingush populations to the
Kazakh SSR (later
Kazakhstan) and
Siberia in 1944 near the end of
World War II.
[15][16] Joseph Stalin
and others argued this was punishment to the Chechens for providing
assistance to the German forces. Although the German front never made it
to the border of Chechnya, an active
guerrilla movement threatened to undermine the Soviet defenses of the
Caucasus (noted writer
Valentin Pikul
claims that while the city of Grozny was preparing for a siege in 1942,
all of the air bombers stationed on the Caucasian front had to be
re-directed towards quelling the Chechen insurrection instead of
fighting Germans at the
siege of Stalingrad). The Chechens were allowed to return to their "own ethnic land" after 1956 during
de-Stalinization under
Nikita Khrushchev.
The
Russification policies towards Chechens continued after 1956, with
Russian language proficiency required in many aspects of life and for advancement in the Soviet system.
[citation needed]
Since 1990
On November 26, 1990 the Supreme Council of Chechen-Ingush ASSR
adopted the "Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Chechen-Ingush
Republic". This declaration was part of the reorganization of the Soviet
Union. This new treaty would have been signed August 22, 1991 which
would have transformed 15 republic states into more than 80.
The August Coup
(August 19–21, 1991) led to the abandonment of this reorganization.
With the impending dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, an
independence movement, initially known as the
Chechen National Congress, was formed and led by ex-
Soviet Air Force general and new Chechen President
Dzhokhar Dudayev that rallied for the recognition of Chechnya as a separate nation. This movement was ultimately opposed by
Boris Yeltsin's
Russian Federation,
which first argued that Chechnya had not been an independent entity
within the Soviet Union—as the Baltic, Central Asian, and other
Caucasian States had—but was part of the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and hence did not have a right under the Soviet constitution to secede; second, that other
republics of Russia, such as
Tatarstan,
would consider seceding from the Russian Federation if Chechnya were
granted that right; and third, that Chechnya was a major hub in the oil
infrastructure of the Federation and hence its secession would hurt the
country's economy and energy access.
In the ensuing decade, the territory was locked in an ongoing
struggle between various factions, usually fighting unconventionally and
forgoing the position held by the several successive Russian
governments through the current administration. Various demographic
factors including religious ones have continued to keep the area in a
near constant state of war.
First Chechen War
The First Chechen War took place over a two-year period lasting from
1994 to 1996, when Russian forces attempted to regain control over
Chechnya, which had already established independence since November 1991
(generally falling in line with other entities seceding from the USSR,
except that Checheno-Ingushetia had previously been a division within
Russia). Despite overwhelming manpower, weaponry and
air support, the Russian forces were unable to establish effective permanent control over the mountainous area due to many successful
Chechen guerrilla raids. The
Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis in 1995 shocked the Russian public and discredited Chechen guerrillas. Widespread
demoralization of the Russian forces in the area and a successful offensive on Grozny by Chechen resistance forces led by
Aslan Maskhadov prompted
Russian President Boris Yeltsin to declare a ceasefire in 1996 and sign a
peace treaty a year later.
Inter-war period
After the war, parliamentary and presidential elections took place in
January 1997 in Chechnya and brought to power new President Aslan
Maskhadov, chief of staff and
prime minister in the Chechen coalition government, for a five-year term. Maskhadov sought to maintain Chechen sovereignty while pressing
Moscow to help rebuild the republic, whose formal economy and infrastructure were virtually destroyed.
[17]
Russia continued to send money for the rehabilitation of the republic;
it also provided pensions and funds for schools and hospitals. Most of
these funds were taken by Chechen authorities and divided between
favoured warlords.
[18] Nearly half a million people (40% of Chechnya's prewar population) had been internally displaced and lived in
refugee camps or overcrowded villages.
[19] There was an economic downturn. Two Russian brigades were permanently stationed in Chechnya.
[19]
In lieu of the devastated economic structure, kidnapping emerged as
the principal source of income countrywide, procuring over $200 million
during the three-year independence of the chaotic fledgling state,
[20] although victims were rarely killed.
[21]
In 1998, 176 people were kidnapped, 90 of whom were released, according
to official accounts. President Maskhadov started a major campaign
against hostage-takers, and on October 25, 1998, Shadid Bargishev,
Chechnya's top anti-kidnapping official, was killed in a
remote-controlled car bombing. Bargishev's colleagues then insisted they
would not be intimidated by the attack and would go ahead with their
offensive. Political violence and religious extremism, blamed on "
Wahhabism", was rife. In 1998, Grozny authorities declared a
state of emergency.
Tensions led to open clashes between the Chechen National Guard and
Islamist militants, such as the July 1998 confrontation in Gudermes.
Second Chechen War
In August 1999, the
Islamic International Brigade (IIPB) began an unsuccessful incursion into the neighbouring Russian republic of
Dagestan in favor of the
Shura of Dagestan who sought independence from Russia. (see
Dagestan War). In September, a series of
apartment bombings that killed three hundred Russian civilians took place in several Russian cities, including Moscow, which were blamed on the
Chechen separatists. However, many journalists as well dissident
Litvinenko
(later murdered by poisoning), contested the official explanation,
instead blaming the Russian Secret Service for blowing up the houses to
initiate a new military campaign against Chechnya. Journalist
Anna Politkovskaya and Head of the Defense Council of Russian Duma (Parliament) were also killed
[when?][where?]
after making similar claims. In response, after a prolonged air
campaign of retaliatory strikes against the Ichkerian regime, a ground
offensive began in October 1999 which marked the beginning of the Second
Chechen War. Much better organized and planned than the first Chechen
War, the military actions by the Russian Federal forces enabled them to
re-establish control over most regions. The Russian forces used brutal
force, killing sixty Chechen civilians during a mop-up operation in
Aldy, Chechnya on February 5, 2000. After the re-capture of
Grozny
in February 2000, the Ichkerian regime fell apart. However, Chechen
rebel forces continued to fight Russian troops as well as conducting
terrorist attacks,
[22] seizing a theater in Moscow in October 2002. The
Moscow theater hostage crisis
involved nearly 50 armed Chechens and 900 hostages, and resulted in a
large death toll mostly due to the effects of an aerosol anesthetic
pumped through the building by Russian special forces to render those
inside unconscious.
[23][24][25]
In response to the attack, Russia tightened its grip on Chechnya as
well as expanded its anti-terrorist operations throughout the region.
Russia was also successful in installing a pro-
Moscow Chechen regime, and the most prominent separatist leaders were killed, including former president Aslan Maskhadov and
Shamil Basayev. In April 2009, Russia ended its counter-terrorism operation and pulled out the bulk of its army.
[26]
Three months later, leader of the separatist government, Akhmed
Zakayev, called for a halt to armed resistance against the Chechen
police force starting on August 1, 2009.
[27]
Geography
Situated in the eastern part of the
North Caucasus, partially in
Eastern Europe, Chechnya is surrounded on nearly all sides by Russian Federal territory. In the west, it borders
North Ossetia and
Ingushetia, in the north,
Stavropol Krai, in the east,
Dagestan, and to the south,
Georgia. Its capital is Grozny.
- Area: 15,300 kilometers (9,500 mi)
- Borders:
Rivers:
Cities and towns with over 20,000 people
Map of Chechen Republic (Chechnya)
Administrative divisions
Demographics
According to the
2010 Census, the population of the republic is 1,268,989,
[6] up from 1,103,686 recorded in the
2002 Census.
[28] As of the 2010 Census,
[6] Chechens at 1,206,551 make up 95.3% of the republic's population. Other groups include
Russians (24,382, or 1.9%),
Kumyks (12,221, or 1%),
Ingush (1,296 or 0.1%) and a host of smaller groups, each accounting for less than 0.5% of the total population. The
Armenian community, which used to number around 15,000 in Grozny alone, has dwindled to a few families.
[29][dead link] Birth rate was 25.41 in 2004. (25.7 in Achkhoi Martan, 19.8 in Groznyy, 17.5 in Kurchaloi, 28.3 in Urus Martan and 11.1 in
Vedeno). According to the Chechen State Statistical Committee, Chechnya's population had grown to 1.205 million in January 2006.
[30]
At the end of the Soviet era, ethnic Russians (including Cossacks) comprised about 23% of the population (269,000 in 1989).
According to some Russian sources, from 1991 to 1994 tens of
thousands of people of non-Chechen ethnicity (mostly Russians,
Ukrainians and Armenians) left the
republic
amidst reports of violence and discrimination against the non-Chechen
population, as well as widespread lawlessness and ethnic cleansing under
the government of
Dzhokhar Dudayev, which is called by their source "ethnic cleansing".
[31][32]
However, regarding this exodus, there is an alternative view.
According to the Russian economists Boris Lvin and Andrei Iliaronov,
The Chechen authorities are regularly accused of crimes against the
population, especially the Russian-speaking people. However, before the
current war the emigration of the Russian-speaking population from
Chechnya was no more intense than that from Kalmykia, Tuva and
Sakha-Yakutia. In Grozny itself there remained a 200,000 strong
Russian-speaking population which did not hasten to leave it.[33][34]
The languages used in the Republic are
Chechen and
Russian. Chechen belongs to the Vaynakh or
North-central Caucasian language family, which also includes
Ingush and
Batsb. Some scholars place it in a wider
Iberian-Caucasian super-family.
Chechnya has one of the youngest populations in the generally aging
Russian Federation; in the early 1990s, it was among the few regions
experiencing natural population growth. Since 2002, Chechnya has
experienced a classic post-conflict baby-boom.
[35]
Chechen demographers in 2008 termed highly implausible the reported
overall population growth as infant mortality in Chechnya was said to be
60 percent higher than the Russian average in 2007 and to have risen by
3.9 percent compared with 2006.
[35]
Many experts have expressed doubts about the increase from 1.1 million
in the 1990 to an estimated nearly 1.3 million in 2010 following two
devastating wars that displaced hundreds of thousands people and
virtually eliminated the large ethnic Russian minority in the republic.
[36]
According to Russian demographer Dmitry Bogoyavlensky, the 2002 census
results were clearly manipulated in the North Caucasus: an estimated
800,000 to 1 million non-existent people were added to the actual
population of the region.
[36]
Another Russian demographer, Anatoly Vishnevsky, pointed out that
according to the 2002 census, some age groups, like those born in 1950,
appeared to be larger in 2002 than in 1989.
[36]
With the 2002 census, Moscow wanted to show there were not too many
casualties and that the refugees had returned to Chechnya, while the
local authorities wanted to receive more funds and thus needed a higher
population to justify their demands.
[36]
Also, in the multiethnic republics of North Caucasus normally unlike in
other parts of Russia, government positions are distributed among the
ethnicities according to their ratio in the general population.
[36]
So ethnicities are zealously guarding their numbers in order not to be
outnumbered by others and thereby left with less representation in the
government and the local economy.
[36] Some 40 percent of newborns had some kind of genetic defect.
[35]
Vital statistics
- Source: Russian Federal State Statistics Service
|
Average population (x 1000) |
Live births |
Deaths |
Natural change |
Crude birth rate (per 1000) |
Crude death rate (per 1000) |
Natural change (per 1000) |
| 2003 |
1,117 |
27,774 |
7,194 |
20 580 |
24.9 |
6.4 |
18.4 |
| 2004 |
1,133 |
28,496 |
6,347 |
22,149 |
25.2 |
5.6 |
19.5 |
| 2005 |
1,150 |
28,652 |
5,857 |
22,795 |
24.9 |
5.1 |
19.8 |
| 2006 |
1,167 |
27,989 |
5,889 |
22,100 |
24.0 |
5.0 |
18.9 |
| 2007 |
1,187 |
32,449 |
5,630 |
26,819 |
27.3 |
4.7 |
22.6 |
| 2008 |
1,210 |
35,897 |
5,447 |
30,450 |
29.7 |
4.5 |
25.2 |
| 2009 |
1,235 |
36,523 |
6,620 |
29,903 |
29.6 |
5.4 |
24.2 |
| 2010 |
1,260 |
37,753 |
7,042 |
30,711 |
30.0 |
5.6 |
24.4 |
| 2011 |
1,275 |
37,335 |
6,810 |
30,525 |
28.9 |
5.3 |
23.6 |
| 2012 |
1,302 |
34,056 |
7,101 |
26,955 |
25.9 |
5.4 |
20,5 |
Total fertility rate: 2012 - 3.12(e)
Ethnic groups
(in the territory of modern Chechnya)
[37]
Ethnic
group |
1926 Census |
1939 Census |
1959 Census |
1970 Census |
1979 Census |
1989 Census |
2002 Census |
2010 Census1 |
| Number |
% |
Number |
% |
Number |
% |
Number |
% |
Number |
% |
Number |
% |
Number |
% |
Number |
% |
| Chechens |
293,298 |
67.3% |
360,889 |
58.0% |
238,331 |
39.7% |
499,962 |
54.7% |
602,223 |
60.1% |
715,306 |
66.0% |
1,031,647 |
93.5% |
1,206,551 |
95.3% |
| Russians |
103,271 |
23.5% |
213,354 |
34.3% |
296,794 |
49.4% |
327,701 |
35.8% |
307,079 |
30.6% |
269,130 |
24.8% |
40,645 |
3.7% |
24,382 |
1.9% |
| Kumyks |
2,217 |
0.5% |
3,575 |
0,6% |
|
|
6,865 |
0.8% |
7,808 |
0.8% |
9,591 |
0.9% |
8,883 |
0.8% |
12,221 |
1.0% |
| Avars |
830 |
0.2% |
2,906 |
0.5% |
|
|
4,196 |
0.5% |
4,793 |
0.5% |
6,035 |
0.6% |
4,133 |
0.4% |
4,864 |
0.4% |
| Nogays |
162 |
0.0% |
1,302 |
0.2% |
|
|
5,503 |
0.6% |
6,079 |
0.6% |
6,885 |
0.6% |
3,572 |
0.3% |
3,444 |
0.3% |
| Ingushes |
798 |
0.2% |
4,338 |
0.7% |
3,639 |
0.6% |
14,543 |
1.6% |
20,855 |
2.1% |
25,136 |
2.3% |
2,914 |
0.3% |
1,296 |
0.1% |
| Ukrainians |
11,474 |
2.6% |
8,614 |
1.4% |
11,947 |
2.0% |
11,608 |
1.3% |
11,334 |
1.1% |
11,884 |
1.1% |
829 |
0.1% |
13,716 |
1.1% |
| Armenians |
5,978 |
1.4% |
8,396 |
1.3% |
12,136 |
2.0% |
13,948 |
1.5% |
14,438 |
1.4% |
14,666 |
1.4% |
424 |
0.0% |
| Others |
18,840 |
4.13% |
18,646 |
3.0% |
37,550 |
6.3% |
30,057 |
3.3% |
27,621 |
2.8% |
25,800 |
2.4% |
10,639 |
1.0% |
| 1 2,515 people were
registered from administrative databases, and could not declare an
ethnicity. It is estimated that the proportion of ethnicities in this
group is the same as that of the declared group.[38] |
Religion
Islam is the predominant religion in Chechnya. Chechens are overwhelmingly adherents to
Sunni Islam,
[39]
the country having converted to Islam between the 16th and the 19th
centuries. Due to historical importance, many Chechens are Sufis, of
either the Qadiri or Naqshbandi orders. Most of the population follows
either the
Shafi'i,
Hanafi,
[40] or
Maliki[41] schools of jurisprudence,
fiqh. The Shafi'i school of jurisprudence has a long tradition among the Chechens,
[42] and thus it remains the most practiced.
[43]
The once-strong Russian minority in Chechnya, mostly
Terek Cossacks and estimated as numbering approximately 25,000 in 2012, are predominately
Russian Orthodox, although presently only one church exists in Grozny. In August 2011, Archbishop Zosima of
Vladikavkaz and
Makhachkala performed the first mass
baptism ceremony in the history of Chechen republic in the
Terek River of
Naursky District in which 35 citizens of Naursky and Shelkovsky districts were converted to Orthodoxy.
[44]
Politics
Since 1990, the Chechen Republic has had many legal, military, and
civil conflicts involving separatist movements and pro-Russian
authorities. Today, Chechnya is a relatively stable
federal republic,
although there is still some separatist movement activity. Its regional
constitution entered into effect on April 2, 2003 after an all-Chechen
referendum was held on March 23, 2003. The independent observers alleged
that the officially reported voter turnout seemed to be much higher
than the reality.
[45] Some Chechens were controlled by regional
teips, or clans, despite the existence of pro- and anti-Russian political structures.
Regional government
Chechnya and Caucasus map
The former separatist religious leader (mufti)
Akhmad Kadyrov,
looked upon as a traitor by many separatists, was elected president
with 83% of the vote in an internationally monitored election on October
5, 2003. Incidents of
ballot stuffing
and voter intimidation by Russian soldiers and the exclusion of
separatist parties from the polls were subsequently reported by the
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitors. On May 9, 2004, Kadyrov was assassinated in Grozny football stadium by a
landmine explosion that was planted beneath a VIP stage and detonated during a parade, and
Sergey Abramov was appointed to the position of acting prime minister after the incident. However, since 2005
Ramzan Kadyrov
(son of Akhmad Kadyrov) has been caretaker prime minister, and in 2007
was appointed a new president. Many allege he is the wealthiest and most
powerful man in the republic, with control over a large private militia
referred to as the
Kadyrovtsy.
The militia, which began as his father's security force, has been
accused of killings and kidnappings by human rights organizations such
as
Human Rights Watch.
In 2009, the American organization
Freedom House included Chechnya in the "Worst of the Worst" list of most repressive societies in the world, together with
Burma,
North Korea,
China's
Tibet and others.
[46]
Separatist government
In addition to the Russian regional government, there was a
separatist Ichkeria government that was not recognized by any state
(although members have been given political asylum in European and Arab
countries, as well as the United States).
Ichkeria is/was a member of the
Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. Former president of
Georgia,
Zviad Gamsakhurdia, deposed in a military coup of 1991 and a participant of the
Georgian Civil War, recognised the independence of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in 1993.
[47] This recognition is no longer in effect.
[citation needed] Diplomatic relations with Ichkeria were also established by the partially recognized
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan under the
Taliban government on January 16, 2000. This recognition ceased with the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
[48]
However, despite Taliban recognition, there were no friendly relations
between the Taliban and Ichkeria- Maskhadov rejected their recognition,
stating that the Taliban were illegitimate.
[49]
Ichkeria also received vocal support from the Baltic countries, a group
of Ukrainian nationalists and Poland; Estonia once voted to recognize,
but the act never was followed through due to pressure applied by both
Russia and the EU.
[49][50][51]
The president of this government was Aslan Maskhadov, the Foreign Minister was
Ilyas Akhmadov,
who was the spokesman for Maskhadov. Aslan Maskhadov had been elected
in an internationally monitored election in 1997 for 4 years, which took
place after signing a peace agreement with Russia. In 2001 he issued a
decree prolonging his office for one additional year; he was unable to
participate in the 2003 presidential election, since separatist parties
were barred by the Russian government, and Maskhadov faced accusations
of terrorist offences in Russia. Maskhadov left Grozny and moved to the
separatist-controlled areas of the south at the onset of the
Second Chechen War.
Maskhadov was unable to influence a number of warlords who retain
effective control over Chechen territory, and his power was diminished
as a result. Russian forces killed Maskhadov on March 8, 2005, and the
assassination of Maskhadov was widely criticized since it left no
legitimate Chechen separatist leader with whom to conduct peace talks.
Akhmed Zakayev,
Deputy Prime Minister and a Foreign Minister under Maskhadov, was
appointed shortly after the 1997 election and is currently living under
asylum in
England. He and others chose
Abdul Khalim Saidullayev,
a relatively unknown Islamic judge who was previously the host of an
Islamic program on Chechen television, to replace Maskhadov following
his death. On June 17, 2006, it was reported that Russian special forces
killed Abdul Khalim Saidullayev in a raid in a Chechen town Argun. The
successor of Saidullayev became
Doku Umarov. On October 31, 2007 Umarov abolished the
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and its presidency and in its place proclaimed the
Caucasian Emirate with himself as its
Emir.
[52]
This change of status has been rejected by many Chechen politicians and
military leaders who continue to support the existence of the republic.
Human rights
In 2006
Human Rights Watch reported that pro-Moscow Chechen forces under the command, in effect, of chapter of republic
Ramzan Kadyrov,
as well as federal police personnel, used torture to get information
about separatist forces. "If you are detained in Chechnya, you face a
real and immediate risk of torture. And there is little chance that your
torturer will be held accountable," said Holly Cartner, Director Europe
and Central Asia division of HRW.
[53]
Human rights groups criticized the conduct of the 2005 parliamentary
elections as unfairly influenced by the central Russian government and
military.
[54]
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre reports that after
hundreds of thousands fled their homes following inter-ethnic and
separatist conflicts in Chechnya in 1994 and 1999, more than 150,000
people still remain displaced in Russia today.
[55]
On September 1, 1997, Criminal Code reportedly being implemented in
the Chechen Republic-Ichkeriya, Article 148 punishes "anal sexual
intercourse between a man and a woman or a man and a man". For first-
and second-time offenders, the punishment is caning. A third conviction
leads to the death penalty, which can be carried out in a number of ways
including stoning or beheading.
[56]
On February 1, 2009, the New York Times released extensive evidence
to support allegations of consistent torture and executions under the
Kadyrov government. The accusations were sparked by the assassination in
Austria of a former Chechen rebel who had gained access to Kadyrov's
inner circle, 27-year old Umar Israilov.
[57]
On July 1, 2009,
Amnesty International released a detailed report covering the human rights violations committed by the
Russian Federation
against Chechnyan citizens. Among the most prominent features was that
those abused had no method of redress against assaults, ranging from
kidnapping to torture, while those responsible were never held
accountable. This led to the conclusion that Chechnya was being ruled
without law, being run into further devastating destabilization.
[58]
On March 10, 2011,
Human Rights Watch
reported that since Chechenization, the government has pushed for
enforced Islamic dress code and other traditions which violently repress
women.
[59] The president
Ramzan Kadyrov
is quoted as saying "I have the right to criticize my wife. She
doesn’t. With us [in Chechen society], a wife is a housewife. A woman
should know her place. A woman should give her love to us [men]... She
would be [man’s] property. And the man is the owner. Here, if a woman
does not behave properly, her husband, father, and brother are
responsible. According to our tradition, if a woman fools around, her
family members kill her... That’s how it happens, a brother kills his
sister or a husband kills his wife... As a president, I cannot allow for
them to kill. So, let women not wear shorts...".
[60] He has also openly defended honour killings on several occasions.
[61] All this is occurring despite being illegal under Russian law and international laws.
Economy
During the war, the Chechen economy fell apart.
Gross domestic product,
if reliably calculable, would be only a fraction of the prewar level.
Problems with the Chechen economy had an effect on the federal Russian
economy—a number of financial crimes during the 1990s were committed
using Chechen financial organizations. Chechnya has the highest ratio
within Russian Federation of financial operations made in
U.S. dollar to operations in
Russian rubles. There are many
counterfeit
U.S. dollars printed there. In 1994, the separatists planned to
introduce a new currency, but that did not happen due to Russian troops
re-taking Chechnya in the
Second Chechen War.
[citation needed]
As an effect of the war, approximately 80% of the economic potential of
Chechnya was destroyed. Much of the money spent by the Russian federal
government to rebuild Chechnya has been wasted. According to the Russian
government, over $2 billion was spent on the reconstruction of the
Chechen economy since 2000. However, according to the Russian central
economic control agency (
Schyotnaya Palata), not more than $350 million was spent as intended.
[citation needed] The economic situation in Chechnya has improved considerably since 2000. According to the
New York Times,
major efforts to rebuild Grozny have been made, and improvements in the
political situation have led some officials to consider setting up a
tourism industry, though there are claims that construction workers are
being irregularly paid and that poor people have been displaced.
[62] See the main article
Grozny.
Tourism
After the war, and until about 2007 tourism in the country was in
decline, but today there is some work for its resuscitation. At present,
people from North Ossetia, Ingushetia and Dagestan, often visit
Chechnya for trade reasons, and rare groups from central Russia appear
in the republic for the purposes of
extreme tourism.
References
- ^ Президент
Российской Федерации. Указ №849 от 13 мая 2000 г. «О полномочном
представителе Президента Российской Федерации в федеральном округе».
Вступил в силу 13 мая 2000 г. Опубликован: "Собрание законодательства
РФ", №20, ст. 2112, 15 мая 2000 г. (President of the Russian Federation. Decree #849 of May 13, 2000 On the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in a Federal District. Effective as of May 13, 2000.).
- ^ Госстандарт
Российской Федерации. №ОК 024-95 27 декабря 1995 г. «Общероссийский
классификатор экономических регионов. 2. Экономические районы», в ред.
Изменения №5/2001 ОКЭР. (Gosstandart of the Russian Federation. #OK 024-95 December 27, 1995 Russian Classification of Economic Regions. 2. Economic Regions, as amended by the Amendment #5/2001 OKER. ).
- ^ Constitution, Article 5.1
- ^ Official website of the Chechen Republic. Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov (Russian)
- ^ Федеральная служба государственной статистики (Federal State Statistics Service) (2004-05-21). "Территория, число районов, населённых пунктов и сельских администраций по субъектам Российской Федерации[[Category:Articles containing Russian language text]] (Territory, Number of Districts, Inhabited Localities, and Rural Administration by Federal Subjects of the Russian Federation)". Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
- ^ a b c d "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1" [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1)]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. 2011. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
- ^ The
density value was calculated by dividing the population reported by the
2010 Census by the area shown in the "Area" field. Please note that
this value may not be accurate as the area specified in the infobox is
not necessarily reported for the same year as the population.
- ^ Правительство Российской Федерации. Постановление №725 от 31 августа 2011 г. «О
составе территорий, образующих каждую часовую зону, и порядке
исчисления времени в часовых зонах, а также о признании утратившими силу
отдельных Постановлений Правительства Российской Федерации».
Вступил в силу по истечении 7 дней после дня официального опубликования.
Опубликован: "Российская Газета", №197, 6 сентября 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Resolution #725 of August 31, 2011 On
the Composition of the Territories Included into Each Time Zone and on
the Procedures of Timekeeping in the Time Zones, as Well as on
Abrogation of Several Resolutions of the Government of the Russian
Federation. Effective as of after 7 days following the day of the official publication.).
- ^ Official the whole territory of Russia according to Article 68.1 of the Constitution of Russia.
- ^ Constitution, Article 10.1
- ^ a b Jaimoukha, Amjad M. (2005-03-01). The Chechens: a handbook (1st ed.). Routledge. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-415-32328-4. Retrieved 2009-08-14.
- ^ History of Chechnya
- ^ Anciennes Croyances des Ingouches et des Tchétchènes.Mariel Tsaroïeva ISBN 2-7068-1792-5
- ^ Lecha Ilyasov. The Diversity of the Chechen Culture: From Historical Roots to the Present. ISBN 978-5-904549-02-2
- ^ Kavkazcenter.com. "European Parliament recognizes deportation of Chechens as act of genocide". Retrieved 2007-01-23.
- ^ Remembering Stalin's deportations
- ^ Chechnya, reference article by Freedom House publications.
- ^ Leon Aron. Chechnya, New Dimensions of the Old Crisis. AEI, 01.02.2003
- ^ a b Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko. "Death of a Dissident: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko and the Return of the KGB." Free Press, New York, 2007. ISBN 978-1-4165-5165-2.
- ^ Tishkov, Valery. Chechnya: Life in a War-Torn Society. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004, p. 114.
- ^ "Four Western hostages beheaded in Chechnya". CNN. Archived from the original on 2002-12-03.
- ^ Andrew Meier. Chechnya: To the Heart of a Conflict
- ^ Gas "killed Moscow hostages", ibid.
- ^ "Moscow court begins siege claims", BBC News, 24 December 2002
- ^ "Moscow hostage relatives await news". BBC NEWS. 27 Oct 2002. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
- ^ "Russia 'ends Chechnya operation'". BBC News. April 16, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
- ^ Chechen self-proclaimed government-in-exile lays down weapons Russia Today Retrieved on July 29, 2009
- ^ "Численность
населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных
округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов –
районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и
более человек" [Population of Russia, its federal districts, federal
subjects, districts, urban localities, rural localities—administrative
centers, and rural localities with population of over 3,000]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (All-Russia Population Census of 2002) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. May 21, 2004. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
- ^ Ishkhanyan, Vahan, ArmeniaNow.com. "The case for Chechnya". Retrieved 2008-05-12.
- ^ Chechnya – The week in brief: 4–11 Feb, 2008
- ^ O.P. Orlov; V.P. Cherkassov. "Россия — Чечня: Цепь ошибок и преступлений" (in Russian). Memorial.
- ^ Sokolov-Mitrich, Dmitryi. "Забытый геноцид". Izvestia. Retrieved on July 17, 2002.
- ^ Written by economists Boris Lvin and Andrei Illarionov. Moscow News. Feb 24- March 2, 1995
- ^ Note:
This source is written in 1995; it should be noted that in the modern
day, however, the Russian population is far less than 200000
- ^ a b c Liz Fuller (3 November 2010). "Preliminary Chechen Census Findings Unveiled". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f Dzutsev, Valery (2010). 2010 Census Data is Adjusted to Meet Kremlin Priorities in the North Caucasus 7 (207). Retrieved 12 March 2011.
- ^ [1]
- ^ http://www.perepis-2010.ru/news/detail.php?ID=6936
- ^ http://www.gwu.edu/~ieresgwu/assets/docs/ponars/pm_0388.pdf
- ^ Shafi'i and Hanafi schools of jurisprudence in Cechnya
- ^ [2] Chechnya, Wahhabism and the invasion of Dagestan
- ^ [3] Djihad in the Northern Caucus Ch3
- ^ Mairbek Vatchagaev (September 8, 2006). "The Kremlin's War on Islamic Education in the North Caucasus". Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Chechnya Weekly, Volume 7, Issue 34 (September 8, 2006)
- ^ Interfax Information Services Group. "Chechnya saw the first mass baptism in its today’s history". Retrieved 2012-07-09.
- ^ ISHR Germany. "Some thoughts about the referendum in Chechnya". Retrieved 2007-01-23.
- ^ Worst of the Worst: The World's Most Repressive Societies (PDF), Freedom House, March 2009
- ^ in 1993, ex –President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia recognized Chechnya ` s independence..,
- ^ Are Chechens in Afghanistan? --By Nabi Abdullaev, Dec 14, 2001 Moscow Times
- ^ a b Kullberg, Anssi. "The Background of Chechen Independence Movement III: The Secular Movement". The Eurasian politician. 1 October 2003
- ^ Kari Takamaa and Martti Koskenneimi. The Finnish Yearbook of International Law. p147
- ^ Kuzio, Taras. "The Chechen crisis and the 'near abroad'". Central Asian Survey, Volume 14, Issue 4 1995, pages 553–572
- ^ What is Hidden Behind the Idea of the Caucasian Emirate?
- ^ Human Rights Watch:Chechnya: Research Shows Widespread and Systematic Use of Torture
- ^ Chechnya Holds Parliamentary Vote, Morning Edition, NPR, November 28, 2005.
- ^ Government efforts help only some IDPs rebuild their lives, IDMC, August 13, 2007
- ^ Amnesty International:Amnesty International working against laws punishing sexual relations between men, 1 September 1997.
- ^ New York Times:Slain Exile Detailed Chechen Ruler's Systematic Cruelty, February 1, 2009.
- ^ Amnesty International:Russian Federation Rule Without Law: Human Rights violations in the North Caucasus, July 1, 2009.
- ^ Human Rights Watch:“You Dress According to Their Rules” Enforcement of an Islamic Dress Code for Women in Chechnya, March 10, 2011
- ^ Interview with Ramzan Kadyrov, Komsomolskaya Pravda, September 24, 2008, http://www.kp.ru/daily/24169/380743/ (accessed December 7, 2010)
- ^ Chechen President Kadyrov Defends Honor Killings St. Petersburg Times March 3, 2009
- ^ Kramer, Andrew E. (April 30, 2008). "Chechnya's Capital Rises From the Ashes, Atop Hidden Horrors". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2010.
Sources
- 23 марта 2003 г. «Конституция Чеченской Республики». (March 23, 2003 Constitution of the Chechen Republic. ).
Further reading
- Khassan Baiev. The Oath: A Surgeon Under Fire. ISBN 0-8027-1404-8
- Vyacheslav Mironov. Ya byl na etoy voyne. (I was in this war) Biblion – Russkaya Kniga, 2001. Partial translation available online [4].
- Vyacheslav Mironov. Assault on Grozny Downtown
- Vyacheslav Mironov. I was in that war.
- Matthew Evangelista, The Chechen Wars: Will Russia Go the Way of the Soviet Union?. ISBN 0-8157-2499-3.
- Roy Conrad. Grozny. A few days...
- Olga Oliker, Russia's Chechen Wars 1994–2000: Lessons from Urban Combat. ISBN 0-8330-2998-3. (A strategic and tactical analysis of the Chechen Wars.)
- Charlotta Gall & Thomas de Waal. Chechnya: A Small Victorious War. ISBN 0-330-35075-7
- Paul J., Ph. D. Murphy. The Wolves of Islam: Russia and the Faces of Chechen Terror. ISBN 1-57488-830-7
- Anatol Lieven. Chechnya : Tombstone of Russian Power ISBN 0-300-07881-1
- John B Dunlop. Russia Confronts Chechnya: Roots of a Separatist Conflict ISBN 0-521-63619-1
- Paul Khlebnikov. Razgovor s varvarom (Interview with a barbarian). ISBN 5-89935-057-1.
- Marie Bennigsen-Broxup. The North Caucasus Barrier: The Russian Advance Towards the Muslim World. ISBN 1-85065-069-1
- Anna Politkovskaya. A Small Corner of Hell: Dispatches from Chechnya ISBN 0-226-67432-0
- Chris Bird. "To Catch a Tartar: Notes from the Caucasus" [ISBN 0-7195-6506-5]
- Carlotta Gall, Thomas de Waal, Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus [ISBN 0-8147-3132-5]
- Yvonne Bornstein and Mark Ribowsky, "Eleven Days of Hell: My True
Story Of Kidnapping, Terror, Torture And Historic FBI & KGB Rescue"
AuthorHouse, 2004. ISBN 1-4184-9302-3.
- Ali Khan, The Chechen Terror: The Play within the Play
- Hunter Hammer and Heaven, Journeys to Three World's Gone Mad, by Robert Young Pelton (ISBN 1-58574-416-6)
- Arkady Babchenko "One Soldier's War In Chechnya" Portobello, London ISBN 978-1-84627-039-0
- Asne Seirstad. The Angel of Grozny. ISBN 978-1-84408-395-4
- Scott Anderson. The Man Who Tried to Save the World. ISBN 0-385-48666-9
- Chechnya: The Case For Independence by Tony Wood Book review in The Independent, 2007
External links
Chechnya portal
