Chechnya: the origins of an every day drama

The conflict in Chechnya is often presented by the media as a Russian armed intervention aiming to preserve the Caucasian resources against Islamic rebels. The oil in Chechnya represents so few that it can not explain the size of the human losses (only 2% of the Russian production against hundreds of thousands victims). The reality of this conflict is much more qualified and takes its source in a long historical evolution. First of all, the Russian invade Caucasia in the XIXth century and the Chechnyan will not stop fighting against the occupier, following the lyrics of their national anthem: “freedom or death”. Staline will accuse them wrongly of collaboration with the Nazis, and 390000 chechnyan people will be deported between 1944 and 1957 causing the death of 170000 people. With the glasnost and the perestroika, Chechnya is involved in the raising of the nationalities of USSR and proclaims its independence the 2nd of November 1991, when the soviet bloc was collapsing. After the expelling of 250000 Russian people organised by the young republic, Boris Eltsine decides short before the presidential elections of 1994 to “restore the constitutional order in Chechnya”, thinking that the victory would be easy. After 2 years of fight and between 50000 and 100000 victims, a peace treaty is signed, the Russian troops unable to take back Grozny. This first conflict has largely reinforced the chechnyan national feeling and developed some Islamic branches. The moderate president of the Caucasian republic, Aslan Maskhadov has difficulties to control these movements after 1997. Attacks and hostage takings increase even on the Russian territory. Vladimir Poutine, succeeding to Boris Eltsine in 1999, announced clearly that he will “ kill the terrorist even in the shit”. The second war of Chechnya begins with a massive bombing of the cities from the Caucasian republic. The Russian troops take back the control of the region and establish a pro-Russian power in Grozny after controversial elections. The militaries exert arbitrary violence and a chechnyan militia is created to maintain order. The civil population lives in terror, while the terrorist attacks and the rebellion persist. The result of these two wars in Chechnya is dramatic. The majority of the chechnyan people are oppressed, although the power of Grozny manipulated by Moscow does not have any legitimacy. The resistance movements are now particularly radical with the Islamic branch of the rebellion, as shown by the hostage takings in the Doubrovka Theatre and the school of Beslan. Even if the situation seems far from normalisation, the international community remains very accommodating with Russia and its natural gas supplies.

Ruins of Grozny