The Olympics and Russian Crimes in Chechnya

Russia has been in the spotlight recently over a myriad of issues, many of which have been heightened due to the upcoming Olympics in Sochi. This is important, Russia has many human rights abuses to atone for under the present leadership. Russian President (for life) Vladimir Putin is under intense pressure and has released many political prisoners. These range from Greenpeace activists to a former Russian oligarch who fell out of favour with Mr. Putin. While many political prisoners have been released in the past weeks, too many still rest in Russia’s prison archipelago. The Olympics have also put pressure on laws contrary to homosexual rights, more explicitly legislation banning “homosexual propaganda”. While perhaps less directly related to the Olympics, Mr. Putin’s persistence in maintaining Syria as an ally in the face of horrific atrocities has been widely criticized. Finally, a subject that was broached on this blog is the situation in Ukraine. Russia is playing off Ukrainian reliance on trade and cheap gas to keep this nation within Moscow’s orbit, this has also been widely panned. Conspicuously absent from this list is the Chechen situation and the rampant human rights abuses there.

That is not to say that Chechens have been completely excluded from the news cycle. Rather infamously, the Boston Marathon bombing was the work of Chechens (though their ties to Chechnya were tenuous). Of late, the bombing in Volgograd appears to originate from the North Caucasus (the region that Chechnya is in). This has raised concerns of security for the Sochi Olympics, which is understandable since the games will be a prime target for terrorist acts. This story is not as one sided as it seems however, and there is a complete vacuum regarding the plight of Chechens. Terrorist acts are never tolerable and Chechens, especially Islamists have committed many atrocities. These include bombings in Moscow subways and even attacks on schools. These are often targeted by “black widows” the term for the predominantly female suicide bombers who commit these violent acts after they have lost their spouse (along with undoubtedly many other family members). Unfortunately atrocities are not one sided in this case, and Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union has been responsible for some hideous carnage.

As a brief digression, some background is important. Chechnya along with other former members of the Soviet Union declared their independence after the collapse of the USSR. This was not to last however, due to Chechnya’s slightly different status Russia saw it not as a former Soviet Socialist Republic, but as part of its territory. This resulted in a first Chechen war from 1994-1996. In the lead up to this war and immediately following it Chechnya had a democratically elected government that was quite moderate. In the period before the second Chechen war started however, the creeping tide of radical Islam started to take hold. This was largely felt in the presence of foreign Wahhabi troops. These Wahhabis support a puritanical version of Islam and receive much of their support from Saudi Arabia (basically like Al-Qaeda). This lead to many clashes between moderate Chechen groups and largely foreign Wahhabis in the inter-war period. The second war commenced in 1999 and effectively ended in 2009. Contrary to the first war which saw the shocking victory for Chechen rebels, this one saw Russian victory and the reassertion of Russian control in this territory.

That Russian control did not come without a price however. Credible reports, reported by Amnesty International detail indiscriminate shelling and bombing of towns. Perhaps more heinous, civilians and medical teams were specifically targeted by Russian troops. In addition, hundreds of civilians and Prisoners of War were extra-judicially executed. This led to untold numbers of mass graves, the current count is approximately 60 but it is assumed thousands more are buried. Russia has an official policy of not exhuming or searching for these graves, this helps expedite a process of war crimes denial. In order to find some recourse in the face of Russian orchestrated impunity Chechen victims appealed to the Council of Europe’s European Court of Human Rights. This court has ruled against Russia stating that it has violated many human rights laws. These horrors were responded to by often equally objectionable acts, particularly from the radical Islamic elements of the resistance. In my view, the brutality of the Russian invasion caused extremism to flourish and made the problem of radical Islam even rifer in Chechnya.  Mr. Putin was President during this period up until declaring victory in 2009. His policies have not improved during his present tenure.

Human rights activists in Chechnya were awarded the 2013 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders. This award is given by ten of the most influential human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. It was awarded to “Joint Mobile Group” who have given themselves the task of aiming to bring to justice those who perpetrate forced disappearances, extrajudicial executions and torture in Chechnya. This award is significant and well deserved. The state of Chechnya in the aftermath of the second war with Putin’s counterinsurgency campaign is marred by abduction, arbitrary detention and torture. Their bravery is clear, in 2009 several of the most prominent human rights defenders in Chechnya were abducted and executed, that fate could easily follow these brave crusaders. This is not to mention the persistent plight of ordinary Chechens under Russia.

International events with the prestige of the Olympics are critical in galvanizing international condemnation for abuses of all kinds. This has already begun with the release of political prisoners, the spotlight on Russia’s anti-gay law, and perhaps closer attention to Russian foreign policy. This has not happened with what is perhaps the most blatant of Russia’s human rights abuses. The Global community cannot in good conscience ignore Chechnya, these people should not be regarded as simply Muslim terrorists (though some are and those should be condemned) but as victims of horrific Russian policy. Hopefully the world will take note of this soon, the likelihood of that happening unfortunately seems slim.