CALL FOR PAPERS: Chechnya: rationales of violence and war experiences. Paris, 22-23 October 2012

Chechnya: rationales of violence and war experiences

Link: russiaviolence.hypotheses.org

Since 1994, the Chechen war has been qualified in diverse ways by actors and observers - colonial war, counter-terrorist operation, restoration of constitutional order, war of extermination. This profusion - or perhaps confusion of qualifiers reveals a multitude of explanations for the causes, aims and consequences of the war, and often hints at the exceptionality of the conflict. The aim of this conference will be not only to sum up, renew and enrich existing research on the Chechen war, but also to put the phenomena of violence at work there in a comparative perspective that takes into account the renewal of the historiography of 20th century wars.

The Chechen war, which broke out in 1994 and began again in 1999 after a 3-year cease-fire, played a central role in Russia's political evolution. Several studies (Tishkov, Hughes, Dunlop, Lieven, Evangelista) have shown how the Chechen war was linked with the collapse of the USSR and the reconfiguration of the political system and Russian federalism, but also the role played by that war in certain important Russian political events (Yeltsin's re-election in 1996, his resignation in 1999 in favour of Prime Minister Putin,whose popularity was on the rise thanks to the war).

Although estimates of the number of victims of the first (1994-96) and second wars (since 1999) remain a subject of debate (Cherkassov, Maksudov), as do the periodisations of these wars, studies by NGOs suggest tens of thousands of deaths in the two wars. Since 1999, those missing number in the thousands - testimony to the repressive system put in place to "fight against terrorism". The policy of systematic filtering of the population aimed particularly at men (Le Huérou, Regamey) was accompanied by numerous acts of violence (torture, rape, summary executions). The coming to power of Akhmad Kadyrov, succeeded on his death in May 2004 by his son Ramzan, meant a change in the rationales of violence and a "Chechenisation" of the conflict, which leads to the use of the notion of "civil war".

At the present time, the violence taking place in the whole of North Caucasus is analysed as a combination of a spread of war violence from Chechnya and of rationales proper to the Republics of North Caucasus (Merlin). The question of the spread of rationales of war violence into the whole of Russian society is also raised, there being so many Russian soldiers and officers today having gone through Chechnya, but policemen especially (Le Huérou, Sieca-Kozlowski). Bombings and hostage-takings linked to the Chechen conflict also aise the issue of Moscow's handling of terrorist acts (Dunlop).

Because Kadyrov was installed by Moscow in order for Chechnya to re-enter into Russia's fold, his power paradoxically raises the question of the degree of autonomy of a Republic whose leader claims to govern while not adhering to Russian laws (on women's rights in general), and Chechnya's place in today's Russia's political game (Malashenko, Lokshina). Another important element in Moscow-Grozny relations is the memory of the deportation of Chechens in 1944, the aim of an official mobilisation policy by pro-Russian Chechen authorities. Lastly, even if relative and truncated, the policy of amnesty for combatants suggests an "end of war" policy in which the issue of justice is not broached at any moment whatsoever.

It is the whole of these tendencies and rationales of violence at work that the conference will re-examine, drawing on deeply renewed research in war studies done in the past twenty years from the perspective of history, political science, anthropology, international relations, philosophy and law. Occasionally borrowing from anthropology (Audoin-Rouzeau, Ingrao), recent historical research has built up the concept of the culture of war (Becker, Horne), studying the war experience of combatants (Duclos, Reno, Debos) and suggesting several explanations for war violence. Putting forward the notion of trivialisation and brutalisation (Mosse, Bartov), examining issues such as consent (Audouin-Rouzeau, Becker, Browning) or the extent of constraint (Rousseau, Cazals), they also emphasize specific acts of violence, particularly torture and sexual violence (Branche, Virgili). Other research points to a need to pay particular attention to post-war moments (Cabanes, Capdevilia, Duclos, Jardin, Picketty), to the situation of former combatants (Delaporte, Edele, Prost, Oushakine) and to forms of transitional justice (Saada, Lefranc, Nadeau, Delpla, Rousso). Finally, we will address questions such as how conflicts fit into an international dimension and discuss the role of international actors and issues of labelling and qualifying a conflict (Lindemann).

Our objective in this conference - which will mainly focus on the history of Chechnya since the end of the Soviet period and the collapse of the USSR - is therefore not only to examine political, economic and social trends having marked the Republic, but to reflect on conditions determining the production of knowledge on this war from a comparative perspective, thanks to  specialists on other conflicts who will participate as discussants.

We will be interested in the most relevant tools, methods, questionings for furthering understanding and analysis of this conflict, and will pay particular attention to the various existing sources, to the way they are used by  different actors, as well as historians. We will pay attention to a precise chronology of the last twenty years, attempting to replace events in the context of the era, so as to avoid any anachronism or temptation to re-interpret the past in light of the present. Finally, though many research works emphasize the consequences of the conflict on how Russia has evolved, we will emphasize the consequences of this conflict on Chechnya and Chechen society.

The questions we wish to address can be grouped under four main themes:

How to work on this war?

This question, unavoidable for a conflict as contemporary as that of Chechnya, is in fact a dual one. As an ethical and political question, it is actual for all researchers in the domain of extreme violence (Sémelin, Zawadzki, Le Pape, Siméant, Vidal). If it is necessary that we discuss this war, which took place right in front of us, is it possible to produce knowledge which is purely academic and involves neither taking a stand nor action? How can we work without endangering, worsening the condition of persons who are the
object of extreme acts of violence, at the very time when these acts of violence are taking place?

Then there is the question of sources. The war in post-Soviet Chechnya began less than twenty years ago, and has given rise to a profusion of journalistic sources, humanitarian or human rights NGO reports, testimonies gathered by the latter which are extremely valuable sources (Lokshina, Sokirianskaia); numerous actors and witnesses can be questioned. At the same time, Chechnya was and has to a great extent remained inaccessible: in addition to the dangers inherent in any armed conflict were those of the chaotic period between the two wars marked by hostage-taking and assassinations, besides the entry prohibitions put in place by the Russian authorities as of 1999. Still today, Chechnya remains a dangerous region where the foreign visitor or researcher is under strict control. In this context, what do existing sources tell us and what sources are used by and are usable by researchers?

Political rationales of violence

Our aim here is to analyse acts of violence committed against civilians as well as their perpetrators, from the point of view of the military and police rationales at work in the conflict. In this case, two problems arise- the qualification and labelling of the conflict (war, anti-terrorism) and the consequences of this naming on the war terrain; what relationship is there between the naming of the enemy by the political power and the practice of acts of violence on the terrain?  Are there borrowings of anti-terrorist practices from other countries, as well as from Soviet counter-insurrection practices? In what way does the conduct of the war reflect the situation in the military, but also, in what way does it bring about reforms and  reorganisations? How to evaluate the role played by R. Kadyrov's armed forces in this violence? What are the relations between the boeviki, independentist and/or Islamist combatants and the civilian population? How to analyse the recourse to terrorism and its evolution during the war years? From the legal perspective, what links are there between the various stages of the conflict (jus ad bellum/ in bello/ post bellum) that enable us to speak of its breaking out, taking place, and of issues of after-war justice/reconciliation. Finally, how to record the Chechen war in the long history of wars and characterise it with the tools of "war studies"? Is the distinction between "old" and "new" war (Kaldor) operational in the case of this conflict?

War experiences and socio-cultural consequences of the war

We would like to examine the existing sources, testimonies, memoires, narrations and fictions to try to understand what was lived by those who went through the war. First of all by the civilian populations, whether they remained in Chechnya or fled the conflict. Whereas the Russian population living in Chechnya-Ingushetia during the Soviet era left the territory gradually, beginning in 1991, what were the effects of the war on Chechen society, and on the different peoples/persons living in Chechnya before the war? What were the economic consequences and issues brought on by the war? How to analyse the evolution of religion and religious practice, as well as the political mobilisations of religion? How did social cohesion evolve in its various forms and what role in these upheavals is played by the teïp, traditional organisation in clans (Sokiranskaia)? What specific forms of violence were women exposed to, how did their role evolve and, more generally, how did gender relations evolve during the war? Can we speak of a "re-traditionalisation" today, and if so, how can it be explained? What about the formation of a diaspora and of Chechen communities in exile, what type of social links connect those who left - and sometimes returned to Chechnya?

We will also examine the war experience of combatants, particularly in terms of "war trauma", but also in the translation of these reactions into resistance and disobedience movements. How the rationales of violence proper to police and military institutions play themselves out on the terrain, and how,  inversely, violence and the war experience influence the behaviour of policemen and the military once back in Russia, outside of Chechnya.

Phases of "non-war" and ends-of-war

Contrary to the temptation to see the history of Russian-Chechen relations only structured by war and confrontation, we will also examine times of "non war". First of all, the years between 1970-1980, a peaceful period, though not without tensions which remains to be re-explored. Second, the events of the beginning of the 1990s, after the fall of the USSR, the nature of the political relations between Moscow and Grozny and the modalities of negotiations or non-negotiations, as well as the role of the various actors involved. Finally, how to qualify the period between 1996-1999 ("interwar", "end-of-war") and the present period?

For all these periods, we will ask what legal relations were set up between Grozny and Moscow, how the status of Chechnya evolved and how the issue of recognition intervened in the process. What were the forms of political management of Chechnya by Moscow and what forms of government in Chechnya itself were given priority? How is Chechnya managed by Moscow from the viewpoint of the whole North Caucasus? How to analyse relations between Chechen and Russian elites, whether before and during the wars, and today, under Ramzan Kadyrov? How were economic relations with Moscow and the rest of Russia established, how did Chechnya fit into the networks and what role did it play in the circulation of various flows - economic and financial, legal and illegal? Finally, we will ask how, during these 20 years, issues of justice and impunity were addressed, in particular, the importance of internal justice mechanisms in comparison with the possibilities and limits of international justice; notably in the absence of Russia's ratification of the Rome statute founding the CPI.

The inter-disciplinary conference is open to the contributions of historians, sociologists, researchers in political science and international relations, cultural studies, literature and the cinema, as well as specialists in military questions. Although the conference will focus mainly on Chechnya since the fall of the USSR,
contributions on earlier periods are also welcome, as are proposals involving a comparison between the Chechen case and other conflicts.


Schedule

Persons wishing to participate should send to
chechnyaviolence@gmail.com a resume of 300 to500 words along with a short biographical note (no CV) for May 4th 2012.

Participants accepted will be informed by June 1st 2012.

Participants will be requested to provide an abstract of approximately 5-7 pages (3000-5000 words) for September 15th 2012.

Working languages: French, English, Russian (presentations are possible in these three languages, French-Russian and Russian-French translation only will be available).

Information:

http://russiaviolence.hypotheses.org
chechnyaviolence@gmail.com

This conference is organised by the research project Understanding Violence in Russia: War, Institutions, Society thanks to the support of the "Emergence(s)" Programme of the City Hall of Paris.

Organising Institutions: Centre d'étude des mondes russe, caucasien et centre-européen (CERCEC) (CNRS/EHESS); Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris; Université Libre de Bruxelles-; Centre d'études franco-russe, Moscow.

Organisation Committee: Françoise Daucé (University Blaise Pascal Clermont-Ferrand/ CERCEC(EHESS/CNRS)), Anne Le Huérou (CERCEC(EHESS/CNRS)), Aude Merlin (ULB-CEVIPOL, Brussels), Amandine Regamey (University Paris I/CERCEC(EHESS/CNRS)), Elisabeth
Sieca-Kozlowski (CERCEC (EHESS/CNRS), PIPSS.ORG)

Scientific Committee Alain Blum (CERCEC (EHESS/CNRS)), Raphaëlle Branche (University Paris-1, CHS, IUF), Marielle Debos (University Paris Ouest, ISP), Jean-Vincent Holeindre (Panthéon-Assas University (Paris 2), Centre Raymond-Aron (EHESS)), Mary Kaldor (London School of Economics), Julie Saada (Artois University), Aglaya Snetkova (Centre for Security Studies, ETH, Zurich), Katia Sokirianskaia (International Crisis Group, Moscow), Maïrbek Vachagaev (Association for Caucasian Studies, Paris), Vanessa Voisin (CEFR-IRICE)

NEWS: RFE/RL Caucasus Report, January 29, 2011 - February 25, 2011 (rferl.org)

A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about the countries of the South Caucasus and Russia's North Caucasus region. For more stories on the Caucasus, please visit and bookmark our Caucasus page .

Who Are Kabardino-Balkaria's 'Black Hawks'? The Kabardino-Balkaria-Karchai jamaat headed by Asker Jappuyev will have to contend with a second adversary in the shape of the "Black Hawks," a band of armed, masked, black-clad men who have vowed to kill him and others for having "brought shame upon their race" by killing innocent civilians and by aligning themselves with Chechen insurgent commander Doku Umarov. More
Abkhazia Asks Georgia To Hand Over Former Guerrilla Commander The Abkhaz delegation to confidence-building talks has demanded that Georgia hand over Dato Shengelia, commander of the now-disbanded Forest Brothers guerrilla group. More
Azerbaijani Anticorruption Campaign Unfolds Before Wary Public Eyes Three weeks have passed since the Azerbaijani government launched a well-publicized anticorruption campaign, but authorities have so far failed to convince the public of the sincerity of their intentions. More
A Look Inside Kadyrov's Villa Thanks to the Internet, we now have photos of Ramzan Kadyrov's mansion in Tsentoroi. The photos don't tell us much about the man aside from a penchant for expensive, if tasteless, furnishings. More
Proposed U.S. Budget Trims Assistance To Caucasus, Central Asia While the State Department isn't experiencing the same belt-tightening pressure as other branches of the U.S. government, an effort to cut corners -- and to free up funds for Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan -- has resulted in a proposed reduction in funding for assistance programs in Central Asia and the Caucasus in 2012. More
Rift Opens In Georgia Between The Church And State Georgia's plans with Turkey to sign an accord preserving religious heritage sites in the two countries has exposed a growing rift between the government and the Orthodox Church. More

Aliyev Steps Up Corruption Fight Azerbaijan's president has called for more vigilance in the fight against corruption and urged people to help heal what he called the "wounds" of sleaze. More
Rally Against Iran Held In Baku A rally took place on February 9 in front of the Iranian Embassy in Baku to protest what are widely perceived to be anti-Azerbaijani statements appearing in the Iranian media and Iran’s warmer ties with Armenia. More
Facebook Lands Activist In Hot Water An Azerbaijani opposition activist has been questioned by police after using his Facebook page to call on people to protest against the government. More
Mr. Bryza: They're Locking Up Our Youth After nearly a year and a half, a new U.S. ambassador has finally taken up residence in Baku. Matthew Bryza became the seventh U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan last December and says he wants to deepen U.S.-Azeri ties. His timing is perfect. His arrival has coincided with a renewed government crackdown on youth activists. More
Armenian Daily Fined For Libel An Armenian court has found the country's leading pro-opposition daily newspaper guilty of libel and ordered it to pay a fine. More
Chechen Rebel Says He Ordered Russian Bombing Chechen Islamist rebel leader Doku Umarov says he ordered a suicide bombing that killed 36 people at Russia's busiest airport last month. More
Protests At Baku's Mubarak Statue A group of Azerbaijani youth activists staged a demonstration February 6 near a statue of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Baku, in a gesture of solidarity with anti-Mubarak protesters in Egypt, More
Azeri Activist Detained On Drugs Charges An opposition youth activist has been detained on drugs-possession charges his supporters say are trumped up. More
Foreign Investors Eye Nagorno-Karabakh A group of entrepreneurs from Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia have visited the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh to look at investment opportunities. More
Largest Flag Flying Again In Baku The troubled Azerbaijani flag recognized as the world's largest -- when mounted -- is flying again. More

Small Corners Of Hell Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya was gunned down in Moscow in October 2006 primarily for her articles criticizing Russian policy in Chechnya, in particular the vindictiveness, intimidation, corruption and arbitrary brutality that are the hallmarks of the pro-Moscow Chechen leadership. More
Armenia To Probe Noncombat Deaths Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian said he would pay "special attention" to investigations into noncombat army deaths after being confronted by angry parents of dead soldiers. The parents are concerned that the authorities are not telling the truth or taking the deaths seriously. More
Mubarak Sitting Pretty In Azerbaijan Despite troubles at home, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is still sitting pretty in Azerbaijan. More
It May Be Too Late For A New North Caucasus Policy Faced with the galloping jihadization in the region, Russian experts are ever more frequently calling for a new state policy for the North Caucasus. Such calls are misguided insofar there can be no one-size-fits-all set of measures, only individually tailored solutions for specific republics. More
Armenian Economy Rebounded In 2010 Armenia's economy grew 2.6 percent last year as it rebounded from a sharp decline in 2009 caused by the global financial crisis. Growth in 2010 was driven primarily by industry and the mining sector, which benefited from a rally in prices for nonferrous metals. More
Was Daghestan Jamaat Behind Domodedovo Bombing? No group has yet claimed responsibility for the deadly blast at Moscow's Domodedovo airport. But Russian media have floated the idea that the suicide bomber was linked to the Daghestan wing of the North Caucasus insurgency, whose leader warned last October that his men would continue to "inflict horrors on the unbelievers" on their own territory. More
Why Is Georgia So Quiet About Tunisia’s Revolution? When I asked several Georgian politicians from the ruling party what the country’s position on the recent events in Tunisia is, they were caught by surprise. It is worth saying a few things about this Georgian indifference to the so-called Jasmine Revolution. More
Azeri Activist Held Over Military Service Police detained Baxtiyar Haciyev while he was on his way to neighboring Georgia. Haciyev told RFE/RL that police kept him in the police station in the western town of Qazax until 3 a.m. He was then transferred to the western city of Ganca. More
Georgia Offers Russian-Language Alternative To Kremlin TV Georgia begins broadcasts of a new Russian-language television station that seeks to bring balanced news about the Caucasus to Russian-speaking countries around the world. The director of the Kanal PIK station says the move is meant to shed light on the strategically important region of the Caucasus by breaking the Kremlin's near-monopoly on coverage. More
Russians Rethink Security President Dmitry Medvedev vows to destroy "the nests of the bandits" who perpetrated the devastating attack on Moscow's premier airport. More
Your Responses: 'What Boorishness...It Is To Talk Politics When People Are Dying!' Russians have reacted with shock and grief to the tragic terrorist bombing of Moscow’s Domodedovo airport on January 24. Here we present translations of some of the comments left on the website of RFE/RL’s Russian Service and other popular Russian-language websites. More
Armenia Downplays Tax Revenue Armenian Finance Minister Vache Gabrielian has downplayed a more than 13 percent rise in the tax revenues, saying more needs to be done to improve tax collection in the country. More
Azerbaijani Commits Self-Immolation An Azerbaijani villager has died after setting himself and his home ablaze in desperation after police pressured him to pay a fine for chopping down trees. More
Azeri Islamic Leader Gets 90 Days The chairman of the unregistered Islamic Party of Azerbaijan (AIP), Movsum Samadov, has been sentenced to three months in pretrial detention on charges of illegal arms possession, inciting terror, and seeking to change the constitutional system, Samadov was initially detained along with several members of his party on January 7 and was held for 13 days for allegedly resisting police. Samadov's lawyer says his client will appeal the detention. More
Armenian Soldier Killed In Karabakh An Armenian soldier was shot dead in continuing truce violations at Armenian-Azerbaijani "line of contact" around the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh. More
Yerevan Street Traders Protest Ban Yerevan's city administration is facing angry streets protests after its decision to ban street traders, Mayor Karen Karapetian ordered the ban after taking office last month. Police began enforcing it this week. Hundreds of traders now risk losing their sole source of income. More

TELEPOLIS: Eine Hochzeit in Dagestan. Rainer Sommer (heise.de)

Lokalkolorit aus dem nördlichen Kaukasus, den die US-Botschaft in Moskau im August 2006 nach Washington berichtete
Von Rainer Sommer

Die US-Diplomaten waren zur Hochzeit des Sohnes von Gadzhi Makhachev geladen, einem Mitglied der Moskauer Duma und Chef der Ölgesellschaft von Dagestan. Die dreitägige Hochzeit in Machatschkala sei "ein Mikrokosmos der sozialen und politischen Beziehungen" im nördlichen Kaukasus. Makhachev hatte seine Karriere als Chef eines Awaren-Clans begonnen, nachdem die Dagestanische Gesellschaft Ende der 1980er Jahre zu den Strukturen zurückgekehrt war, die vor der Besetzung durch die Sowjetunion geherrscht hatten.

Die grundlegende strukturelle Einheit besteht nach den Erkenntnissen der US-Diplomaten seither aus hunderten monoethnischen "Jamaat", was als Kanton oder Kommune übersetzt werden könne. Nach ihrem Einmarsch im 19. Jahrhundert hatte die Russen diese nach der Ähnlichkeit ihrer Dialekte zu größeren Einheiten zusammengefasst, um die Zahl der Nationalitäten auf 38 zu reduzieren und nannte sie "Awar", "Dargin" usw.

Gadzhi Makhachev - pan-awarische Ambitionen und Rolls Royce Silver Phantom
Seither liegen die einzelnen Jamaat innerhalb ihrer ethnischen Gruppe im Wettstreit um die Vorherrschaft. Besonders ausgeprägt ist das bei den Awaren, der größten ethnischen Gruppe in Dagestan. Als die Sowjets abgezogen waren, bildete jeder Jamaat zudem eine Miliz, um ihre Leute sowohl in den Bergen als auch in der Hauptstadt Machatschkala zu verteidigen. Damals führte Gadzhi seine Heimatgemeinde Burtunay in der Region Kazbek, zeigte aber bald pan-awarische Ambitionen. Er spielte 1999 eine tragende Rolle bei der Verteidigung Dagestans gegen die Invasion aus Tschetschenien von Schamil Bassajew und verteidigte awarische Dörfer später "politisch", die in Tschetschenien, Georgien und Aserbaidschan unter Druck gekommen waren.
Seither habe Gadzhi dieses "Sozialkapital, das er durch Nationalismus angehäuft hatte, in finanzielles und politisches Kapital verwandelt" und ist heute Chef der staatlichen Ölfirma und Dagestans Repräsentant in der russischen Staatsduma. Seine Ölgeschäfte, bei denen er eng mit US-Unternehmen zusammenarbeitet, haben ihm unter anderem Luxusvillen in Machatschkala, Kaspiysk, Moskau, Paris und San Diego eingebracht, zudem auch einen Rolls Royce Silver Phantom, mit dem Sohn Dalgat nun seine Braut Aida abholte. Auch die US-Diplomaten hatten in Moskau schon einmal im Rolls mitfahren dürfen, die Fahrt verlief aber etwas weniger komfortabel als erwartet, da ihre Beinfreiheit durch die mitgeführten Kalaschnikows doch etwas eingeschränkt war.

Inter-ethnische Business Clans
So wie die meisten noch lebenden Dagestanischen Führer hat Gadzhi mehrere Attentatsversuche überlebt, fährt in Dagestan nur im gepanzerten BMW und ist stets von wenigstens einem Wagen voll mit uniformierten Wächtern begleitet. Er hat zudem ein über seine ethnische Gruppe hinausgehendes Netzwerk aufgebaut und etliche Dagestani samt seinem Sohn in ein Militär-College in San Diego geschickt. Wie die Diplomaten feststellen, wären in den letzten Jahren durch solche inter-ethnische Business Clans die traditionellen Jamaat-Loyalitäten generell erodiert - und dementsprechend bestand die fröhliche Hochzeitsgesellschaft nun praktisch aus fast der gesamten "Elite" des Kaukasus.

Gewaltiger Alkoholkonsum "vor, während und nach der islamische Hochzeit"
Gadzhis riesiges Sommerhaus am Kaspischen Meer, das einen 40 Meter hohen Airport-Tower sowie eine "Höhle" umfasst, deren Boden von einem gigantischen Aquarium gebildet wird und selbstverständlich schwer bewacht wird, füllte sich also mit illustren Gästen: Der Vorsitzende des Inguschetischen Parlaments war ebenso gekommen wie die Duma-Repräsentanten Tschetscheniens, die wichtigsten Geschäftsleute, Künstler, Sportler und ein Olympia-Ringer, der laut US-Diplomatie dadurch auffiel, dass er durchgehend betrunken war. Dazu kamen religiöse und politische Führer der Region, aber auch viele, die mit Gadzhi aufgewachsen waren.
Von Dagestans Präsidenten Mukhu Aliyev ging allerdings nur ein Gratulationsanruf ein, womit Gadzhis alleiniger Konkurrent um die Führung der Awaren als einziger Vertreter der politischen Elite der Hochzeit fernblieb.

Bei der mehrtägigen Festivität, die neben der Vermählungsfeier wechselseitige Empfänge der beiden Familien umfasste, wurden die Gäste permanent mit lokalen und exotischen Speisen sowie mit Alkohol versorgt, wobei die Diplomaten feststellten, dass der Alkoholkonsum "vor, während und nach der islamische Hochzeit" schlichtweg "gewaltig" war.

Ebenfalls rund um die Uhr hatte der Gastgeber für Entertainment gesorgt, wobei die großen Namen sowohl beim Empfang als auch bei der Hochzeit selbst auftraten. Allerdings konnte der angekündigte Top-Act, der syrische Sänger Avraam Russo, nicht erscheinen, da er wenige Tage zuvor erschossen worden war. Und so kamen eine Zigeuner-Band aus St.Petersburg, Benya der Akkordeon-König mit seiner Sängerfamilie, jede Menge an Azeri-Popstars sowie eine Reihe regionaler Gruppen, deren Darbietungen ununterbrochen stattfanden und sich laut US-Diplomaten allesamt durch extreme Lautstärke auszeichneten.

Dramatisch fette Tänzer und martialische Waffenträger
Die Hauptaktivität bestand aus ungezügeltem Essen und Trinken, unterbrochen nur von ein wenig Jet-Skiing an einer der beiden Molen des Anwesens. Nach dem Abendessen wurde dann die erste "Lezginka" gespielt. Für den westlichen Beobachter wirke der Nationaltanz wie eine "undifferenzierte Mauer aus Sound", was dort aber für die meistens "dramatisch fetten Männer" (Frauen waren nicht zugegen), das Startsignal gab, einer nach dem anderen für jeweils bis zu einer Minute die Arena zu betreten und zu tanzen. Dabei zeigten die einzelnen ethnischen Gruppe unterschiedliche Varianten, wobei die dagestanische am energetischsten, die tschetschenische am aggressivsten und jene aus Iguschetien laut US-Diplomatie am geschmeidigsten ausfiel.

Frauen waren erst beim eigentlichen Empfang zugelassen, was Teenagern und vor allem deren Eltern eine der wenigen Gelegenheiten bot, sich selbst nach Heiratskandidaten umzusehen. Die Sicherheitsmaßnahmen waren nun noch massiver als zuvor, wobei etwa den US-Diplomaten persönliche Leibwächter zugeteilt wurden. Obwohl mehr als 1000 Sitzplätze zur Verfügung standen, waren für die Oligarchen aller Art, die Künstler, Militärs, Geschäftsleute und Wissenschafter bald nur noch Stehplätze verfügbar, wobei sich in diesem Milieu jene mit höchster Bildung (etwa ein dagestanisch-stämmiger Nanophysiker aus dem Silicon Valley) zwanglos mit martialischen Waffenträgern mischten - und das oft in einer Person.
Als der Konvoi des Bräutigams samt der Braut im Rolls eintraf und begleitet von einem Knabenchor in mittelalterlichen Kostümen und Bewaffnung den Roten Teppich entlang marschierte, begannen die heiratsfähigen Mädchen unter den wachsamen Augen der jungen Männer ihre Lezginka. Die Tänzerinnen wurden dabei mit Geldscheinen beworfen, wobei die US-Diplomaten auch ein Paar 1000-Rubel-Noten bemerkten. Zum Einsatz kamen aber vor allem 100-Dollar-Scheine, die bald den Boden bedeckten und von kleinen Kindern aufgesammelt und den Tänzerinnen übergeben wurden.

Gadzhi blieb dabei die ganze Zeit über in seiner Rolle als Gastgeber gefangen, der alle Gäste persönlich begrüßte. Alles andere wäre eine schwere Beleidigung gewesen, so dass er für die rund 120 Toasts einen eigenen Kellner bei sich hatte, der ihm seine Drinks aus einer speziellen Wodkaflasche einschenkte, die mit Wasser gefüllt war. Das hielt ihn freilich nicht davon ab, später zu den am schwersten betrunkenen Partygästen zu zählen.

Kadyrov mit "schiefem Blick"
Am zweiten Tag wurde zuerst der Familie der Braut Respekt gezollt, dann verlagerten sich die Feierlichkeiten zurück in Gadzhis Anwesen wo nun auch Tschetscheniens Führer Ramzan Kadyrov eintraf. Begleitet von einem Dutzend schwerbewaffneter Mudschahedin erschien er in Jeans und T-Shirt, wobei er den Diplomaten aber kleiner und weniger muskulös erschien, als sie erwartet hatten. Zudem, so die Amerikaner, hätte er eine Art "schiefen Blick" aufgesetzt. Es folgte ein Feuerwerk, wobei aber die Gäste, die mehrheitlich bewaffnet erschienen waren, gebeten wurden, ihre Waffen nicht abzufeuern, was tatsächlich sogar von Kadyrov eingehalten wurde.

Nach dem Feuerwerk ging es weiter mit der Lezginka, diesmal von kleinen Kindern dargebracht, die bald von Gadzhi und dann auch von Ramzan unterstützt wurden, der dabei seine Gold-plattierte Automatik hinten in der Hose stecken hatte. Die beiden beteiligten sich auch an der Geldschein-Dusche, wobei die Tänzer mindestens 5000 Dollar aufsammeln konnten. Dem Brautpaar hatte Ramzan hingegen einen 5-Kilo Goldklumpen mitgebracht, wie Gadzhi den US-Diplomaten später zu berichten wusste.

Allerdings verabschiedete sich Ramzan wenig später wieder Richtung Tschetschenien, wobei die US-Diplomaten auf die Frage, warum er nicht bleibe, zu hören bekamen, Ramzan bleibe nirgendwo über Nacht.

Auf der Hochzeit wurde hingegen unverdrossen weiter gezecht, wobei sich die Stimmung zusehends deftiger wurde. So fühlte sich ein awarischer Oberst ein wenig beleidigt, weil die US-Diplomaten nicht zulassen wollten, dass er ihren Wein mit Cognac verfeinerte, obwohl das doch "praktisch dasselbe sei". Da der Oberst für die Terrorismusbekämpfung in Dagestan zuständig war, waren die Diplomaten jedoch geneigt, ihm das durchgehen zu lassen. Insbesondere, weil bislang jeder, der in Dagestan diese Aufgabe übernommen hatte, wenig später ermordet worden war.

Der Oberst ließ sich schließlich von einem russischen General beruhigen - nicht aber einer seiner alten Freunde aus afghanischen Kriegstagen, der zu diesem Zeitpunkt als Rektor der juristischen Fakultät der Dagestanischen Universität tätig und bereits zu betrunken war, um zu sitzen, geschweige denn aufrecht zu stehen. Er zog seine Waffe und bot seinen Schutz an, was für einige Besorgnis auf Seiten der US-Diplomatie sorgte. Als Gadzhi schließlich mit seinen Leuten erschien, konnten die Diplomaten endlich das Weite suchen.

Die Konzeption des Staates als Erweiterung der Familie
Neben vollen Hosen nahmen sie von der Hochzeit auch ein Paar geopolitische Einsichten mit - etwa das politische Probleme in der Region ausschließlich über persönliche Beziehungen zu lösen sind, die dann auf informelle Ad-Hoc-Vereinbarungen hinaus laufen.

Im Kaukasus, so die Cablegate-Dokumente, gehe es bei allen Streitereien um Land, wobei die "horizontale" Macht, die etwa von Gadzhis Beziehung mit Ramzan repräsentiert werde, die Antithese zur "vertikalen" Macht sei, die von Moskau komme, die lokalen Verhältnisse aber niemals verstanden habe. Demokratie, so hörten die Diplomaten, müsse aber ebenfalls scheitern. Denn die Konzeption des Staates sei eine Erweiterung der Familie, in der der Vater die unumschränkte Macht habe. Freundschaft und Verwandtschaft werde daher stets stärker sein als das Gesetz - und das noch für Generationen.

Quelle: Telepolis

GROSNY: Der Terror in Tschetschenien ist zurück. Von Ulrich Heyden (eurasischesmagazin.de)

Der Anschlag auf das Parlament in Grosny ist ein Alarmsignal. Trotz hartem Polizeiregime bleibt Tschetschenien instabil.
Von Ulrich Heyden

Diesmal drangen die Angreifer bis zum schwer bewachten Parlament in Grosny vor. Es war der 19. Oktober, morgens um 8.45 Uhr. Aus bisher ungeklärten Gründen gelang es drei Terroristen die Sperre vor dem Parlamentsgebäude zu passieren. Einer der Angreifer sprengte sich davor in die Luft, zwei Untergrundkämpfer drangen in das Gebäude ein, lieferten sich im Erdgeschoss ein Feuergefecht mit den tschetschenischen Sicherheitskräften und sprengten sich dann selbst in die Luft. Tschetschenische Parlamentsabgeordnete, die eine Geiselnahme fürchteten, flüchteten in den zweiten Stock. Russische Parlamentarier, die aus der Ural-Region Swerdlowsk angereist waren, wurden evakuiert. Tschetschenische Polizisten verließen mit blutenden Köpfen das Gebäude.
Außer den Terroristen wurden bei dem Überfall drei Personen getötet, darunter zwei Polizisten und tschetschenischer Zivilist. 17 Personen, darunter sechs Polizisten und elf Zivilisten, wurden verletzt. Mit dem Überfall zeigten die Separatisten, dass sie auch in Tschetschenien, wo es in den letzten Jahren weit weniger Anschläge gegeben hatte, als in den Nachbarrepubliken Inguschetien und Dagestan, noch handlungsfähig sind. Rasman Kadyrow, das von Putin eingesetzte Oberhaupt Tschetscheniens, versuchte den Vorfall herunterzuspielen. Seine Sicherheitskräfte hätten nur 20 Minuten gebraucht, um den Angriff auf das Parlament abzuwehren. Doch nach Medienberichten dauerten die Feuergefechte über eine Stunde.

Die Abgeordneten kamen demonstrativ zur nächsten Sitzung
Der russische Innenminister, Raschid Nurgalijew, der sich zum Zeitpunkt des Überfalls in Grosny aufhielt, dankte den tschetschenischen Sicherheitskräften für ihre „professionelles Handeln“ und die „Vernichtung der Bojewiki (Untergrundkämpfer, Anm. d. Autors)“. Obwohl in den Büroräumen des Parlamentes viel zerstört war, kamen die Abgeordneten nach dem Anschlag demonstrativ zu der geplanten Sitzung zusammen.
Ramsan Kadyrow behauptet seit Jahren, die Terroristen seien bis auf eine Gruppe von 50 „Schaitany“ („Teufel“) zerschlagen. Seine Sicherheitskräfte bedrohen die Eltern von Jugendlichen, deren Söhne zu den Separatisten in die Berge gegangen sind. Häufig werden auch die Häuser der Eltern von Bojewiki abgebrannt. Das Oberhaupt Tschetscheniens erklärt, man werde sich weiter bemühen „verirrte Jugendliche“ vom Weg des Terrorismus zurückzuholen. Unversöhnliche Untergrundkämpfer würden „vernichtet“.
Die Anschläge des islamistischen Untergrunds im Nordkaukasus, die nach Meinung russischer Sicherheitskräfte aus dem arabischen Ausland finanziert werden, hatten sich in den letzten Jahren nach Dagestan, Inguschetien und Kabardino-Balkarien verlagert. In Kabardino-Balkarien war im Juli ein Anschlag auf ein Wasserkraftwerk und Anfang September ein Anschlag auf einen Markt verübt worden. Der Leiter des russischen Ermittlungskomitees, Aleksandr Bastyrkin, nannte die Situation im Nordkaukasus äußerst angespannt. „Das ist fast ein Krieg“, erklärte der Chef-Ermittler.

Brutales Regiment und Berufung auf tschetschenische Traditionen
Doch in letzter Zeit nahm auch der bewaffnete Kampf in Tschetschenien wieder zu. Am 30. August überfielen 30 tschetschenische Untergrundkämpfer in einer spektakulären Aktion das Dorf Zentoroj. Der Ort ist das Heimatdorf von Ramsan Kadyrow. Während der Feuergefechte in Zentoroi wurden sechs tschetschenische Polizisten und zwölf Untergrundkämpfer getötet.
Ramsan Kadyrow bezeichnet sich selbst immer wieder als Freund von Putin. Dieser hat ihn viele Male im Kreml empfangen. Der Kreml lässt seinem Statthalter Kadyrow in Tschetschenien freie Hand. In Moskau ist man schon zufrieden, wenn in Tschetschenien nur Ruhe herrscht. Ramsan Kadyrow führt ein brutales Regiment. Immer noch verschwinden spurlos Menschen. Kadyrow präsentiert sich in tschetschenischer Nationaltracht und trägt ein schwarzes Käppchen. Alkohol wird in Grosny nur noch zwei Stunden am Tag an Nicht-Tschetschenen verkauft. Für die Frauen hat Kadyrow eine strenge Kleidervorschrift erlassen. Sie dürfen sich nur noch in langen Röcken und mit Kopftuch auf der Straße zeigen.
Mit der Berufung auf tschetschenische Traditionen versucht Kadyrow den islamistischen Untergrund, der von sich behauptet, die wahren Werte des Islams zu vertreten, das Wasser abzugraben. Welcher Flügel der tschetschenischen Separatisten genau hinter dem Anschlag auf das Parlamentsgebäude steckte, ist nicht klar. Doku Umarow, der bisher den bewaffneten Widerstand führte, und sich „Emir des Kaukasus“ nannte, wurde nach einer Meldung des Kommersant Anfang Oktober von den tschetschenischen Untergrundkämpfern abgesetzt. Nach dem Zeitungsbericht wählten die Bojewiki Chusejn Gakajew als neuen Führer. Der Neugewählte will offenbar den Kampf auf Tschetschenien konzentrieren und gehört nach Medienberichten nicht zu dem islamistisch-fundamentalistischen Flügel der Untergrundkämpfer.

ARTICLE: WikiLeaks-revealed details of Russian Caucasus wedding are disputed, laughed off (washingtonpost.com)

By Kathy Lally, Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, December 4, 2010; 9:59 PM

MOSCOW - It must have been the invitation of the season, that Caucasus wedding that was so memorably WikiLeaked the other day, and it resulted in such a titillating tale - replete with gold-bullion wedding gifts, awe-inspiring alcohol consumption and simmering cauldrons of sheep and cattle.

The author of that classified cable from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow has not been identified, but another part of the story is coming clear: how he cadged the invitation to the wedding, a three-day event that Gadzhi Makhachev, head of Dagestan Oil, put on for his 19-year-old son in the North Caucasus city of Makhachkala.

Though the mesmerizing August 2006 dispatch was signed "Burns," the State Department has denied that it was written by the obvious suspect, Undersecretary William J. Burns, who was U.S. ambassador to Moscow at the time.

Other denials are floating around as well.

This week, Makhachev was quoted by the Caucasian Knot news agency disputing various aspects of the cable: "There was a wedding of my son Dalgat and 200 of my relatives and friends were invited to the wedding. Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov [who was described as having given the bride and groom a five-kilogram lump of gold] was not among them. There was nothing special about the wedding - just an ordinary Dagestani wedding.

"I don't have houses in Moscow, Paris or San Diego, and I have never driven a Rolls Royce."
What to believe?

Enver Kisriyev, quoted in the cable as the leading scholar of Dagestani society, recalls how the American got invited, but not his name. Turns out, the diplomat simply made it known he intended to visit Dagestan, a restive Muslim region bordering Chechnya where it is not uncommon for people to disappear. The wedding invitation was issued as something of a safe-conduct pass in a society that is deeply hospitable.

"I do remember the Americans wanted to go to Dagestan, but it's dangerous to go there," Kisriyev said in Moscow. "If Gadzhi made them his personal guests, they would be safe. So he invited them to his son's wedding."

Makhachev is a revered figure in Dagestan, as a glance at his Web site shows. A major Dagestani entertainer even wrote a song in his honor. It's in a local language, but somehow the sentiment is unmistakable.

Kisriyev laughs merrily at the American's account of the wedding. He says he heard that Kadyrov was certainly at the wedding, but he thinks the writer was overly dramatic with accounts of dancing children showered with hundred-dollar bills and lump-of-gold presents.

"I had so much fun when I read it," he said. "It was an American comic interpretation of an ordinary Dagestani wedding."

No harm done, he said, even though the cable's publication was horribly undiplomatic.

"It's slightly embarrassing for my guys and for the Americans," he said. "It's like seeing someone naked by accident. You'll get over it."

The American described the lezginka, the Caucasian dance, with great enthusiasm. It comes in many styles, from the decorous to the rowdy.

"There's absolutely nothing new in all these leaks," said Sergei Arutyunov, head of the Caucasus Department at the Institute of Ethnic Studies. "Maybe it's a revelation for you, but not for us."
And governments shouldn't even think of prosecuting WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, he said.
"It's their job to make things confidential," he said, "and ours to find out what they say."

Source: www.washingtonpost.com

REVELATIONS: Wikileaks and The Caucasus (ianyanmag.com)

By Liana Aghajanian on November 28, 2010 7:08 pm

Wikileaks, the international organization publishing confidential and unavailable documents from anonymous sources released more than 250,000 classified US diplomatic cables to El Pais, Le Monde, Der Spiegal, Guardian and the New York Times news organization today and has so far released a miniscule 220 documents on their own site, with more on the way.
The documents have revealed a slew of information on how the U.S views the world.
“Never before in history has a superpower lost control of such vast amounts of such sensitive information — data that can help paint a picture of the foundation upon which US foreign policy is built,” the editorial staff of Der Spiegel wrote. “Never before has the trust America’s partners have in the country been as badly shaken.”
What does this mean for the countries of the Caucasus?

Here’s a summary: www.ianyanmag.com

+++

more links:

* US embassy cables: A wedding feast, the Caucasus way: www.guardian.co.uk

* A Caucasus Wedding by Kerkko Paananen: finrosforum.fi/a-caucasus-wedding

* From Wikileaks, A Caucasus Wedding Feast to Remember: www.eurasianet.org

* Reading during a short break some recent wikileaks documents, I found one very useful for somebody interested in the history of the former communist space, but also in perceptions and misperceptions. This is the cable about a wedding in Dagestan, with short sociological and historical observations about the society, the puzzle of ethnic minorities, the origin of the new stake-holders. more here: minoritiescee.blogspot.com

* Cable Intermezzo: A Caucasus Wedding: www.sublimeoblivion.com

* Wedding in the Caucasus: The US Ambassador Learns that Cognac Is Like Wine: www.spiegel.de

* US-Depesche zu Hochzeit im Kaukasus: High-Society-Gelage mit Geldregen: www.spiegel.de

* WikiLeaks-revealed details of Russian Caucasus wedding are disputed, laughed off: www.washingtonpost.com

COMMENTARY: North Caucasus of the Bizarre (nationalinterest.org)

Thomas de Waal November 1, 2010

Russia’s North Caucasus is in the grip of a low-intensity civil war with a strong Islamist flavor. It is a depressing cycle of small-time jihadi violence fueled by state repression, incompetence and bureaucratic corruption.

Who do local leaders blame for the Islamist violence? The answer may surprise you: the United States. Mikhail Alexseev, a Russian scholar now working at San Diego University, presented a fascinating paper on this phenomenon at the recent Program on New Approaches to Research and Security in Eurasia conference (PONARS) in Washington.

Alexseev cited Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s statement in June 2009 that Washington was “the control center” of the Islamic insurgency in the North Caucasus (raising chuckles from the DC audience, who probably thought they had already heard every accusation thrown at their town.) Kadyrov is predictably outrageous but he was echoed by the more moderate president of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov who accused British and U.S “special services” of sponsoring fatwas in the region so as “to break Russia apart, the same way the Soviet Union was broken apart.” Next door in Kabardino-Balkaria, the deputy interior minister gave voice to similar conspiracy theories.

The federal center is not bothering to correct this narrative, perhaps because some Moscow politicians, cynically or naively, harbor similar sentiments. We should recall the strange speech made by then-President Vladimir Putin after the Beslan tragedy in 2004 in which he identified the roots of the bloodshed in the end of the Soviet Union and the designs of unspecified enemies abroad (rather than the more obvious local catastrophe visited on Chechnya next door). Judging by opinion polls, most Russians think the same way. In a VTsIOM poll conducted in September 2008, respondents across Russia were asked what U.S. goals were in the North Caucasus and 60 percent answered, “military and strategic interests and deployment of military bases.”

Alexseev identified two reasons for anti-Americanism in the region itself. One is the international isolation of the North Caucasus. There is virtually no foreign investment or European presence here and very little contact even with the Muslim world. The region is like a sealed room with no windows and the locals are inclined to stick to old Cold War narratives. This combines with a more recent driver of anti-Western sentiment, the 2008 war in Georgia, during which many North Caucasians were persuaded that the United States was behind the Georgian attack on South Ossetia.

From a rational perspective this is all, of course, crazy. The North Caucasus is Russia’s gravest security problem and it is failing to cope with it. The approach of the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 increases the need for Russia to get a grip on the situation. However, violence has increased in the last year, especially in Chechnya. The recent militant attacks on Ramzan Kadyrov’s home village of Tsentoroi and the Chechen parliament in Grozy were strong symbolic blows against Kadyrov’s claim to have fulfilled his side of the “Chechenization” bargain he did with Putin and stabilize the republic. Alexander Khloponin, the new economic governor-general drafted in from Siberia to create jobs has also predictably failed to overcome the obstructions of local clan leaders such as Kadyrov. If it is to halt a further slide into disaster, Russia needs help. Logically that means drawing on some of the new reserves of trust built up by the “reset” and asking for U.S. assistance in intelligence gathering, tightening borders and employing new counterinsurgency practices.

Instead, the irrational prevails. The Russian leadership continues to build up Kadyrov, even though he looks increasingly more dangerous to their interests than pro-Western Chechen nationalists like Aslan Maskhadov and Akhmed Zakayev they spent years persecuting. Kadyrov’s latest reward is the reopening of international air travel in and out of Grozny airport. Meanwhile, brave individuals who are trying to make the Chechen despot accountable are being harassed. The human-rights activist Oleg Orlov, who has spent years working on behalf of ordinary North Caucasians, is currently being prosecuted for having “slandered” Kadyrov.

Georgia, which also needs stability on its northern border, is also playing the irrational card. The Georgian government has embarked on a new policy of embracing the North Caucasus, which to Russian eyes looks like a strategy to divide it from the rest of Russia. President Saakashvili unilaterally announced a visa-free regime for the North Caucasian republics and made a speech at the United Nations about his vision of a “united Caucasus,” north and south. The sentiments would have been laudable from the mouth of a poet or even a businessman. Coming from the president of Georgia, they only stoked Russian paranoia and Russian-Georgian tensions.

Unreason is the new order here until someone decides it’s time to turn the page.

Thomas de Waal is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

source: nationalinterest.org

SEMINAR: Der Krieg in Tschetschenien - Ein Konflikt, seine Hintergründe und Auswirkungen heute vor Ort und in Europa

Zeit: 2. Oktober 2010, 10:30 - 17:30 Uhr
Ort: Projekthaus Potsdam " Inwole e.V.
Rudolf Breitscheidstraße 164, 14482 Potsdam

Über das kleine Land im Nordkaukasus und seine konfliktreiche Geschichte kursieren viele Bilder und Stereotypen. Entsprechend vielfältig sind auch die Interpretationen der Beweggründe Russlands, in das Land einzumarschieren. Um diesen Konflikt in seinen ganzen Ausmaßen und seiner Bedeutung zu begreifen, bedarf es jedoch einer tieferen Analyse, die über die üblichen Ansätze hinausgeht.

In unserem Tagesseminar werden wir uns in Gruppenarbeit und anhand von Vorträgen & Filmausschnitten den komplexen Hintergründen des ersten und zweiten Tschetschenienkrieges und dem heutigen System Kadyrow nähern, Konfliktparteien, Zusammenhänge und Interessen
herausarbeiten. Auf die Menschenrechtsverstöße in Tschetschenien während dieser ganzen Zeit werden wir mithilfe des Dokumentarfilms "Coca. Die Taube aus Tschetschenien" eingehen.

Auch aktuell suchen noch sehr viele Tschetschenen Asyl in Europa vor Verfolgung in Tschetschenien und Russland. Insgesamt stellen Flüchtlinge aus dem Norkaukasus sogar die zweitgrößte Gruppe der Asylsuchenden in der EU. Deswegen werden wir uns im zweiten Seminarteil im Gespräch mit der Regisseurin Kerstin Nickig und anhand ihres Dokumentarfilms "Kein Ort. Fluchtwege von Tschetschenen in Europa" ausführlich mit der Flüchtlingssituation beschäftigen.

In Zusammenarbeit mit Youth Human Rights Movement Berlin.
Inhaltliche Rückfragen bitte an: info@yhrm-berlin.org

Anfahrt: bis zum S-Bahnhof Griebnitzsee (S7), aus dem S-Bahn-Haupteingang nach links, der R.-Breitscheid-Str. 200 m folgen, über eine Kreuzung, direkt gegenüber dem Fußballplatz,
www.projekthaus-potsdam.de

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Coca - Die Taube aus Tschetschenien - Part 1

RADIO: Tschetschenien – das Ende des Krieges ist noch kein Frieden (drs.ch)

Zehn Jahre Krieg haben die autonome Kaukasus-Republik Tschetschenien praktisch dem Erdboden gleich gemacht. Offiziell waren die Kämpfe 2003 zu Ende, aber faktisch dauerte Russlands Anti-Terror-Kampf noch bis 2009.

Entsprechend wach sind auch noch die Ängste vor Entführungen, Folter und Mord. Und doch wachsen auch Hoffnungen, denn der umstrittene Präsident Kadyrow hat Tschetschenien mit russischer Finanzhilfe in atemberaubendem Tempo neu aufgebaut - aber die Republik braucht mehr als eine blosse Friedenskulisse.

Gesamte Sendung:
Hören
Download (MP3, 13.1MB)

Sendezeiten +++ Samstag, 5.6.2010, 09.08-09.38 Uhr, DRS +++ Samstag, 5.6.2010, 23.03-23.30 Uhr, DRS 4 News +++ Sonntag, 6.6.2010, 18.30-19.00 Uhr, DRS 1

Verantwortlich für diese Sendung:
Autor/Autorin: Brigitte Zingg

VORTRAG: Gespräch mit Oleg Orlov, Vorsitzender der russischen Menschenrechtsorganisation MEMORIAL (gfbv.de)

Wir laden ein zu Vortrag und Gespräch mit Oleg Orlov, Vorsitzender der russischen Menschenrechtsorganisation MEMORIAL.
MEMORIAL erhält in diesem Jahr den Victor-Gollancz-Preis der Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker, den Oleg Orlov am 14. November 2009 in Göttingen entgegennehmen wird

Oleg Orlov führt zur Zeit einen Prozess gegen den tschetschenischen Präsidenten Ramsan Kadyrow, den er für die Morde an Menschenrechtlern verantwortlich nannte.

Zeit: Sonntag, den 15. 11. 2009, Beginn 18.00
Ort: Tschetschenisches Kulturzentrum, Prinzenallee 25/26, Berlin-Wedding

Pressetermine für Sonntag Abend können über uns angefragt werden.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen Ekkehard Maaß

Deutsch-Kaukasische Gesellschaft e. V.
Schönfließer Straße 21, 10439 Berlin
Tel 030 4457006 / mobil 0171 1773543
Spendenkonto HypoVereinsbank
BLZ 10020890 / Kto 5619661
www.d-k-g.de

EINLADUNG: "Nordkaukasus - Die Gewalt nimmt kein Ende"

Datum: Montag, 19. Oktober 2009, 19:00 Uhr
Ort: Beletage der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Schumannstraße 8, Berlin-Mitte
Eintritt frei

mit
Alexander Tscherkassow (Memorial, Moskau)
Marieluise Beck (MdB Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, Berlin)
Peter Franck (Amnesty International, Berlin)
Moderation: Gesine Dornblüth (Journalistin, Berlin)

Nach zwei Kriegen, die unendliches Leid in fast jede Familie Tschetscheniens brachten, schien sich die Lage in der kleinen Republik im Nordkaukasus scheinbar beruhigt zu haben. Mit brutalen Methoden, Einschüchterungen und einer allgegenwärtigen Atmosphäre der Angst hatte Präsident Ramsan Kadyrow die offene Gewalt zurückgedrängt. Grosny und andere tschetschenische Städte und Dörfer wurden langsam wieder aufgebaut. Selbst die Morde gingen zurück, und seit Anfang vorigen Jahres "verschwanden" weniger Menschen. Es war stiller geworden in Tschetschenien.

Diese Stille glich aber einer Friedhofsstille. Wer Kritik an Kadyrow übte oder einfach im Weg war, drohte in inoffiziellen Gefängnissen zu "verschwinden" und dort Opfer von Folter und Mord zu werden. Aber selbst die scheinbare Beruhigung der Lage ist schon wieder vorbei: Es "verschwinden" wieder Menschen; keine Woche vergeht, ohne dass über Anschläge und Überfälle berichtet wird, denen immer wieder Menschen zum Opfer fallen. Nichts anderes gilt für die ehemals friedlicheren Nachbarrepubliken Inguschetien, Dagestan, Nord-Ossetien und Kabardino-Balkarien. Nach den Morden an den Menschenrechtlerinnen Natalja Estemirowa und Sarema Sadulajewa blickte die Welt wieder mit Schrecken nach Tschetschenien.

Alexander Tscherkassow vom Menschenrechtszentrum MEMORIAL hat in Tschetschenien eng mit Natalja Estemirowa zusammengearbeitet. Anlässlich eines auf der Frankfurter Buchmesse vorgestellten Bandes zum Gedächtnis an die ermordete Menschenrechtlerin reist er nach Deutschland. Wir nutzen diese Gelegenheit, um Informationen und Einschätzungen aus erster Hand zu erhalten: Wie stellt sich die Lage der Menschenrechte im Nordkaukasus dar? Ist unter diesen Umständen Menschenrechtsarbeit überhaupt möglich? Wie lässt sich die Situation von außen beeinflussen? Über diese und andere Fragen möchten wir miteinander ins Gespräch kommen. Der Band zum Gedächtnis an Natalja Estemirowa wird an diesem Abend erhältlich sein.

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Veranstalter:
Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung in Kooperation mit Amnesty International und Memorial

Informationen:
Martina Tichov, Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, T 030-285 34 384, E RG_Ostreuropa@boell.de

BLOG: RFE/RL Caucasus Report from (rferl.org)

10/9/2009 5:52:15 PM A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about the countries of the South Caucasus and Russia's North Caucasus region. For more stories on the Caucasus, please visit and bookmark our Caucasus page .

Russia Facing Resistance On CIS's Southern Flank Representatives of the CIS are holding a summit in the Moldovan capital today, but most of the Central Asian presidents won't be in attendance. The presidents of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan instead sent lower-level delegations. Focusing on the three Central Asian states that make up the CIS's southern frontier, we examine how, by skipping the summit, they might be exhibiting their discontent with Russia. More

Efforts To Stage-Manage Elections Fuel Tensions In North Caucasus Daghestan's President Mukhu Aliyev is reportedly sparing no effort to secure the reelection on October 11 of the incumbent mayor of the southern town of Derbent, Feliks Kaziakhmedov. In Karachayevo-Cherkessia, candidates for the post of mayor of the town of Karachayevsk have demanded that acting Mayor Umar Uzdenov be disqualified from the ballot (also on October 11) on the grounds that his registration as a candidate is invalid, and that the presidential administration is pressuring voters to cast their ballots for him. More

EBRD's Chief Economist Assesses Conditions In Central, Eastern Europe Erik Berglof, the chief economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, joined other officials from international financial institutions at meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund this week in Istanbul, where one of the central topics was the global financial crisis. In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL, he discusses how Central and Eastern European countries are faring amid the crisis. Berglof also discusses the conditions that the IMF is attaching to loans that it is giving to governments in the region. More

Low Turnout Hints At CIS Woes The mood ahead of the latest gathering of leaders from the Commonwealth of Independent States is tense. Four of five Central Asian leaders have declined to attend. Georgia will be conspicuously absent. And host Moldova's pro-Western prime minister has dismissed the CIS as "not viable." More

Turkey Deal A Tough Sell For Armenia's President Many among Armenia's 5.7 million-strong diaspora see rapprochement with Turkey as a betrayal. As President Serzh Sarkisian nears the end of a four-country tour to drum up diaspora support for the thaw with Ankara, he must navigate a mosaic of deep mistrust, historical grievances, and bitter tensions. More

After Russia-Georgia Report, A Sense Of 'What Now?' In the wake of last week's EU report on the Russia-Georgia war, many in the West are wondering what can be done to prevent the conflict from repeating itself. For answers, RFE/RL's Georgian Service spoke to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Vygaudas Usackas and Ron Asmus of the German Marshall Fund. More

Russia Rejects Trade-Off With Turkey On Recognition Of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Northern Cyprus In Sukhumi on October 2, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected media speculation that Russia may reach an agreement on formally recognizing the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in return for Ankara's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. More

Ingushetian President Dissolves Cabinet, Fires Prime Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov dismissed Prime Minister Rashid Gaysanov and the entire republican government on October 5, citing as the reason for doing so corruption and ministers' failures in resolving socioeconomic problems, including in agriculture. He named Security Council Secretary Aleksei Vorobyov acting prime minister, while the remaining ministers will continue to discharge their duties pending the naming of a new cabinet. More

Ten Alleged Georgian Mutiny Participants Retract Guilty Pleas Ten of the 41 men charged in connection with the purported mutiny at the Mukhrovani military base near Tbilisi on May 5 retracted their pleas of guilty on September 30 and refused to testify further. It is not clear why they did so; before the trial began, then human rights ombudsman Sozar Subari told RFE/RL that his office sought to clarify reports that at least some of the defendants had been beaten and/or tortured. More

Homeless Stage Protest In South Ossetia Between 60 and 200 Ossetians whose homes were destroyed or damaged in the August 2008 war between Georgia and Russia gathered on September 30 outside the government building in Tskhinvali to protest the delay in providing them with new accommodation. More

Shevardnadze Talks About German Reunification Former Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze was a major force behind reforms that led to the collapse of the Soviet Union. On the anniversary of German reunification, Shevardnadze talks to RFE/RL's Georgian Service about his role and the tempest that threatened "had Germany not been united without bloodshed." More

Lessons Georgians Should Draw From War Probe Former Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili says "our duty to both Georgian and international opinion is to confront this reality and try to move on from there." More

Tony Judt On 'One Of East Europe's Great Mistakes' The future of the EU, Russia's relations with Europe, the course of American foreign policy. All have dominated headlines in recent weeks, and all are issues that renowned European historian Tony Judt has spent a lifetime analyzing and writing. Judt, who is director of the Erich Maria Remarque Institute at New York University, sat down with RFE/RL correspondent Heather Maher for a broad-ranging interview about the strength of the European Union, Russia's ambitions, and what Central and Eastern Europe should expect from Washington. More

Azerbaijan Rejects Call For Probe Of Journalist’s Death A Baku district court rejected on September 29 a demand by the widow of Talysh newspaper editor Novruzali Mamedov to open a criminal investigation into the circumstances of his death in prison last month. More

EU Report On 2008 War Tilts Against Georgia An international report into the causes of the 2008 Russian-Georgian war suggests that both parties share the blame for the long-simmering conflict. But the report's conclusion that Georgia started the hostilities means that Russia seems to have achieved its main objective for this round in the post-war standoff. More

Moscow Snubs European Rights Court On Chechnya Human Rights Watch has accused Russia of repeatedly ignoring decisions by the European Court of Human Rights on Chechnya. The U.S.-based rights group said in a report released this week that Russia's failure to investigate and punish abuses under the court's rulings is fueling "unchecked violence" in the North Caucasus. More

Sharing The Blame A long-awaited report on the causes of the five-day war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008 will strike a delicate balance, EU officials say. Brussels now appears keen to turn the page and move on with talks between Georgia, Russia, and Georgia's breakaway regions. More

Armenian Parties Join Forces Against Draft Agreements With Turkey The widespread public outcry in Yerevan triggered by the publication one month ago of two draft protocols intended to pave the way for the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey shows no sign of abating. More

Key Defendant In Georgian Mutiny Trial Pleads Guilty Thirteen of the 41 people currently on trial in Tbilisi on charges of seeking to overthrow Georgia's leadership have concluded plea bargains with the prosecution. The 13 include one of the alleged ringleaders, Gia Gvaladze, on whose testimony the charges against a second purported ringleader, Koba Kobaladze, are based. Five of the 13 are charged with knowing about the planned insurgency in advance but failing to alert the relevant authorities; seven face charges of insubordination. More

Georgian President Advocates Direct Mayoral Elections In his September 24 address to the UN General Assembly, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili delivered an implicit warning to toe the line to two members of the parliamentary faction of his United National Movement who have queried the expediency of direct elections for the post of Tbilisi mayor. Saakashvili affirmed that the Georgian leadership is committed "to the direct election of all mayors in a few months' time." Local municipal council elections and elections for the mayor of Tbilisi are provisionally scheduled for May 30, 2010. More

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Grilled Over Bloggers Case When Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov appeared at a seminar at Columbia University in New York on September 22, students, activists, and journalists (including RFE/RL's Baku bureau chief Khadija Ismayilova) used the rare opportunity to question him intensively about the case of the "hooligan" bloggers. More

Prominent Oppositionists Join Forces For Tbilisi Ballot Irakli Alasania, who stepped down as Georgian ambassador to the UN in December 2008 and now heads the opposition Alliance for Georgia, and Sozar Subari, whose five-year term as human rights ombudsman expired earlier this month, will join forces to run in the Tbilisi mayoral and municipal council elections tentatively scheduled for May 30, 2010. Both men were previously close and loyal supporters of President Mikheil Saakashvili, but now criticize his apparent indifference to election fraud and egregious human rights violations on the part of the Interior Ministry and security services. More

Georgia Mutiny Trial Adjourned The trial of 41 men accused of participating or conniving in the May 5 mutiny by a tank division based at Mukhrovani, near Tbilisi [add link to blog story of May 5], was adjourned on September 19 after Gia Gvaladze, former commander of the Delta special assignment force and one of the presumed ringleaders, said he wished to engage a new defense lawyer. His current lawyer said Gvaladze planned to retract his earlier testimony and make a new statement exonerating his co-defendant, former National Guard commander Major General Koba Kobaladze. More

Aussies Outraged Over Kadyrov's Horses Chechen leader and horse-racing enthusiast Ramzan Kadyrov has once again provoked outrage from human rights activists -- this time in Australia -- as he prepares two of his personal horses to race in the upcoming Melbourne Cup, according to Australian press reports. More