Works In Progress - June 2007 - The "war on terror" strikes Chechnya with a deathly silence

Chechnya falls outside Americans' awareness of international affairs, despite the dire impact of US foreign policy on the embattled republic. Russia is a key US counter-terrorism ally whose participation in the "war on terror" legitimizes its conquest of Chechnya.

The media is responsible for public approval of atrocities against the Chechen people by issuing reports that omit crucial realities of the crisis -- its history, pervading human rights abuses, and impunity -- in addition, bias is exhibited in assertions that all Chechens are Muslim "terrorists." Many journalists who do report accurately on Chechnya have, like its people, "disappeared," suffered torture, or execution. Anna Politkovskaya was one who bore witness to the savage oppression faced by Chechens, and revealed it to the world. She was murdered, eight months ago, in retaliation for her courageous work.

For three centuries Chechen people have endured despotic attempts by Russian forces, who covet their territory strategically (it's an age-old trade route near the Black and Caspian Seas), and economically (it's rich in oil), to give up their land. The people there have continually resisted colonialism, culturally, nonviolently, and with arms.

In 1943, under Stalin's liquidation campaign, nearly 150,000 Chechens perished in forced deportations. At the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Chechnya declared independence from the empire that committed genocide upon them. In response, Russian president Yelstin sent in troops, which were deflected by the Chechens. Three years later, Russia decided to take Chechnya by force. Outnumbered Chechen guerillas drove out Russian troops in humiliation after two years of war, and almost 100,000 casualties.

Chechnya's persistent refusal to acknowledge Moscow provoked Russia to invade it again, in 1999 -- this time with 100,000 troops. This second war was ground zero for horrendous war crimes committed by the Russian army. Sophie Shihab, correspondent for Le Monde interviewed a Russian detention camp guard who said, "Here they are literally massacred. You should hear their screams, cries of strong men whose every bone is being broken. Some are sodomized; some are forced to sodomize others. If there is a hell, this is it."

In this ongoing conflict -- further complicated by the so-called "war on terror" -- the Russian army has slaughtered whole villages, "disappeared" people, tortured and raped, and sanctioned death squads to carry out extrajudicial killings. Chechen militias have committed reprisals in the form of terror, hostage-taking and deploying suicide bombs in heavily populated Russian cities. In retaliation, the Russian military, one of the largest in the world, has collectively punished Chechen civilians.

According to an article written by Politkovskaya, "President Putin has become a full member of the international club for the 'combat of international terrorism' and has given the military carte blanche in Chechnya. Bush and Blair have forgiven him the crimes committed there, and he, for his part, has turned a blind eye to their activities." As long as Russia exploits the false pretense of security under the guise of the "war on terror," the international community will accept continuing bloodshed in Chechnya.

In Chechnya, impunity is an impediment to justice. The 2006 Amnesty International Report states, " The majority of investigations into alleged [human rights] violations were ineffective and the prosecution of the handful of cases that came to court was flawed." In a significant evasion of justice this year, Putin appointed Ramzan Kadyrov to the presidency of Chechnya. Kadyrov is suspected of numerous war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the assassination of Anna Politkovskaya.

In order to eliminate opposition, the Kremlin covertly targets journalists who disseminate Russian crimes in Chechnya. Anna Politkovskaya was a high-profile Russian journalist who investigated events there. In her book, A Dirty War, Politkovskaya observes, "Chechnya today is one constant and bloody battle for control over oil wells and illegal refineries, but the republic itself does not benefit one jot from all of this. It has the resources neither to restore its industry nor to build houses for the homeless. Its oil is helping all kinds of people but not Chechnya itself." Tragically, on October 7, 2006, the mother of two young children was found shot to death in the elevator of her apartment building.

She was tortured by the same officials she exposed as war criminals. In February, 2001, she was detained incommunicado for two days by Russian forces. She was on assignment for Novaya Gazeta, investigating prison conditions and a mass grave in southern Chechnya. Of her ordeal, Politkovskaya said, "After seeing how they treated me, a journalist, I am convinced that all the complaints of local residents about how they are mistreated are true."

Fourteen journalists have been murdered since Vladimir Putin took office in 2000. No real investigations have transpired, and none of the killers have been brought to justice. In a press release regarding Politkovskaya's slaying, Human Rights Watch stated, "There can be no question but that Politkovskaya was killed in retribution for her work," and continued, "A ttacks on journalists are crimes not only against individuals but against free speech itself."

Public awareness of the crisis in Chechnya faces an unequivocal obstacle -- silence. A study by Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting found that, compared to reports about the Indonesian tsunami in 2005, many of the world's worst humanitarian disasters were unmentioned in the mainstream press. For every article about the crisis in Chechnya, there were twelve on the tsunami. Lack of American outcry over Chechnya has been caused by this media blackout.

Americans play a role in the subjugation of Chechnya because our policymakers' decisions directly affects Chechens in the "war on terror." We send tens of millions in military aid to Russia. As a result, hundreds of thousands of dispossessed refugees live without basic necessities in Chechnya, death squads terrorize, lawlessness reigns, profiteering goes unchecked, and journalists who speak out are forever silenced.

History has shown that Chechens will continue to strive for autonomy. The people of Chechnya deserve our support in seeking reparations for the abuses they have suffered. Anna Politkovskaya, in an interview with The Guardian said of her work, "Each time I go there, people tell me things. They do so in the sincere hope that, if I record what is actually happening, it will lead to change, to peace ... the more I think about it, the more I would be betraying these people if I walked away." Let us remember her words and her life, and not turn a blind eye to the people of Chechnya.