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Chechnya

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Chechen Republic
Чеченская Республика (Russian) Нохчийн Республика/Noxçiyn Respublika (Chechen)
—  Republic  —
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Shtalak's Song (Шатлакхан Илли)
Coordinates: 43°24′N 45°43′ECoordinates: 43°24′N 45°43′E
Political status
Country	Russia
Federal district	North Caucasian[1]
Economic region	North Caucasus[2]
Established	January 11, 1991
Capital	Grozny
Government (as of March 2010)
- Head[3]	Ramzan Kadyrov[4]
- Legislature	Parliament
Statistics
Area (as of the 2002 Census)[5]
- Total	17,300 km2 (6,679.6 sq mi)
Area rank	75th
Population (2010 Census)[6]
- Total	1,268,989
- Rank	40th
- Density[7]	73.35 /km2 (190.0 /sq mi)
- Urban	34.9%
- Rural	65.1%
Time zone(s)	MSK (UTC+04:00)[8]
ISO 3166-2	RU-CE
License plates	95
Official languages	Russian;[9] Chechen[10]
Official website

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.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Prehistory 1.2 Early history 1.3 Caucasian Wars 1.4 Soviet rule 1.5 Since 1990 1.5.1 First Chechen War 1.5.2 Inter-war period 1.5.3 Second Chechen War 2 Geography 2.1 Cities and towns with over 20,000 people 3 Administrative divisions 4 Demographics 4.1 Vital statistics 4.2 Ethnic groups 4.3 Religion 5 Politics 5.1 Regional government 5.2 Separatist government 6 Human rights 7 Economy 7.1 Tourism 8 References 9 Sources 10 Further reading 11 External links

History

Main article: History of Chechnya

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

The Mountain ASSR and the districts established after the Russian Civil War^{[citation needed]} (Chechnya is located on the far right)

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

Part of a series on the
History of Chechnya
Prehistory
Kura–Araxes culture Kayakent culture Kharachoi culture Koban culture
Ancient
Medieval
Early modern
"Ichkerian" Era Caucasian Imamate Russian Empire
Modern
1917–1920  Mountain Republic 1919–1920  North Caucasian Emirate 1920–1922  Chechen National Okrug 1922–1934  Chechen Autonomous Oblast 1934–1936  Chechen–Ingush Aut. Oblast 1934–1944  Chechen–Ingush ASSR 1944–1957  Grozny Oblast 1957–1991  Chechen–Ingush ASSR 1991–2000  Chechen Republic of Ichkeria 2000–present  Chechen Republic
Chechnya portal
v t e

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

Main article: 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

Main article: Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

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

Main article: 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

Lake Kazenoi

The Terek River

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:
  • Internal:
    • Republic of Dagestan (NE)
    • Republic of Ingushetia (W)
    • Republic of North Ossetia–Alania (W)
    • Stavropol Krai (NW)
  • Foreign:
    • Georgia (S)

Rivers:

• Terek
• Sunzha
• Argun

Cities and towns with over 20,000 people

Map of Chechen Republic (Chechnya)

• Grozny (capital)
• Shali
• Urus-Martan
• Gudermes
• Argun

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Chechnya

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

Main article: Politics of Chechnya

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

1. ^ 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.).
2. ^ 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. ).
3. ^ Constitution, Article 5.1
4. ^ Official website of the Chechen Republic. Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov (Russian)
5. ^ 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. Wikilink embedded in URL title (help)
6. ^ ^{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.
7. ^ 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.
8. ^ 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.).
9. ^ Official the whole territory of Russia according to Article 68.1 of the Constitution of Russia.
10. ^ Constitution, Article 10.1
11. ^ ^{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.
12. ^ History of Chechnya
13. ^ Anciennes Croyances des Ingouches et des Tchétchènes.Mariel Tsaroïeva ISBN 2-7068-1792-5
14. ^ Lecha Ilyasov. The Diversity of the Chechen Culture: From Historical Roots to the Present. ISBN 978-5-904549-02-2
15. ^ Kavkazcenter.com. "European Parliament recognizes deportation of Chechens as act of genocide". Retrieved 2007-01-23.
16. ^ Remembering Stalin's deportations
17. ^ Chechnya, reference article by Freedom House publications.
18. ^ Leon Aron. Chechnya, New Dimensions of the Old Crisis. AEI, 01.02.2003
19. ^ ^{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.
20. ^ Tishkov, Valery. Chechnya: Life in a War-Torn Society. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004, p. 114.
21. ^ "Four Western hostages beheaded in Chechnya". CNN. Archived from the original on 2002-12-03.
22. ^ Andrew Meier. Chechnya: To the Heart of a Conflict
23. ^ Gas "killed Moscow hostages", ibid.
24. ^ "Moscow court begins siege claims", BBC News, 24 December 2002
25. ^ "Moscow hostage relatives await news". BBC NEWS. 27 Oct 2002. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
26. ^ "Russia 'ends Chechnya operation'". BBC News. April 16, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
27. ^ Chechen self-proclaimed government-in-exile lays down weapons Russia Today Retrieved on July 29, 2009
28. ^ "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.
29. ^ Ishkhanyan, Vahan, ArmeniaNow.com. "The case for Chechnya". Retrieved 2008-05-12.
30. ^ Chechnya – The week in brief: 4–11 Feb, 2008
31. ^ O.P. Orlov; V.P. Cherkassov. "Россия — Чечня: Цепь ошибок и преступлений" (in Russian). Memorial.
32. ^ Sokolov-Mitrich, Dmitryi. "Забытый геноцид". Izvestia. Retrieved on July 17, 2002.
33. ^ Written by economists Boris Lvin and Andrei Illarionov. Moscow News. Feb 24- March 2, 1995
34. ^ 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
35. ^ ^{a b c} Liz Fuller (3 November 2010). "Preliminary Chechen Census Findings Unveiled". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
36. ^ ^{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.
37. ^ [1]
38. ^ http://www.perepis-2010.ru/news/detail.php?ID=6936
39. ^ http://www.gwu.edu/~ieresgwu/assets/docs/ponars/pm_0388.pdf
40. ^ Shafi'i and Hanafi schools of jurisprudence in Cechnya
41. ^ [2] Chechnya, Wahhabism and the invasion of Dagestan
42. ^ [3] Djihad in the Northern Caucus Ch3
43. ^ 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)
44. ^ Interfax Information Services Group. "Chechnya saw the first mass baptism in its today’s history". Retrieved 2012-07-09.
45. ^ ISHR Germany. "Some thoughts about the referendum in Chechnya". Retrieved 2007-01-23.
46. ^ Worst of the Worst: The World's Most Repressive Societies (PDF), Freedom House, March 2009
47. ^ in 1993, ex –President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia recognized Chechnya ` s independence..,
48. ^ Are Chechens in Afghanistan? --By Nabi Abdullaev, Dec 14, 2001 Moscow Times
49. ^ ^{a b} Kullberg, Anssi. "The Background of Chechen Independence Movement III: The Secular Movement". The Eurasian politician. 1 October 2003
50. ^ Kari Takamaa and Martti Koskenneimi. The Finnish Yearbook of International Law. p147
51. ^ Kuzio, Taras. "The Chechen crisis and the 'near abroad'". Central Asian Survey, Volume 14, Issue 4 1995, pages 553–572
52. ^ What is Hidden Behind the Idea of the Caucasian Emirate?
53. ^ Human Rights Watch:Chechnya: Research Shows Widespread and Systematic Use of Torture
54. ^ Chechnya Holds Parliamentary Vote, Morning Edition, NPR, November 28, 2005.
55. ^ Government efforts help only some IDPs rebuild their lives, IDMC, August 13, 2007
56. ^ Amnesty International:Amnesty International working against laws punishing sexual relations between men, 1 September 1997.
57. ^ New York Times:Slain Exile Detailed Chechen Ruler's Systematic Cruelty, February 1, 2009.
58. ^ Amnesty International:Russian Federation Rule Without Law: Human Rights violations in the North Caucasus, July 1, 2009.
59. ^ Human Rights Watch:“You Dress According to Their Rules” Enforcement of an Islamic Dress Code for Women in Chechnya, March 10, 2011
60. ^ Interview with Ramzan Kadyrov, Komsomolskaya Pravda, September 24, 2008, http://www.kp.ru/daily/24169/380743/ (accessed December 7, 2010)
61. ^ Chechen President Kadyrov Defends Honor Killings St. Petersburg Times March 3, 2009
62. ^ 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chechnya

• (Russian) Official site of the Republic of Chechnya
• Chechnya at the Open Directory Project
• AlertNet Chechnya and the North Caucasus

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Chechnya

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Chechen Republic
Чеченская Республика (Russian) Нохчийн Республика/Noxçiyn Respublika (Chechen)
—  Republic  —
Flag Coat of arms
Anthem: Shtalak's Song (Шатлакхан Илли)
Coordinates: 43°24′N 45°43′ECoordinates: 43°24′N 45°43′E
Political status
Country	Russia
Federal district	North Caucasian[1]
Economic region	North Caucasus[2]
Established	January 11, 1991
Capital	Grozny
Government (as of March 2010)
- Head[3]	Ramzan Kadyrov[4]
- Legislature	Parliament
Statistics
Area (as of the 2002 Census)[5]
- Total	17,300 km2 (6,679.6 sq mi)
Area rank	75th
Population (2010 Census)[6]
- Total	1,268,989
- Rank	40th
- Density[7]	73.35 /km2 (190.0 /sq mi)
- Urban	34.9%
- Rural	65.1%
Time zone(s)	MSK (UTC+04:00)[8]
ISO 3166-2	RU-CE
License plates	95
Official languages	Russian;[9] Chechen[10]
Official website

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.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Prehistory 1.2 Early history 1.3 Caucasian Wars 1.4 Soviet rule 1.5 Since 1990 1.5.1 First Chechen War 1.5.2 Inter-war period 1.5.3 Second Chechen War 2 Geography 2.1 Cities and towns with over 20,000 people 3 Administrative divisions 4 Demographics 4.1 Vital statistics 4.2 Ethnic groups 4.3 Religion 5 Politics 5.1 Regional government 5.2 Separatist government 6 Human rights 7 Economy 7.1 Tourism 8 References 9 Sources 10 Further reading 11 External links

History

Main article: History of Chechnya

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

The Mountain ASSR and the districts established after the Russian Civil War^{[citation needed]} (Chechnya is located on the far right)

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

Part of a series on the
History of Chechnya
Prehistory
Kura–Araxes culture Kayakent culture Kharachoi culture Koban culture
Ancient
Medieval
Early modern
"Ichkerian" Era Caucasian Imamate Russian Empire
Modern
1917–1920  Mountain Republic 1919–1920  North Caucasian Emirate 1920–1922  Chechen National Okrug 1922–1934  Chechen Autonomous Oblast 1934–1936  Chechen–Ingush Aut. Oblast 1934–1944  Chechen–Ingush ASSR 1944–1957  Grozny Oblast 1957–1991  Chechen–Ingush ASSR 1991–2000  Chechen Republic of Ichkeria 2000–present  Chechen Republic
Chechnya portal
v t e

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

Main article: 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

Main article: Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

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

Main article: 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

Lake Kazenoi

The Terek River

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:
  • Internal:
    • Republic of Dagestan (NE)
    • Republic of Ingushetia (W)
    • Republic of North Ossetia–Alania (W)
    • Stavropol Krai (NW)
  • Foreign:
    • Georgia (S)

Rivers:

• Terek
• Sunzha
• Argun

Cities and towns with over 20,000 people

Map of Chechen Republic (Chechnya)

• Grozny (capital)
• Shali
• Urus-Martan
• Gudermes
• Argun

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Chechnya

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

Main article: Politics of Chechnya

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

1. ^ 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.).
2. ^ 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. ).
3. ^ Constitution, Article 5.1
4. ^ Official website of the Chechen Republic. Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov (Russian)
5. ^ 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. Wikilink embedded in URL title (help)
6. ^ ^{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.
7. ^ 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.
8. ^ 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.).
9. ^ Official the whole territory of Russia according to Article 68.1 of the Constitution of Russia.
10. ^ Constitution, Article 10.1
11. ^ ^{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.
12. ^ History of Chechnya
13. ^ Anciennes Croyances des Ingouches et des Tchétchènes.Mariel Tsaroïeva ISBN 2-7068-1792-5
14. ^ Lecha Ilyasov. The Diversity of the Chechen Culture: From Historical Roots to the Present. ISBN 978-5-904549-02-2
15. ^ Kavkazcenter.com. "European Parliament recognizes deportation of Chechens as act of genocide". Retrieved 2007-01-23.
16. ^ Remembering Stalin's deportations
17. ^ Chechnya, reference article by Freedom House publications.
18. ^ Leon Aron. Chechnya, New Dimensions of the Old Crisis. AEI, 01.02.2003
19. ^ ^{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.
20. ^ Tishkov, Valery. Chechnya: Life in a War-Torn Society. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004, p. 114.
21. ^ "Four Western hostages beheaded in Chechnya". CNN. Archived from the original on 2002-12-03.
22. ^ Andrew Meier. Chechnya: To the Heart of a Conflict
23. ^ Gas "killed Moscow hostages", ibid.
24. ^ "Moscow court begins siege claims", BBC News, 24 December 2002
25. ^ "Moscow hostage relatives await news". BBC NEWS. 27 Oct 2002. Retrieved 30 May 2011.
26. ^ "Russia 'ends Chechnya operation'". BBC News. April 16, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
27. ^ Chechen self-proclaimed government-in-exile lays down weapons Russia Today Retrieved on July 29, 2009
28. ^ "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.
29. ^ Ishkhanyan, Vahan, ArmeniaNow.com. "The case for Chechnya". Retrieved 2008-05-12.
30. ^ Chechnya – The week in brief: 4–11 Feb, 2008
31. ^ O.P. Orlov; V.P. Cherkassov. "Россия — Чечня: Цепь ошибок и преступлений" (in Russian). Memorial.
32. ^ Sokolov-Mitrich, Dmitryi. "Забытый геноцид". Izvestia. Retrieved on July 17, 2002.
33. ^ Written by economists Boris Lvin and Andrei Illarionov. Moscow News. Feb 24- March 2, 1995
34. ^ 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
35. ^ ^{a b c} Liz Fuller (3 November 2010). "Preliminary Chechen Census Findings Unveiled". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
36. ^ ^{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.
37. ^ [1]
38. ^ http://www.perepis-2010.ru/news/detail.php?ID=6936
39. ^ http://www.gwu.edu/~ieresgwu/assets/docs/ponars/pm_0388.pdf
40. ^ Shafi'i and Hanafi schools of jurisprudence in Cechnya
41. ^ [2] Chechnya, Wahhabism and the invasion of Dagestan
42. ^ [3] Djihad in the Northern Caucus Ch3
43. ^ 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)
44. ^ Interfax Information Services Group. "Chechnya saw the first mass baptism in its today’s history". Retrieved 2012-07-09.
45. ^ ISHR Germany. "Some thoughts about the referendum in Chechnya". Retrieved 2007-01-23.
46. ^ Worst of the Worst: The World's Most Repressive Societies (PDF), Freedom House, March 2009
47. ^ in 1993, ex –President of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdia recognized Chechnya ` s independence..,
48. ^ Are Chechens in Afghanistan? --By Nabi Abdullaev, Dec 14, 2001 Moscow Times
49. ^ ^{a b} Kullberg, Anssi. "The Background of Chechen Independence Movement III: The Secular Movement". The Eurasian politician. 1 October 2003
50. ^ Kari Takamaa and Martti Koskenneimi. The Finnish Yearbook of International Law. p147
51. ^ Kuzio, Taras. "The Chechen crisis and the 'near abroad'". Central Asian Survey, Volume 14, Issue 4 1995, pages 553–572
52. ^ What is Hidden Behind the Idea of the Caucasian Emirate?
53. ^ Human Rights Watch:Chechnya: Research Shows Widespread and Systematic Use of Torture
54. ^ Chechnya Holds Parliamentary Vote, Morning Edition, NPR, November 28, 2005.
55. ^ Government efforts help only some IDPs rebuild their lives, IDMC, August 13, 2007
56. ^ Amnesty International:Amnesty International working against laws punishing sexual relations between men, 1 September 1997.
57. ^ New York Times:Slain Exile Detailed Chechen Ruler's Systematic Cruelty, February 1, 2009.
58. ^ Amnesty International:Russian Federation Rule Without Law: Human Rights violations in the North Caucasus, July 1, 2009.
59. ^ Human Rights Watch:“You Dress According to Their Rules” Enforcement of an Islamic Dress Code for Women in Chechnya, March 10, 2011
60. ^ Interview with Ramzan Kadyrov, Komsomolskaya Pravda, September 24, 2008, http://www.kp.ru/daily/24169/380743/ (accessed December 7, 2010)
61. ^ Chechen President Kadyrov Defends Honor Killings St. Petersburg Times March 3, 2009
62. ^ 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chechnya

• (Russian) Official site of the Republic of Chechnya
• Chechnya at the Open Directory Project
• AlertNet Chechnya and the North Caucasus

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One deaD ONE ON LOOSE IN BOSTON

Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect Killed, Another On The Loose (VIDEO, PHOTOS, LIVE UPDATES)

Posted: 04/19/2013 5:46 am EDT

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Video, Boston Marathon Suspect Photo, Boston Terror Attack, FBI Investigation Marathon, Boston Bombing, Boston Bombings, Boston Bombings Investigation, Boston Bombings Suspect, Boston Marathon, Boston Marathon 2013, Boston Marathon Bombing, Boston Marathon Bombing, Crime News, FBI, Martin Richard, Crime News

A violent crime spree across Greater Boston that took the lives of a campus police officer and one of the suspects in the Marathon bombings morphed into a desperate door-to-door search for a man believed to be the second bomber in Monday’s dual blasts.
After a string of explosions and volleys of gunfire that seriously injured a transit officer, police cordoned off much of Watertown, Mass. Residents were ordered to “shelter in place” and not trust anyone they might see other than uniformed officers.
A Massachusetts State Police public information officer told HuffPost reporter Michael McLaughlin, "We believe this to be a terrorist, we believe he came here to kill people."
CLICK HERE for live updates
At daybreak, law enforcement planned to launch a house-to house search through much of Watertown as they sought one half of the duo believed to have killed three and wounded more than 170 at the Boston Marathon finish line on Monday.
A chaotic Thursday night across Cambridge and Watertown started at 10:30 p.m. with a convenience store holdup that led to the shooting of an MIT campus officer who died later from multiple gunshot wounds.
Police sped away from the campus crime scene amid reports of an armed carjacking of a Mercedes SUV nearby.
The breakneck pursuit of the stolen car led to Watertown, where suspects detonated explosives in the direction of officers before exchanging gunfire.
“I heard three loud bangs,” a witness told HuffPost. “It sounded like a car being dropped on the ground.”
The threat to anyone in the area was so serious that the police planned robocalls to warn residents, CNN reported.
Hundreds of officers drawn from many departments spent hours looking for additional explosives, criminal evidence and, perhaps most importantly, a man deemed to be armed and dangerous.
One suspect died in the exchange of gunfire with police in Watertown. Neither suspects' identity was released.
The long night followed a day in which the FBI released video footage and photos of the baseball cap-wearing pair seen carrying suspicious backpacks which they dropped at the Boylston Street finish line.

Related on HuffPost:

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Reports Of Shooting, Explosions In Watertown

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LIVE UPDATES

live blog

Oldest Newest

8:21 AM – Today

Taxi Services In Boston Suspended As City Shuts Down.

@ BreakingNews : All taxi services in Boston suspended as the city shuts down - @Boston_Police

8:20 AM – Today

'I Don't Have A Single American Friend. I don't Understand Them.'

Global Post journalist Jessica Phelan tweeted this photo, which purports to show suspect Tamerlan Tzarnaev.
The caption reads: "Originally from Chechnya, but living in the United States since five years, Tamerlan says: "I don't have a single American friend, I don't understand them."

8:10 AM – Today

Injured Transit Officer Named By Authorities

@ WBUR : Transit police release name of injured officer: Richard Donohue, Jr, 33, w/ transit police for three years.

8:05 AM – Today

Mass Gov. Urges Boston Residents To Stay Indoors

@ BostonGlobe : Gov. Patrick urges people in entire city of Boston to stay indoors, answer only to law enforcement officers with proper ID.

8:00 AM – Today

Authorities Issue New Photo Of Suspect

@ AP : Authorities issue poster with new photos of Marathon bombing suspect: http://t.co/mN9Qtwn0pW -SS

7:57 AM – Today

Pete Williams: Suspect At Large Ran Over Brother's Body

It is unclear if that was second time he was run over or first.
The suspect who was run over is alleged to have had an IED on his person.
[from broadcast]

7:54 AM – Today

Report: Second Suspect Named

@ BreakingNews : Update: 2nd Boston bombing suspect is Russian-born 26-year-old Tamerlan Tzarnaev, brother of Dzhokhar - @NBCNews

7:48 AM – Today

Report: Woman Arrested At Suspects' Apartment

@ WesleyLowery : Officers taking a woman into custody. TV camera next to me - who can zoom - say she's resisting

@ WesleyLowery : Camera operators say officers dragging a handcuffed woman out of suspects' apartment

7:42 AM – Today

NBC: Roughly 381,000 Sheltering On Police Instructions

@ BreakingNews : Roughly 381,000 people are sheltering in place as ordered by police in Massachusetts - @NBCNews

7:35 AM – Today

Resident Finds Shelter Notice Taped To Front Door

7:31 AM – Today

Report: Third Man Arrested, Possible 'Accomplice'

@ WNYC : NPR: Third man has been arrested. He's being called an accomplice, not yet called a suspect.

7:25 AM – Today

PHOTOS: Police In Watertown Resident's Yard

7:19 AM – Today

Norfolk Street In Cambridge Being Shut Down.

Norfolk Street in Cambridge is being shut down. Media is being pushed out, Boston PD says.

6:56 AM – Today

Associated Press Report: Surviving Boston Bomb Suspect Identified As Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev

From the Associated Press:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Surviving Boston bomb suspect identified as Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, of Cambridge, Mass.
Read more here.

6:47 AM – Today

Amtrak Temporarily Suspends Service Between Boston And Providence, R.I.

6:44 AM – Today

Convoy Of National Guard Reportedly Arrives At Staging Area

6:40 AM – Today

Full List Of Boston Area School Closings

As public safety concerns continue in the Boston area, WHDH-TV has compiled a list of all the local schools that are closed. Included are public and private schools, as well as colleges and day care centers.

6:31 AM – Today

WH Official: President Obama Continued To Be Briefed Overnight About Situation In Watertown

The President continued to be briefed overnight by Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco about developments in the investigation as well as the events in Boston and Watertown, MA.

6:29 AM – Today

Emerson, BU Classes Also Canceled

6:14 AM – Today

Busload Of SWAT Reportedly Arrives On Scene

6:06 AM – Today

Residents In Watertown, Newton, Waltham, Belmont, Cambridge, Allston-Brighton Should Stay Indoors

6:03 AM – Today

Harvard Closed Due To Public Safety Concerns

6:00 AM – Today

Boston Marathon Bombing Suspect #1 Believed To Be Dead

WATERTOWN — Police this morning are searching a 20-block area here for one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects after a violent night during which an MIT Police officer lost his life and a Transit Police officer was seriously wounded in a firefight. The other Boston Marathon bombing suspect, who was wearing a black hat in photos released Thursday evening, is dead after firing bullets and launching explosives at police.
Read more here.

5:56 AM – Today

More FBI Agents Reportedly Arrive On The Scene

Two Persons of interest Photos

Obamacare Guide Now #1 on New York Times Bestseller List, Read More Here

Home | Headline

Tags: Boston Marathon Explosions | FBI | Suspects | Boston | Bombings

Police are seeking these two men as "persons of interest," the Post reported. There is no direct evidence linking them to the crime. (New York Post)

Photos Show 'Persons of Interest' in Boston Marathon Bombings

Wednesday, 17 Apr 2013 11:15 PM

By Todd Beamon

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Federal officials on Wednesday were seeking two men as “persons of interest” in the Boston Marathon terror bombings and they distributed photographs for “law enforcement eyes only” that show the men carrying a duffel bag and a backpack.

The FBI is not sharing the photos with the public but the New York Post ran several photos that they linked to the investigation Thursday.

The men in the photos have not been labeled as suspects. There is no direct evidence linking them to the crime. It was not immediately clear if the men in the law-enforcement photos are the same men in the surveillance videos.

In the photos being distributed by law-enforcement officials, one of the men is carrying a blue duffel bag. The other is wearing a black backpack in the first photo, taken at 10:53 a.m., but it is not visible in the second, taken at 12:30 p.m, the Post reported.

“The attached photos are being circulated in an attempt to identify the individuals highlighted therein,” said an e-mail obtained by The Post. “Feel free to pass this around to any of your fellow agents elsewhere.”

Authorities know the names of the two men, but do not have enough evidence to make an arrest for Monday’s attack, which killed three and wounded 176, sources told the Post.

Fox said a reporter for the network had seen the photos and called them “clear."

An unidentified Boston politician told The Associated Press Wednesday that investigators are seeking a man seen in a department store surveillance video dropping off a bag at the site of the bombings while a law-enforcement official confirmed that authorities have found an image of a potential suspect but they do not yet know his name.

It is not known whether the suspects in any of these instances are linked, according to news reports.

Meanwhile, Boston City Council President Stephen Murphy, who said he was briefed by local police, told the AP that investigators saw the image on surveillance footage they received from the Lord & Taylor department store near the finish line and matched the findings with witness descriptions of a person leaving the scene.

“I know it's very active and very fluid right now — that they are on the chase,” Murphy told the AP. He added: “They may be on the verge of arresting someone, and that's good.”

The department store video “has confirmed that a suspect is seen dropping a bag near the point of the second explosion and heading off,” Murphy said.

And in another development, investigators are exploring whether the bombs were assembled not far from the scene of the explosions — since transporting such improvised devices over any significant distance could trigger a premature detonation, The Wall Street Journal reports.

FBI agents and local police are canvassing Boston hotels and short-term rentals for clues on where the bombs could have been constructed, a law-enforcement official told The Journal.

The federal agency, with the assistance of U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel, have been scrutinizing passenger lists from flights that had recently arrived at Boston’s Logan Airport for clues, the official said.

Investigators spent Wednesday poring over photos and video footage and piecing together shredded remnants of bombs looking for possible suspects. Monday’s attacks near the finish line of the Boston Marathon killed three and injured more than 170, many critically.

The developments came also amid much confusion as to whether a suspect had been arrested.

A number of news organizations reported that a person had been taken into custody, but the U.S. attorney’s office, the FBI, and Boston police insisted that no arrest had been made.

“Despite reports to the contrary, there has not been an arrest in the Marathon attack,” Boston police reported on Twitter about 2:40 p.m. Wednesday.

“Contrary to widespread reporting, no arrest has been made in connection with the Boston Marathon attack,” the FBI said in a statement later Wednesday afternoon.

“There’s been a lot of chaos and a lot of misinformation floating around,” Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick told CNN in an interview. “There has not been an arrest. There is no one in custody, but the investigation continues to unfold and they’re making progress. It’s going to take some time.”

As of late Wednesday, no arrests had been made — and more than 100 of the victims had been released from local hospitals.

At least 14 bombing victims remained in critical condition, and officials at three hospitals that treated some of the most seriously injured said they expected all their remaining patients to survive, the AP reports.

The three who died in the bombings were: 8-year-old Martin Richard of Dorchester, Mass.; Krystle Campbell, 29, of Arlington, Mass.; and Lingzu Lu, 23, a graduate student in statistics at Boston University from Shenyang, China.

According to authorities, a mangled pressure cooker lid found on the roof of a nearby building is believed to have been part of one bomb. It and other pieces were being analyzed at an FBI lab, Fox reports.

A battery and several pieces of shrapnel also were recovered and undergoing analysis.

A circuit board found at the scene on Tuesday is suspected of being used to detonate at least one of the bombs — and the FBI was also analyzing cellphone tower records to identify positive hits for signs of calls that may have been placed to trigger both explosions remotely.

In addition, FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials said that the shrapnel that caused the three deaths — and critical injuries to as many as 17 others — included nails, BBs and ball bearings.

The other device “was also housed in a metal container,” but investigators could not say if that was also a pressure cooker, Fox reports.

Pressure cooker bombs have been used in high-profile bombings in India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan — and they have been touted by al-Qaida in Yemen’s online magazine Inspire and in the “The Anarchist Cookbook.”

The explosions occurred within about 12 seconds of each other — and about 100 feet apart — around 2:50 p.m. near the finish line of the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon. Nearly 25,000 people competed in the celebrated race.

Richard DesLauriers, FBI agent in charge in Boston, confirmed that investigators had found pieces of black nylon from a bag or backpack and fragments of BBs and nails, possibly contained in a pressure cooker. The items were sent to the FBI laboratory at Quantico, Va., for analysis, Fox reports.

The FBI also plans to reconstruct the devices at their headquarters in Quantico, according to MyFoxBoston.com.

And Fagor America, a manufacturer of pressure cookers based in Lyndhurst, N.J., told The Boston Globe on Wednesday it had been “contacted by government investigators and are extending our full cooperation.”

President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama — as well 2012 GOP presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney — will be in Boston on Thursday for an interfaith service to honor the victims.


© 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

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The Last Toast ... Thanks John M!

Date: Wednesday, April 17, 2013, 4:03 PM

A final toast for the Doolittle Raiders - By Bob Greene, Chicago

Lt. Col. James Doolittle leans over a bomb on the USS Hornet deck just before his "Raiders" began the bombing raid on Tokyo.

This week, the few remaining Doolittle Raiders will reunite.

• In 1942 the 80 men bombed Tokyo in death-defying mission, retaliation for Pearl Harbor.
• A case of 80 goblets is brought to their annual reunions. When a Raider dies a cup is upended.
• This year, there are four left. They'll toast the Raiders with aged cognac, and end reunions.

It's the cup of brandy that no one wants to drink. On Tuesday, in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, the surviving Doolittle Raiders will gather publicly for the last time.They once were among the most universally admired and revered men in the United States. There were 80 of the Raiders in April 1942, when they carried out one of the most courageous and heart-stirring military operations in this nation's history. The mere mention of their unit's name, in those years, would bring tears to the eyes of grateful Americans.

Now only four survive.

After Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, with the United States reeling and wounded, something dramatic was needed to turn the war effort around. Even though there were no friendly airfields close enough to Japan for the United States to launch a retaliation, a daring plan was devised. Sixteen B-25s were modified so that they could take off from the deck of an aircraft carrier. This had never before been tried -- sending such big, heavy bombers from a carrier.The 16 five-man crews, under the command of Lt. Col. James Doolittle, who himself flew the lead plane off the USS Hornet, knew that they would not be able to return to the carrier. They would have to hit Japan and then hope to make it to China for a safe landing. But on the day of the raid, the Japanese military caught wind of the plan. The Raiders were told that they would have to take off from much farther out in the Pacific Ocean than they had counted on. They were told that because of this they would not have enough fuel to make it to safety.

And those men went anyway.
They bombed Tokyo, and then flew as far as they could. Four planes crash-landed; 11 more crews bailed out, and three of the Raiders died. Eight more were captured; three were executed. Another died of starvation in a Japanese prison camp. One crew made it to Russia.

The Doolittle Raid sent a message from the United States to its enemies, and to the rest of the world:

We will fight. And, no matter what it takes, we will win.

Of the 80 Raiders, 62 survived the war. They were celebrated as national heroes, models of bravery. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer produced a motion picture based on the raid; "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," starring Spencer Tracy and Van Johnson, was a patriotic and emotional box-office hit, and the phrase became part of the national lexicon. In the movie-theater previews for the film, MGM proclaimed that it was presenting the story "with supreme pride."

Beginning in 1946, the surviving Raiders have held a reunion each April, to commemorate the mission. The reunion is in a different city each year. In 1959, the city of Tucson, Arizona, as a gesture of respect and gratitude, presented the Doolittle Raiders with a set of 80 silver goblets. Each goblet was engraved with the name of a Raider.

Every year, a wooden display case bearing all 80 goblets is transported to the reunion city. Each time a Raider passes away, his goblet is turned upside down in the case at the next reunion, as his old friends bear solemn witness.

Also in the wooden case is a bottle of 1896 Hennessy Very Special cognac. The year is not happenstance: 1896 was when Jimmy Doolittle was born.

There has always been a plan: When there are only two surviving Raiders, they would open the bottle, at last drink from it, and toast their comrades who preceded them in death.

As 2013 began, there were five living Raiders; then, in February, Tom Griffin passed away at age 96.

What a man he was. After bailing out of his plane over a mountainous Chinese forest after the Tokyo raid, he became ill with malaria, and almost died. When he recovered, he was sent to Europe to fly more combat missions. He was shot down, captured, and spent 22 months in a German prisoner of war camp.

The selflessness of these men, the sheer guts ... there was a passage in the Cincinnati Enquirer obituary for Mr. Griffin that, on the surface, had nothing to do with the war, but that emblematizes the depth of his sense of duty and devotion:

"When his wife became ill and needed to go into a nursing home, he visited her every day. He walked from his house to the nursing home, fed his wife and at the end of the day brought home her clothes. At night, he washed and ironed her clothes. Then he walked them up to her room the next morning. He did that for three years until her death in 2005."

So now, out of the original 80, only four Raiders remain: Dick Cole (Doolittle's co-pilot on the Tokyo raid), Robert Hite, Edward Saylor and David Thatcher. All are in their 90s. They have decided that there are too few of them for the public reunions to continue.

The events in Fort Walton Beach this week will mark the end. It has come full circle; Florida's nearby Eglin Field was where the Raiders trained in secrecy for the Tokyo mission.

The town is planning to do all it can to honor the men: a six-day celebration of their valor, including luncheons, a dinner and a parade.

Do the men ever wonder if those of us for whom they helped save the country have tended to it in a way that is worthy of their sacrifice? They don't talk about that, at least not around other people. But if you find yourself near Fort Walton Beach this week, and if you should encounter any of the Raiders, you might want to offer them a word of thanks. I can tell you from first-hand observation that they appreciate hearing that they are remembered.

The men have decided that after this final public reunion they will wait until a later date -- some time this year -- to get together once more, informally and in absolute privacy. That is when they will open the bottle of brandy. The years are flowing by too swiftly now; they are not going to wait until there are only two of them.

They will fill the four remaining upturned goblets.

And raise them in a toast to those who are gone.