What information did we obtain from this interview?

Khodorkovsky was the owner of the “Kolos” enterprise, which produced rations for the Russian Armed Forces. These supplies were not paid for; he provided them for free to support the Russian army in Chechnya. Khodorkovsky supplied half of the entire Russian army with fuel and lubricants during the war in Chechnya. Khodorkovsky armed the Tomsk OMON (special police unit) for the war in Chechnya. He admitted to arranging weapon supplies for the Tomsk OMON through the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ special equipment institute, which he paid for. He also confessed to pushing this decision through his company’s board of directors.

As the owner of the Kurgan Machine-Building Plant, Khodorkovsky supplied Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) to the Russian army in Chechnya. He recommended to President Yeltsin and Defense Minister Grachev new modified IFVs for better performance in Chechnya, but Yeltsin and Grachev dismissed his innovations and requested older models.

Through his interview, Khodorkovsky acknowledged his complicity in the crimes committed in Chechnya. Astonishingly, he does not realize that he has given a confession with no statute of limitations for the Chechen people. He feels no moral responsibility and shows no hint of seeking forgiveness from the Chechen people for his complicity in these crimes. In his moral compass, this is impossible because his values were formed in the wild jungles of 1990s Russian capitalism, where might makes right.

When Khodorkovsky justifies the Russian military invasion of Chechnya, he tries to manipulate the narrative by contrasting the Chechen war with the war in Ukraine. But this is a ruse, which falls apart upon comparative analysis.

1. Justification of military invasion:

Chechnya:

– Propaganda portrayed Chechen militants as terrorists and extremists threatening Russia’s security. Russian intervention was presented as necessary to protect the civilian population from terrorist threats.

Ukraine:

– Russian media depicted Ukrainian military and nationalists as fascists and neo-Nazis threatening the Russian-speaking population. Operations in Donbas and the annexation of Crimea were framed as protecting Russian-speaking citizens from alleged Ukrainian aggression.

2. External threat and national mobilization:

Chechnya:

– Propaganda claimed that Chechen militants were supported by international terrorists and foreign mercenaries, creating an image of an external threat and mobilizing public opinion to support the war.

Ukraine:

– Russian media actively promoted the idea that the conflict in Ukraine was instigated by the West, primarily the USA and NATO, to weaken Russia. This fueled patriotic sentiments within the country.

3. Humanitarian and human rights justifications:

Chechnya:

– The war was justified by the need to restore order and protect civilians from terrorists, creating the illusion of a humanitarian mission.

Ukraine:

– The annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in Donbas were justified as protecting the rights of Russian-speaking citizens from persecution and violence, also presented as a humanitarian mission.

Thus, Khodorkovsky uses the same tactics as Russian propaganda to justify his actions in Chechnya, but these justifications are no different from those used for the war in Ukraine. This is manipulation aimed at hiding the true nature of his actions and diverting attention from his responsibility for complicity in crimes.

When discussing the fate of the nation, the state, democracy, contacts with the KGB, and morality in a lengthy three-hour interview, it is essentially enough to listen to Khodorkovsky’s answer to the journalist’s question: “Did you know that the weapons you provided to the Russian soldiers were used to commit crimes in Chechnya?” Khodorkovsky responds: “They are ours“. This reflects the same approach to justice as Putin’s: if someone is one of ours, they are right, they can commit crimes, and they should be helped. Justifying his position, he says that he was raised on the streets of Moscow’s “Mazutka” district, where there were its own concepts of “ours” and “others“. This is undoubtedly an unconscious reference to Putin’s interview, where he said: “The Leningrad street taught me one rule: if a fight is inevitable, strike first“. This is the culmination not only of Khodorkovsky’s morality, who claims the role of leader of the Russian opposition, but also of the overwhelming majority of the so-called Russian opposition, which dreams of sitting on Putin’s throne. Having lived for many years in democratic Western European countries, he has been unable to free himself from imperial thinking and the desire to maintain Russia as a prison of nations. Although he was released from prison over a decade ago, the prison mentality, unfortunately, has not left him.

The real, non-illusory, non-staged Russian opposition is emerging today in Ukraine on the battlefield, with weapons in hand. These are the people who have a chance to gain political subjectivity, while all others have no chance at all. It is hard to imagine even a single hypothetical scenario in which Khodorkovsky could have a political future inside Russia. Most likely, his political consultants also see no prospects, but as long as he has money, they will remain the entourage of the naked king.

The two wars waged by Russia against Chechnya in the 1990s and 2000s did not attract much international attention but they played a crucial role in shaping Russia’s subsequent behaviour both domestically and beyond its borders. The military campaigns started by former President Yeltsin and eagerly expanded upon by President Putin were disastrous for the Chechens – 250,000, a quarter of the whole Chechen population, were killed, 40 000 of them children, but they also proved to become a precedent for Russia’s treatment of its neighbours as well as determined the overall course for its foreign policy.

Everything that the Russian government has done since: invading Georgia and Ukraine, annexing Crimea, meddling in Syria, Venezuela and the Central African Republic – is the echo of the Chechen campaigns. The first steps in developing an effective information war and discrediting the Western media were also taken during the second Russian – Chechen War.

Putin, who became Russian Prime Minister in 1999 and President in 2000, made a special effort to prevent information from coming out of the region: during the second Russian – Chechen war foreign journalists were practically refused entry into the so-called “counter-terrorist” operation zone, and their brave Russian colleagues, such as Anna Politkovskaya (1958-2006) and Natalia Estemirova (1958 -2009), who tried to expose what was going on in Chechnya, were ruthlessly killed. The key problem, however, was that the world did not want to know about Chechnya. Eager to buy Russian oil and gas the West turned a blind eye to Putin’s imperial ambitions and his crimes against humanity so unabated he carried on.

During the event at the Frontline Club in London, on February 19, 2020, Luke Harding, Guardian’s foreign news journalist in Moscow, discussed these issues in conversation with Mr Akhmed Zakayev. Let’s recall that Mr Zakayev, the London-based Chechen leader whom Russia has long sought to extradite from the UK, fought in both Russian-Chechen wars, and was variously a minister, a military commander, a negotiator, a presidential candidate and the current Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government.

You can see Mr Zakayev’s speech at the following link :

The conference organized by the “European Conservatives and Reformists Group” and it was host by the Polish MP Anna Fotyga and Czech MP Aleksandr Vondra on January 28, 2020. Together Mr Akhmed Zakayev – Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Mr Adam Borowski – Honorary Consul of ChRI in Poland, Mr David Satter – American journalist, writer and academician, – Mr Yuri Felshtinsky – Russian writer, Mr Oleg Panfilov – Russian journalist, Mr Jaromir Stetina – former Czech MP and journalist, and Mr Giorgi Nikoladze – a former Georgian diplomat participated to the event as speakers.

Here is the full speech of Honorable Prime Minister, Mr Akhmed Zakayev :

Mrs ANNA FOTYGA, MP, Poland : Now I would like to give the word Mr Akhmed Zakayev. The Prime Minister the floor is yours.

Mr AKHMED ZAKAYEV, Prime Minister, Chechen Republic of Ichkeria : First of all I would like to thank you the organizers of today’s meeting. Thank you very much Anna, Alexandra, thank you all the participants of this events. Before I start to my speech, I have some kind of obligation; I have a letter from our friends from Lithuania. And this letter is in Russian and I will read it in Russian :

“To the Participants of the meeting called “Chechnya : The Beginning” in Brussels,

We appreciate the initiative that Polish parliamentarians took have a meeting on the independence of Chechnya. This confirms once again that the politicians in Poland are not only the patriots of their own country, but they are also stick this holy humanitarian principal for the Chechen people.

During the first war against Chechnya in 1994, the Polish parliamentarians were one of the first who protested the war against Chechnya and they helped to the Chechen refugees. It would be really good to find possibilities keep coming back the Chechen problem in the international level along those Russian aggressions in Ukraine and Georgia. Because this is a problem on the same scale.

The Russia officially recognized the independence of Ichkeria with the peace treaty dated 12 May 1997. It was signed by the Russian president Boris Yeltsin and the Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov. Russia hasn’t still canceled this treaty. This treaty should be treated as the fundamental base of international support to Chechnya. It will be also an opportunity to implement various assistance to the Chechen people. So that Chechens don’t feel abandoned and forgotten.

All the best wishes,

Algirdas Endriukaitis,
General Secretary of International Parliamentarians Group on Chechnya, Signatory of the Act of the re-establishment of the state of Lithuania in 1990″

Dear friends,

I would also like to use this opportunity that we have good interpreters here, so I will present my report in Russian as well with your permission. Because it will save the time for us.

Allow me to start with an introduction. I am the Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Actually on the press, we are often referred as the “government in exile”. This is an exceptional phenomenon for the current political realities, although during the Second World War there were many governments in exile in the West. At first, these were the governments of those countries that were under the occupation of German Nazis. And after the World War II, the number of such governments did not decrease in the West, but increased, but those were the governments of Eastern European countries that were oppressed under the Soviet occupation.

Let’s go down the history lane and recall the facts. It came to me based on the words of my friend Yuri Felshtinsky. He said that Chechnya was the part of Russia before the 1st Russian-Chechen War broke out. This is not actually true in the line of historical reality, because after the collapse of Soviet Union, Chechnya was not a part of Russia, not a part of Soviet Union. After the collapse of Soviet Union, Chechnya and Russia separated the Soviet military assets; Russia made officially an arrangement with Chechnya and the Russian troops left the territory of Chechnya. They have left some weapons and military systems in Chechnya. In 1992, Chechen Republic have adopted its own constitution, nearly 1 year before the Russia and it did not sign the federal treaty with Russia. However, Yeltsin used the excuse of “constitutional order” and he arranged the first military invasion in Chechnya. Nevertheless, it was a shameful war for the Russia itself and its army. At the end, the Russian troops were withdrawn from the Chechen Republic. In 1997, under the auspices of OSCE and based on our own constitution from 1992, we have realized the presidential elections in Chechnya. And this election were acknowledge by the international community in the level of PACE, and OSCE. Then the procedure to establish a good relation with Russia has started on May 12, 1997 with the peace treaty. The very first article of this agreement was saying that “the use and threat of use of force in resolving any contentious issues is abandoned forever”. This agreement’s 2nd article states that both sides will establish their relation in accordance with generally recognized principles and norms of international law. You can check this agreement on internet. After that, a number of agreements were signed between both side’s institutions. Also in 1997, a very interesting trilateral agreement was signed on the transportation of Baku oil and it was signed between Chechnya, Russia and Azerbaijan. All of these are the proves that the 2nd Russian military occupation started against the de jure and de facto independent state Chechnya which was recognized not just by Russia itself, but also the international community. This is why I believe that before to start looking a solution this problem, we need to establish the real causes of this conflict. The cause is very simple, the Chechen factor has been used by the Soviet Union and than Russia as a card for its own domestic policy issues. So the beginning of 2nd Russian-Chechen war and Putin’s arrival in Kremlin were the successful operations, because of after Yeltsin, there should be somebody. Yuri Felshtinky and David Satter outlined what happened; I don’t want to repeat the same things.

The reason for our meeting today is a conference dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the beginning of the second Russian-Chechen war. Based on the statistics from international human rights organizations, since 1994, from the start of the Russiam military campaign, more than 250 thousand civilians were killed in Chechnya, over 40 thousand of these victims are children under 12 years old; 20 thousand people accounted missing, more than 300 thousand Chechens were forced to leave their homeland. As it now, again according to human rights organizations, there are still 25 to 26 thousand Chechens in the Russian camps which have become truly death camps for Chechens. Other victims of this war include the civilians of Russia who died as a result of house bombings in Buinaksk, Volgodonsk, Moscow in 1999, as well as during the capture of the theater on Dubrovka in 2002, and during the terrible terrorist attack in Beslan with the capture of the school in 2004, they became victims of this war. I have listed only those high-profile terrorist attacks that claimed hundreds of human lives.

The methods used by the Russian military in Chechnya are evidence that the purpose of this war was not “fighting international terrorism”, as declared by Kremlin propaganda, but it is the collective punishment of the Chechen people for their desire for freedom and independence.

In numerous reports of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe were noted that Russia, having unleashed a war in Chechnya, violated the Charter of the Council of Europe. Russia also violated Article 48 of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions, Article 3 of the 4th Geneva Convention, Article 7 of the ICC. But despite this, the leaders of the leading Western countries began to call the criminal war in Chechnya as “Russia’s internal affair”. And subsequently, the entire international community began to consider the Russian-Chechen conflict as an internal affair of Russia. In my deep conviction, this was not only a basic political mistake, but it is also contrary to the basic principles of international law. The problem is that it is precisely for this reason that crimes committed in Chechnya against the civilian population go unpunished, and this encourages Russia to further violate human rights.

In 2006, Putin signed two laws. According to the first law, any person who criticizes the existing regime and disagrees with the government’s policy is equated with an extremist and declared an enemy of the Russian state. And the second law imposes the Russian special services to eliminate the enemies of the state, both in Russia and abroad. Since that time, the Russian secret services committed two dozen political killings both in Russia and abroad. These are not my fantasy, but the facts with proves by the countries where these crimes were committed.

In 2013, Putin signed another law that allows for the punishment of families and relatives of those terror suspects. Thus, Putin legalized the practice of collective punishment. Dozens of houses were burned in Chechnya because the owners of these houses and their families were close relatives of those who fought in the Chechen resistance groups. Using this hostage system, the families and close relatives of Chechen patriots are subjected to terror for resisting against the Russian aggression or the tyranny of Kadyrov’s units. And it is precisely on this, terrorist system, that the occupation regime established by Putin in Chechnya has been supported all these years.

Meanwhile, today unemployed rate is 80% in the republic today, the outflow of the population from the republic continues. This is well known to the European migration services, where refugees from Chechnya apply on daily basis. This is also evidenced by the fact that no one lives in apartment buildings built in Grozny. This is especially noticeable at night. The houses stand without light in the windows and resemble tombstones of war victims. And, unfortunately, there is no tendency to improve the situation as long as Putin’s ruling regime remains in Russia.

Based on the latest statements made by Putin, he does not intend to give up power to anyone until the end of his life. The Russian political analysts draw an analogy of Putin’s Russia during the reign of one of the last General Secretaries of the USSR L. Brezhnev, which went down in history as a period of stagnation. Putin best understands the perniciousness of this phenomenon. But at the same time, he cannot cede power even to such an authorized person as Medvedev.
In my opinion, the main reason for this is Putin’s desire to evade himself from the responsibility for the war crimes committed in Chechnya and other crimes all over in Russia. I mean the bombings of houses in Moscow, Volgodonsk and Buinaksk in the fall of 1999, when hundreds of Russian citizens died. In Russia, there is an opinion that Putin’s intelligence services are behind this crime, and this opinion was confirmed after an unsuccessful attempt to blow up an apartment building in Ryazan, where three terrorists were detained, who later turned out to be FSB officers.

I want to remind you that everyone who investigated this case was killed. General Alexander Lebed, who stated that “we will soon find out that the Russian special services are behind these explosions,” died in 2002 in a helicopter crash, the reasons for which have not yet been established. Russian State Duma deputy Sergei Yushenkov, who led the parliamentary group conducting an investigation into house bombings and told the US Congress that the Russian intelligence service was behind these terrorist acts, was shot dead in Moscow in 2003. In the same year, another State Duma deputy Yuri Shchekochikhin, also a member of the commission for the investigation of explosions of residential buildings in Russian cities, died from an unknown poison.

The murder of president of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, Zelimkhan Yandarbiev in Qatar, the murder of Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya in Moscow, the assassination in London of Alexander Litvinenko using radioactive material, the murder of Natalya Estamirova in Chechnya, the murder of Umar Israilov in Austria, the murder of our Honorary Consul Medet Onlu in Ankara, the murder of Boris Nemtsov in Moscow, the assassination attempt on Skripal in England as using chemical weapons, the assassination of Zelim Khangashvili in Berlin. All this is the state terrorism, and the Russian special services and the Russian President Vladimir Putin is behind it. The only way for Putin to escape punishment for all these crimes is to preserve the immunity which is guaranteed to the first person in the state. This is precisely the main reason why Putin wants to stay in power for the rest of his life.

Returning to the Chechen question, I want to note that what we are observing in Chechnya today – the construction of skyscrapers and stadiums – is also an attempt to eliminate the traces of war crimes. 80% of Grozny had been destroyed by bombardments. Dozens of settlements were wiped off the face of the earth. The entire industrial, cultural and social infrastructure was completely destroyed.

Before the first war, there were dozens of factories in Chechnya. Several factories were built during the Soviet Union and had the status of union significance. In Grozny, there were five theaters, three museums, the largest art gallery in the North Caucasus, where masterpieces of famous artists, libraries with multimillion-dollar book collections, and valuable historical and cultural archives were stored. It is all destroyed and cannot be restored.

Over the years, Chechens have sought a full independent investigation into war crimes committed by the Russian military in the Chechen Republic. The government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria has conducted many events in order to attract the attention of the international community to the Chechen tragedy.

Over the past 2 years, we have held a peaceful action “March for Peace, the Rule of Law and Justice”. The route of the protesters went through 15 EU countries. Pickets were held in front of national parliaments in the capitals of these countries. Participants in the march submitted petitions to the national parliaments with a request to support the call to the UN, EP, EU, OSCE:

1. To consider the Chechen question from the standpoint of the principles and norms of international law.
2. Create an international independent commission to investigate war crimes committed by Russia against the Chechen people.
3. Based on the results of the investigation, bring the war criminals in front of the justice.

Last year, we submitted a petition to the Hague Tribunal to institute criminal proceedings against Russian President Putin and other military and political figures who committed crimes against the Chechen people. Due to the fact that the Chechen Republic is currently under Russian occupation, this fact does not allow the government of the Chechen Republic in exile to file an application with the International Court of Justice in the established manner. But in order to prevent a dangerous precedent of impunity for war criminals and restore historical justice, we asked the Hague tribunal use universal jurisdiction acceptable for the International Criminal Court and find the possibility of investigating this case using the method “proprio motu ” on the basis of Article 15 of the ICC Statute.
Maybe it seems to some that currently the Chechen issue has moved to the 2nd or 3rd plan due to events in the world and in particular in Ukraine, which directly affect the geopolitical interests of the European Community. But I am convinced that the occupation of Georgian territories in 2008 and today’s events in Syria and Ukraine cannot be considered without the recognation of events that began in the Chechen Republic 20 years ago. The absence of any consequences due to the Russian-Chechen war led to an increase in Putin’s regime, which stimulated Russia to invade Georgia and Ukraine.

Today, Putin’s Russia, without exaggeration, poses a real threat to the security of the entire international community. And Putin has stopped being a Chechen problem long time ago. I am deeply convinced that only by calling Putin to account for those heinous crimes committed by the Russian military against the Chechen people can stop the aggressive actions of Russia in the rest of Europe.

Thank you very much for attention.

Mrs ANNA FOTYGA, MP, Poland : Dear Prime Minister, dear Akhmed. Thank you very much.

The video of this speech can be seen at YouTube with the English subtitles :

“Subjugate or Exterminate!” is an authoritative first-hand account of the Russo-Chechen conflict by a Chechen leader who played a central role in all the main events. Akhmed Zakayev rose rapidly from an actor of Shakespearean roles to Commander of the Western Group for the Defense of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, and later served as Deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya and, in exile, as Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI). It describes how the Kremlin set about discrediting and destroying a democratic government by interacting with criminal gangs and fomenting Islamist forces to split the Chechen independence movement in a perverse reversal of the “War on Terror.” Akhmed Zakayev’s memoir begins with a historical survey of the fraught relations between the Chechens and the Russian Empire and Soviet Union, up to the collapse of the USSR. The advent of Gorbachev’s Perestroika raised hopes that independence might enable Chechnya to end centuries of oppression and exploitation. Russia’s first war against Chechnya (1994-1996), initially conceived by the military as a way of disguising the large-scale theft and embezzlement of funds from illegal sales of Soviet armaments during the withdrawal from East Germany, ended in humiliating defeat for Russia. Thereafter, Russia set about subverting the democratically elected government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria by instigating the gruesome murder of Western humanitarian aid workers and business partners, and by financing criminal gangs and anti-democratic Islamist groups that the ChRI police were unable to subdue. Interference by nationals of countries in the Middle East caused further disruption. In August 1999, Russia launched a brutal second war in Chechnya, on grounds widely believed to be fabricated and characterized by widespread war crimes. The West did not intervene. This is an eyewitness account of the dangers faced by the Chechen leaders as they tried to resist and negotiate with a treacherous opponent. It ends in the year 2000, with Vladimir Putin’s election as Russia’s president.

Mairbek Vatchagaev, the former press secretary and first adviser to Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov, chronicles the dramatic events that took place in Chechnya during the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Russian-Chechen war against the Chechnya’s independence. Engaged on one side of the Russian-Chechen conflict, he presents what he witnessed, how he became involved, how the struggle with Russia and the internal Chechen rivalries evolved, and how it impacted his family, his friends, his acquaintances, and the Chechen people.

About Author :

Mairbek Vatchagaev is a Chechen historian and political analyst on the North Caucasus and was a senior ranking official in the Chechen government of Aslan Maskhadov.

Vatchagaev has published numerous articles on the history of Chechnya and politics in the North Caucasus and Russia. He has extensively contributed to the Jamestown publication “Eurasia Daily Monitor” about developments in the North Caucasus. He is the author of five boks on the history and religion of the North Caucasus, including Chechnya in the 19th Century Caucasian Wars.

He is also the co-editor-in-chief of the Caucasus Survey (London, UK), and he co-edits an online magazine Prometheus (Paris, France). Vatchagaev serves as the President of the Caucasian Studies Association (Paris, France).

Commanders who belong to the closest circle around Kadyrov have repeatedly been able to visit Germany. Although they are involved in crimes in Chechnya, German NGOs are silent about these trips. Young Chechens in Europe, however, closely follow the events in their homeland. Through YouTube and social networks like Instagram, they learn how Kadyrov in his republic suppresses any criticism and feel their own powerlessness. The rejection of Kadyrov creates an immense radicalization potential that could be avoided by honest reporting.

Already in 2012, Head of bodyguard, a close friend of Kadyrov, and Commander of the pro-Russian Chechen SOBR special forces unit – Terek –  Abuzaid Vismuradov was able to undergo an operation in Germany after a car crash in a hospital near Hamburg. Afterwards he visited U-995 at the Laboe Naval Memorial and a boxing match accompanied by Timur Dugazaev, Adam Tahaev, Shamil Dadagov and Magomed Ibragimov.

In 2014 Abduzaid Vismuradov came with Magomed Daudov to the fight of the Bosnian boxer Marco Huck. The fight on August 30, in the Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle (Westf.) against the Italian Mirko Larghetti was a nice pastime for the commanders of Kadyrov in comparison to their bloody work in the homeland. After all, this was the same year Magomed Daudov had tortured Ruslan Kutaev because he organized a conference in the memory of Aardakh (Deportation of Chechen/Ingush in 1944 by Stalin)

Because both of these visits, similar to the tournament in 2014, were used to speak out threats against martial artists who disagree with the current pro-Russian regime in Chechnya under Ramzan Kadyrov, these trips have been reported to German authorities. Although the NGO Memorial was contacted, there was no response to the trip to Gamburg and Schleswig-Holstein or threats by Abuzaid Vismuradov, only the State Criminal Police Office got active.

After that, there was officially only one more trip from Abuzaid Vismuradov to the UFC Fight Night 115 on 2 September 2017 in Rotterdam. This time, the entry was not as usual via the airport Hamburg but Berlin. As with the previous visits, Abuzaid Vismuradov was accompanied by Timur Dugazaev, Shamil Dadagov, Adam Tahaev and Magomed Ibragimov.

According to an article published on 9 July on the website of Novaya Gazeta, on the night of 25–26 January, pro-Russian Chechen security forces secretly shot to death 27 young people detained in mid-January. All the detainees were being held in the headquarters of the pro-Russian Chechen Patrol Police in Grozny. According to the article’s author, Yelena Milashina, the detentions were connected with the killing of a pro-Russian Chechen police officer by a group of young men on 17 December 2016.

‘Following 17 December 2016, mass arrests began in Chechnya. In early January, special operations were carried out in Grozny and the Kurchaloy and Shali districts of Chechnya, during which mass arrests took place. The detainees, however, were not registered in any way, they were not charged, but instead were placed in the cellars and ancillary premises of pro-Russian regime’s police departments. The illegal detentions lasted until the end of January. According to [our] newspaper’s information, about 200 people were detained’, Novaya Gazeta wrote.

According to the newspaper, on the night of the killing, influential pro-Russian Chechen security officials and chiefs of police departments from regions where the detainees lived were present at the pro-Russian regime’s Patrol Police headquarters in Grozny.

The men were detained illegally: they weren’t officially registered or charged, but instead placed in the cellars and ancillary premises of pro-Russian regime’s police stations in Chechnya. Their bodies were hurriedly buried in local Christian and Muslim cemeteries. The newspaper published a list of names and personal details of the victims to substantiate its claims.

Several western media outlets misreported that the killings were a part of the anti-queer campaign, despite the Russian LGBT Network refuting these claims.

In February 2014, Ruslan Kutaev, an active human rights defender, was thrown in jail for alleged drug possession. This happened after he organized a conference on the seventieth anniversary of Stalin’s deportation of the Caucasian peoples. Ramzan Kadyrov did not approve of the event taking place. After the conference, Magomed Daudov, the chief of Kadyrov’s presidential office better known as “Lord”, invited all of the organizers to a meeting with the pro-Russian president. Ruslan challenged the request from Daudov. He was arrested the following day, on February 20, 2014. According to the official version, so-called security forces randomly stopped him in the village of Gekhi. During a body search, they found that Kutayev, who is a teetotaler and non-smoker, was carrying three grams of heroin in his back pocket. During his illegal detention he was tortured and forced to confess.

On February 19, Ruslan Kutayev received a call from Magomed Daudov, the head of the pro-Russian regime’s presidential office, an influential pro-Russian Chechen politician, and member of  Ramzan Kadyrov’s inner circle. Kutaev refused to meet with the so-called president.

In the morning of February 20, Ruslan phoned everyone he was close to. His wife told him over the phone that their house, where he had left from, was under constant surveillance by the pro-Russian regime’s so-called police. Kutaev was staying with distant relatives in the village of Gekhi. Because he anticipated that his phone was bugged, he made a point of repeating during his telephone conversations that he was in Pyatigorsk outside of Chechnya’s borders. However, around two in the afternoon he was abducted in the village of Gekhi.

According to Kutaev’s testimony, the Deputy Minister of Interior of pro-Russian regime Chechnya, Apti Alaudinov, and the Head of the pro-Russian Presidential Office Magomed Daudov, also known as Lord, played an active role in his torture. They kept Kutaev naked in a cellar, placed an axe on his neck while shocking him with an electric current. He was also tortured with an electric baton. He lost consciousness several times during the torture. He suffered a concussion and extensive bruising, along with injuries to his ribs and jaw. They showed him photographs of his nephews. From the up-to-date nature of the pictures, he was supposed to understand that his family was being constantly monitored.

The physical pain has subsided and my wounds are healing, but knowing that the pro-Russian structure uses the so-called state security forces for such things, to fight with politicians, civil society activists and human rights defenders, fills me with horror that they will face similar processes. I want to remind everyone that no matter how long the night lasts, it cannot last forever and dawn will break one day,” said Kutaev during his closing arguments before the court on May 7, 2014.

Kutaev was at risk of being sentenced to 12 years in prison. On July 7, 2014, he was sentenced to four years in prison. Kutaev and many human rights defenders like him in Russia are convinced that his case is part of the Russian government’s current tendency to discredit opposition politicians, human rights defenders and activists.

In 2009, the Askhabov family lost their son Abdul-Yezit, he disappeared without a trace. The Askhabovs probably found themselves in the sights of the pro-Russian Chechen security forces because of the wartime past of their other son, Yusup, who fought against the Russian federal troops during the Second Russian-Chechen War (Started at 1999). After a while, he did not report to the armed groups, but he also didn’t live with his family at their permanent address. On May 28, 2009, Yusup was killed during a special punishment operation in the center of the Chechen town of Shali. His father had to come there to identify the body. According to his testimony, masked men beat him up over the corpse of his son, the first blow was from the then pro-Russian chief of the so-called local police office in Shali, Magomed Daudov, who also went by the nickname ‘Lord’. Later that summer, on August 5, masked men arrived at the Askhabov home at 3 o’clock in the morning. They introduced themselves as being from the Federal Security Service and took Abdul-Yezit away to an unknown location. Later, the family learned that Abdul-Yezit was most likely being held at the pro-Russian police station in Shali.

When I saw my slain son, I said to myself in Chechen: how will Allah receive him. When ‘Lord’ heard these words, he came to me and struck me in the face. At the same time, other men threw me down and started kicking me and beating me with their rifle butts. They beat me terribly, almost to death. I lost consciousness almost immediately, I do not remember anything. I was allegedly grabbed from the site by unknown people and taken to the hospital. I had suffered two heart attacks,” said the father of the Askhabov family about what happened that day.

“On the very same day that Yusup’s corpse was brought to us, they dragged it around the yard and mocked it. They beat my two daughters, Aishat and Nurzhat with the butts of their rifles. I attempted to get out of the house, but they hit me again with the butt of a rifle. Afterward they loaded Yusup’s body and drove off without giving it to us so that we couldn’t bury him. I still don’t know what they did with him,” the father of the Askhabov family told human rights defenders about the behavior of the pro-Russian police forces.

On the night of August 5, 2009, Abdul-Yezit was taken away from him home in a car without license plates. The family immediately reported the abduction of their son to the relevant authorities. In late September, the Askhabovs approached human rights defenders from the Russian organization Memorial. According to his mother Tamara, Abdul-Yezit had never held a gun in his hands. Since childhood he was visually impaired and had a second-degree disability.

On August 7, 2009, Tamara set off with relatives to the Grozny office of the so-called ombudsman from the pro-Russian regime in Chechnya. A staffer received them and immediately called the so-called police office in Shali. They heard him speak to someone and he insisted that Abdul-Yezit be released from detention. He then went on to say: “Even if he was the brother of an insurgent leader, you have no right to detain him beyond the period specified under the law.” From this encounter, Tamara Askhabova understood that Abdul-Yezit was in Shali.

Abdul-Yezit is missing to this day. The investigation into his disappearance has been stopped, “because it was not possible to determine the culprits”. The former pro-Russian police chief from Shali has since then become the Chief of the pro-Russian Administration of the Chechen vassal Ramzan Kadyrov. Legal action on behalf of the Askhobovs is awaiting assessment at the European Court of Human Rights.

The last two weeks turned out to be especially unfortunate, even “black” for the Kremlin: the russian missile collapsed into the sea, drowning with it 18 foreign satellites, the Olympiad in Sochi 2014 was retrospectively lost with a bang, Russia has been banned from participation in forthcoming Games while the Russian sport itself, stuffed with meldonium, is seen by the amazed world as nothing less than another branch of the KGB…

The same black line continues in russian foreign policy, too: in America – Flynn went on a deal with the justice, revealing more details on Trump’s affairs with the Russians, Ukrainians – lead by Saakashvili – the man sincerely hated by Putin, are about to sack the criminal oligarch in power, the French have arrested the Russian gangster-senator – one of Putin’s “walking wallet”…

The history of the latter is both sad and enlightening, and, with each new day, reveals itself in colors more and more vivid. In fact, the case of the russian senator Kerimov has already acquired details – the most curious – so much that already can easily serve as a short guide to such a phenomenon as Putin’s Russia.

Entirely fitting into the canvas of the “Affair of Putin’s Trillion”, launched by the US law enforcement system, the saga of the russian thief in France, that is, the “Dossier of the billionaire Kerimov” is of separate interest.

The scandal broke out on November 20, but only on December 4 the french Themis unveiled figures absolutely fantastic for Europe of the 21st century: the Russian mafia imported hundreds of millions of Euros stuffed in huge trunks (!) and, through its extensive network laundered this dirty money buying up real estate on the Cote d’Azur.

So far, the amount is slightly less than a billion, but the investigation is revealing that this is only the beginning…

And here it is – the most remarkable detail of the detention: the Russians in Nice failed because of simple greed: in order to pay less taxes, they often let in a circle the same property, reducing its cost, say, by ten times…

So, it was the tax service that clung to them, when all the others were evidently bribed already by the Russians – that is an indicative of the modern France, alas…

Of course, this story demonstrates the obvious system failure of Putin’s authoritarian vertical: it’s harder and harder for him to find new cadres for his machinations, and the old ones are getting more and more increasingly nervous, launching their hands into the common box – and on that exactly this vertical slipped in Nice.

Now, following closely the forthcoming rearrangements, sudden deaths from “heart attack” and “retirements” in Mordor, one can easily draw up a common map of persons in Kremlin responsible for the “French Direction”…

Also deeply revealing, in this story, are the combined attempts both by Russian thieves in power and their contents “in arts” in the outskirts of Kremlin to rescue their accomplice – they are as brazen as silly.

Following the mouthpiece of Putin – Peskov, who squealed about the “protection of legitimate interests” of this “citizen of the Russian Federation” with his “senatorial status,” the Federation Council Speaker M-me Matvienko condemned the arrest, calling it “an unprecedented case” and named Kerimov a “man of knowledge”…

Another contributor in this campaign is the head of the Council of Muftis of Russia – the muslim chief of Russia – Mr. Ravil Gainutdin (called the robber “brother” and “famous patron”), who joined in this purely earthly affair and personally appeared with a petition in the embassy of France in Moscow having abandoned his heavenly affairs…

In general, a wave of protests across Russia spread against the infringement of the rights of this exemplary Russian, however, already released by the French on bail of 40 million Euros.

And yet – the thing, crowning all this spectacle is a letter to the french President Macron, signed by 13 Knights of the Order of the Legion of Honor from Russia, the highest award in France. Among this dozen devils the oligarch billionaire Mr. Prokhorov, State Duma deputy Mr. Chilingarov and chief banker of the country Mr. Gref co-exist with such masters of “Russian art” as producers Pavel Lungin and Andrei Konchalovsky, former general director of the Bolshoi Theater Anatoly Iksanov, famous sculptor Zurab Tsereteli, band-master Yuri Bashmet, writer Viktor Erofeev … the Russian science, represented here in the person of Yuri Osipov – ex-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, was not forgotten neither …

In this regard, it is impossible not to recall another similar message from the end of this summer – known as the “Letter of Twenty”, in which twenty Russian writers, publicists and artists appealed to President Macron with the request to pardon Mr. Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, who is serving life-imprisonment in this country, and is worldly known as “Carlos the Jackal”.

This Jackal, on whose conscience there are the lives of at least 80 citizens of Europe, America, Palestine, Israel… close cooperated with the Kremlin’s and its siblings – like Muammar Qaddafi, Hafiz Asad, Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, killing people, traveling all over the world under cover of diplomatic documents issued by countries-satellites of communist Moscow.

A task for my French readers: find at least one difference in this “Letter of Thirteen” signed by the respectable Heroes of France from the “Letter of Twenty”, signed by the frank priests of the planetary revanchism of Putin’s Russia!

Yes, none of the twenty Kremlin servants of the Muses, is Cavalier of the Legion of Honor. The watchdog will always lag behind the jackal in the art of meanness…

The French must be aware now, of the complete obsession of all Russian artists loyal to the Kremlin by illness called “Putinism of the brain,” and the highest award of France on their chests only adds to the harm already caused by these persons to humanity.

Maybe it’s time for the French Council on the Assignment of the Order of Legion to follow the example of the International Olympic Committee, before it is too late?

The Government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria has received alarming notice from Sweden about Magomed Inaev, born on the 12th June 1975, a Chechen by birth who has been granted the status of political refugee by the Austrian authorities.

Magomed Inaev was detained by the Interpol, by request of Russian authorities, in Malmö, Sweden, on the 24th February 2017, based on grounds of active participation in social, political and military affairs on the territory of Chechnya.

Magomed Inaev is one of many fighters for the restoration of the independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria who had confronted the Russian ilegal occupation of his homeland, one that has de facto independence under international law which was unlawfully disputed by the Russian imperialist terrorist practices against the Chechen citizens.
Like many citizens of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, he was under the guise of false accusations, a common practice of the Russia political persecution against any free speech and opposition to the oppressive and terrorist actions that disagrees with the human rights, the nation’s right of self-determination and the citizens physical and cultural integrity, a persecution that is so effective that Magomed Inaevm, like many other, was forced to leave his homeland and seek asylum from the Austrian authorities.

The detention of Magomed Inayev caused a wide resonance among a large diaspora of the Chechen people in many countries. People wrote, resented and that, worried for the fate of Magomed Inaev, asked Sweden government not to allow his extradition to Russia, where he’ll be cruelly tortured, and, most probably, executed as many others Chechen refugees who were deported to Russia, facts that are indisputably and thoroughly documented by several trustworthy press agencies and Human Rights independent observers.

Considering that several Chechen citizens that were deported to Russia were tortured and killed, we cannot but fear the fate of Magomed Inaev if the Swedish authorities procede with their unethical application of their convenient means to comply with the Russian’s will to oppress to death their opposers and to falsely dispose themselves of any commitment to the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights.

The Chechen diaspora still can’t ignore the deportation of the Chechen citizen Kan Afanasev by Swedish authorities to Russia, where he was killed in February 2015 by representatives of Russian law enforcement agencies. Afanasyev had applied for political asylum to the Swedish authorities, but the migration service of the country considered that there was no threat to his life in Russia, and so was deported, tortured and subjected to electric shock which ultimately resulted in his death, nor that two Chechen men who were denied asylum in Norway on the grounds that their “fears of prosecution were unfounded” were tortured to death on their return, although Apti Nazjujev after his deportation was found dead in a river, with his teeth and nails pulled out, his knee caps shattered, broken skull and deep lacerations on his body, according to an autopsy report and that Umar Bilemkhanov, another Chechen dissident that was deported to Russiawas tortured with electrical cables and later found dead in what the authorities claimed to be the result of a car accident.

We ask you to urgently prevent any injustice against Magomed Inayev, a citizen of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria who is being obviously persecuted for his political convictions, but who has not committed a single unlawful act in Europe.

In 23.02.1944 the Communist regime of the USSR committed the deportation of the entire Chechen people to Central Asia and Kazakhstan. The deportation, which lasted 13 years, eliminated the lives of more than 60% of the Chechen people. The territory of Chechnya is 17300 square kilometers. Since the beginning of the war in Chechnya in 11/12/1994 Russia killed about 300 thousand Chechens, including 4 Presidents and caused the damage about 300 billion of US dollars.

On June, 12-14 in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania there was initiated the International Congress “To evaluate the crimes of communism”. The representatives of 24 countries participated in it. The international congress established “The international Vilnius Public Tribunal”, which was informally named “Nurnberg – 2”. The Congress empowered the Tribunal to evaluate the communism regarding legal, political and social factors, to estimate the communist ideology and criminal actions of communist regime. The tribunal heard the prosecution of representatives of 15 countries, including the Chechen Republic.

The international Vilnius Public Tribunal (Further Tribunal), 27.09.2000 proclaimed the verdict.

We introduce the decision of Tribunal regarding the Chechen Republic.

All rise for the court!

In October 1917 there happened an event that did not have the precedent before in the history of mankind. In huge Russian Empire all power was in hands of communists. The crimes of communism towards Chechen people have their own peculiarities regarding the non-stopping fight of Chechens for their freedom and independence, which they lost in 1859 as the result of almost one hundred year war against Russia. Chechen people didn’t want to accept this situation, every 10 years there were rebellions.

In 1917 upon an initiative of Chechens all the people of the Caucasus united and declared the Independent United Mountain Republic. It consisted of 7 States: Abkhasia, Adygea, Dagestan, Kabardy, Karaachevo-Balkariya, Osetia and Checheno-Ingooshetia. In 1918 Russia destroyed the Independent United Mountain Republic and Chechnya became a part of Soviet Communistic Totalitarian Empire.

Beginning from 1922 and 40s civil uprisings started to take place – Chechnya couldn’t accept the tyranny of Communistic regime. Moscow responded with the severe theror.

In 1920-1940 repressive structures of the USSR eliminated about 35% of Chechen population. Communists called it fight against public enemies.

On Februare, 23-25 1994 all Chechen-Ingush people were deported to Kazakhstan, Siberia, and Central Asia. For about 12 thousand of Chechens were killed during eviction. They were shot on-site, bayoneted, blown up and burned in their houses, hospitals, establishments, drowned in the lakes, poisoned with intoxicated food products. During 13 years of deportation more than 60% of Chechen and Ingush people died. Those who survived suffered from moral and physical violence. Criminal communistic regime planned eternal deportation of Chechen and Ingush peoples.

At the end of 80s of the 20th century the initiated democtratic processes in the USSR brough the Chechens a hope for better.

On November, 27 1990 the Supreme Soviet of Chechen-Ingush Republic proclaimed the national sovereignty of Chechen Republic in accordance with all principals of international law as well as the legislation in power on the all territory of the USSR. On October, 27 1991 there were held the elections of the Parliament and the President. Dzhokhar Dudaev was chosen as the President. On March, 12 1992 the Parliament of the Chechen Republic adopted the Constitution of the Chechen Republic.

On December,11 1994 Russia initiated a full scale war against Chechen Republic, that lasted 2 years. 120 thousand of civilians were killed. About 400 thousand of people had to displace, 74 thousand people became physically challenged including 19 thousand of children, 12 thousand of children remained complete orphans. The economics and infrastructure of Chechen were completely destroyed.

On April, 12 1996 Russia killed villainously Dzhokhar Dudaev, the first President of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.
On May, 12 1997 Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and the Russian Federation on behalf of two equal countries, represented by the Presidents A Mashadov and B. Eltsin, signed the treaty of peace, according to which the parties stop the 400 year conflict and based their relations on the principals of international legislation.

In September 1999 Russian initiated a new agression against Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. In 1999-2000 about 50 thousand of people were killed. Russian airforces and artillery destroyed cities and countries, heritage, ecology. Russia created more than 20 filtration camps in Chechnya that became death places for Chechen people. There plagued infection diseases, insanitariness and hunger. 80 thousand of Russian military officers who killed the civilians, women and children were sent to Chechnya, they used the most violent sadist methods, rape women, rob and burn their houses.

The international Vilnuis Public Tribunal viewed the actions of Russian government as the signs of crime against the mankind, military crimes and genocide.

The sentence of the International Vilnuis Public Tribunal states:

1. to attract the attention of public and show that cruel actions against the world, war crimes and genocide take place. The international society, countries and in particular the leaders of huge countries were and remain indifferent to millions of innocently extirpate people.

6. The International Vilnuis Public Tribunal considers the Russian War in Chechnya as the continuing statement of Russian Imperialism and the former communistic doctrine which is expressed as obvious genocide of Chechen people.

14. The sentence of the International Vilnuis Public Tribunal, its evidence must be presented to the International Court of Justicet of the United Nations.

Tribunal’s verdict can not be appealed.

16 years after the Tribunal

As the result of the violent and degrading war of Russia against Chechnya which lasted for years about 300 thousand of Chechen people died, among them 40 thousand of children. Actually in front of the whole world Russia commited genocide of Chechen people.

The presidents of Chechnya: February 13, 2004 – Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, March 8, 2005 – Aslan Maskhadov, June,17 2006 – Abdul-Halim Saydulaev were killed treacherously. Chechnya suffered from irreparable damage of their economy, infrastructure, culture, education. Entire towns and villages, factories, cultural, educational, and medical establishments, rare architectural, historical and cultural monuments were destroyed. Long-term Russian bombardment, artillery and other attacks have led to catastrophic contamination of water, soil and atmosphere, and inflicted a severe damage to the natural environment, flora and fauna. Long-term consequences of the war in Chechnya led to the massively dying population, children are born with physical and mental disabilities, there appeared epidemics of various incurable diseases.

Russia violated all the principles and norms of international law relating to the means and methods of warfare in Chechnya. Russia used all kinds of existing weapons, including those prohibited by international conventions, as well as chemical weapons and weapons with depleted uranium. Chechnya was turned into a death zone.

More than 300 thousand of Chechens became refugees and left their land forever. This process continues up to this day. Every year, thousands or even tens of thousands of people run from Chechnya to Europe who can not live there in constant fear because of the criminal regime, the regime of terror, repression and violence created by the Russian authorities in Chechnya.

Since the beginning of the war 12.11.1994 about 300 thousand of people were killed in Chechenya (this is 20% of the total population), including more than 40 thousand of children and about 526 thousand of injured. Russia put about 500 thousand of landmines that still remain on the Chechen land. The Russian military captured about 75% of the humanitarian aid provided by international organizations for the Chechens. Since 12.11.1994 Russia caused the financial damage of more than US $ 300 billion.

Russia turned Chechnya into a stage for the abolishment of people, for military equipment tests and improvement the troops of killing people.

These crimes committed by Russia have a legal definition – genocide.

In 2004 the European Parliament adopted a resolution which called the genocide the deportation of the entire Chechen people, in February 1944, in Central Asia and Kazakhstan.

International organizations and world leaders have not estimated the actions of the Russian military in Chechnya, where war was against the entire nation. They did not demand the responsibility from Russia for its crimes against the Chechen people.

Where are the law and justice?

In order to prevent the spread of aggressive Russian actions against sovereign states, in order to implement real humanism, justice and international law, to prevent the precedent of impunity for crimes against the Chechen people from becoming a motivation to inspire the criminals to commit new crimes, we, the members of the Vilnius Council of the Lithuanian liberation movement Sąjūdis are writing to you with an urgent request:

1. To Consider the Chechen question from the standpoint of the principles and norms of international law and justice.

2. To Implement fully the objective international investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Russia against the Chechen people.

3. To Bring to the international responsibility the perpetrators of war crimes against the Chechen people.

We present you a book «ANTI-COMMUNIST CONGRESS AND TRIBUNAL PROCCEEDINGS» Vilnius 2002, 1008 pages, pages 399-405, 848-850, 942-944, 984-985, 993-994 contain published material about the Chechen Republic.

Read about Vilnius Sąjūdis struggle for the independence of Chechnya http://www.sajudis.com

Members of the Board: G. Adomaitis, A. Akelaitis, V. Aleksynas, R. Arutiunianas, A. Augulis, V. Augustinas, A. Bagdanavičienė, K. Balčiūnas, N. Balčiūnienė, S. Boreika, A. Budriūnas, J. Česnavičius, P. Dirsė, S. Eidukonis, P. Gvazdauskas, V. Jakubonis, R. Jakučiūnienė, V. Jankūnas, A. Juknevičius, A. Kaziukonis, L. Kerosierius, J. Kuoras, A. Markūnienė, H. Martinkėnas, K. Milius, J. Parnarauskas, G. Rotomskienė, P. Sakalauskas, M. Sidaravičius, R. Simonaitis, E. Švedienė, A. Vaičiūnas, L. Veličkaitė, G. Uogintas, B. Zaviša, S. Žilinskas

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

I urge you to pay attention to this Address, as it is of crucial importance for understanding the roots of the Putin regime’s evil intentions to undermine the world order.

Let each of you draw their own conclusion, according to your conscience

Let me explain from the very beginning.

As a result of the crackdown on the Chechen Resistance in an unequal and bloody Caucasian War 1780 – 1859, Chechen people was forcibly incorporated into the Russian Empire. This fact was the “historical justification” of the Russian authorities’ self-proclaimed “right” to possession of the Chechen country. This “right” of the Russian consequent authorities – Imperial, Soviet, and current – “entitles” them to grossly violate the rights of this tiny, freedom-loving nation. The true sons and daughters of the Chechen people in any time have not reconciled with the colonization and the attempts of the Russian authorities to keep the Chechen people’s “rights” as second-class people, “justifying” such treatment under different pretexts and labeling all the Chechens who resisted slavery. Unshakable commitment of the Chechen people to equality and freedom is being played by Russian rulers to their advantage: in order to deliberate escalation of the war, or to instill infighting between the Chechen clans, or otherwise for political, economic and other interests, as well as for gaining impunity in murder of the best sons and daughters of Chechen nation, who did not want to live in slavery.

One of the most insidious methods of Russian political strategists is to use the formula of “divide and rule”, being perpetrated through special services’ agents of influence. This formula has been implemented to justify their bloody “restoring constitutional order” and “counter-terrorist operation” in Chechnya, during which tremendous crimes were committed: two aggressions, genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Russian State perpetrates terror against civilians of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (ChRI), which continues with no end in vision. During this bloody war, from its very beginning, Russia has been manipulating its own Constitution, international law. Russia acts according to the “laws of force” destroying the world order and values accumulated over the centuries by human genius.

Despite all this, the high international organizations, politicians and the international community, for various reasons, did not want to compromise relations with Russia. Thus, the international bodies have ignored and continue to ignore their international obligations and failed to protect the rights of the Chechen people, limiting their reaction to expressing “concern” over the massive bloodshed. Operating basically from a position of “political expediency”, the international bodies considered as “Russia’s internal affair” massive killing of ¼ Chechen civilians, as well as other bloody crimes and gross violations of the international and Russian law, in fact recognizing the “right” to kill with impunity. The political and military forces of Russia, under the former KGB colonel Vladimir Putin rule skillfully played out this “right”. They used tested in ChRI vile methods to justify their crimes, laying the blame on the victims of their crimes, and committed new bloody crimes: against Georgia, Ukraine, Syria and continue to commit crimes against their political opponents in Russia and far beyond its borders. This is a direct outcome of letting Russia go unpunished for the carnage in the ChRI, which was conceived with far-reaching and insidious objectives and perpetrated in full view of the international community.

Putin began his bloody campaign with orchestrating of incursion of a group of Chechen warriors in Dagestan, followed by the FSB-organized bombing of apartment buildings in Russian cities in September 1999, in which agents of the FSB played a main role. Blaming these heinous acts on “Chechen terrorists” , Putin pledged on the Russian TV “to flush the terrorists in shithouse,” what in criminal jargon referred to the killing of citizens of ChRI. This calling for the total murder is itself a grave crime, but inaptness of the international bodies allowed Putin to go further the path of bloody crimes. Political and military forces of Russia supported Vladimir Putin; they altogether raised the poisonous root of all evil, feeding it with human blood. This root gave its first fruit in Chechnya, where “parents” gave it name – terrorism and created conditions for its abundant growth. Now, these fruits are distributed all over the world, making the international relations more and more tense. The fight against international terrorism is expanding its boundaries and can continue as long as artificially grown by Russia in ChRI root of evil is being fueled by blood and human suffering.

The international community and politicians are now finally beginning to realize what a terrible mistake was their failure to stop Russia in Chechnya. In attempt to stop Russia’s aggression, they impose limited sanctions against top Russian oligarchs and officials, but to little effect. Nevertheless, under the influence of Russian propaganda which labeled the entire Chechen nation “terrorists”, the international bodies, including PACE, continue covering up the crimes committed against the Chechen people. However, in order to stop the criminals they must be held accountable for their crimes, individually and legally. Only in this case justice can prevail and the world order be restored.

To achieve this, an independent international investigation is necessary to uncover the massacre and other horrible crimes committed by the Russian political and military forces against the Chechen people. Only justice can neutralize the root of all evil.

The International Association “Peace and Human Rights” prepared statement and documents for the initiation of criminal proceedings against the political and military forces of Russia, led by Putin, for already committed, and the ongoing crimes against the innocent civilians of CRI. These documents will be delivered personally to the Prosecutor General of the ICC. To ensure we won’t be ignored as usual, we have created a “movement for peace, the rule of law and justice” and organized dozens of support groups around the world.

Russia has signed the Statute of the ICC on September 13, 2000, but until 2016 had not ratified it. On November 16, 2016, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Russia’s refusal to participate in the Rome Statute, hoping to avoid the imminent trial. Thus, the Russian political and military forces are trying to avoid accountability for their crimes, refusing to recognize the International Criminal Court. But if justice is still alive, the perpetrators of heinous crimes must stand trial, whether they want or not. ICC has an option to initiate a criminal case against Russian criminals on the UN Security Council decision, but it seems impossible since Russia has veto power. Another option for ICC to open the trial is proprio motu system, based on information from victims, non-governmental organizations or other sources that the ICC considers appropriate – (Article 15).

We understand that, as far as Russia ignores the international law, even ICC does not have enough will and influence to use their own power to apply the system proprio motu for Chechen case. So we turn for help and support to PACE members, the international community, journalists, state and public figures, the highest international organizations, and all supporters of the rule of law and justice.

Ladies and Gentlemen, do not ignore our calls for objectivity and fairness. We urge you to be consistent to your international obligations to protect human rights and international law. We call upon you: Support our legitimate demand for an independent international investigation of the Chechen issue and bring the killers and criminals to justice for their crimes against the civilian population of Chechnya. This way you have the opportunity to stop the spiral of crime in the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the PACE members, we appeal to each of you: please set up a support group for the peace movement, the rule of law and justice. Another option is to declare your support through the press, or any other way you can. The Peace march to ICC will start as soon as weather conditions permit. Please send your answer to following e-mail address: miriprava@hotmail.com

With respect and best wishes,

President of the International Association “Peace and Human Rights,
Former Minister of Communications of ChRI
ChRI representative in international institutions
Said-Emin Ibragimov

23.01.2017

22 years ago one of the bloodiest pages in the history of the Chechen people began. On 11 December 1994 Russia aggressively attacked the Chechen Republic. About 40 000 Russian military invaded Chechnya, Russia engaged thousands of units of various heavy weaponry, including tanks, artillery, tactical missile systems, multiple launch rocket systems, armoured personnel carriers and many more, and it also used countless small arms, grenade launchers, rocket and hand grenades, various types of mines, etc. The Russian military aircraft incessantly bombed towns and villages of the Chechen Republic on a daily basis.

On 21 April 1996 Russia brutally murdered the first President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Dzhokhar Dudayev. Also, the following presidents of Chechnya were killed insidiously: On 13 February 2004 – Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, on 8 March 2005 – Aslan Maskhadov, on 17 June 2006 – Abdul-Halim Saydulayev.

On 12 May 1997 the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria concluded the Peace Treaty signed by the President of the Russian Federation Boris Yeltsin and President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria Aslan Maskhadov. Thus, Russia recognized the independence of Chechnya both de facto and de jure. And this document remains the most important fact of liberty Chechnya.

In September 1999, Russia having violated this Treaty once again launched even more ruthless and brutal war, which actually lasts until the present time. About a hundred thousand Russian military entered Chechnya. 200 Russian bombers, thousands of tanks, armoured personnel carriers and other military equipment were used against Chechnya. At times the Russian military force amounted to 200,000 soldiers with increased presence of military equipment.

As a result of many years of severe and exterminating war about 300,000 people of Chechnya, among them more than 40,000 children, were killed. In essence, in full view of the entire world, Russia had committed genocide of the Chechen people.

With the aim of denigrating the struggle of the Chechen people for the state independence, making the world believe in the “Chechen terrorism” the Russian authorities and security services organized the terrorist acts, including in Moscow, in the Dubrovka theatre complex, known worldwide under the name of “Nord-Ost” and the capture with subsequent destruction of the school together with the hostages in Beslan in Northern Caucasus.

In Chechnya the Russian Army and the troops of the various security services carried out punitive operations with mass shootings, pogroms and looting, torture and rape, secret mass graves, incessant “cleansing” – murder of civilians, abductions and detentions of civilians and the massacre of them, with the subsequent sale of corpses to their relatives. On the territory of Chechnya Russia organized several dozen concentration camps, where Chechens of any age and sex, including children were brutally tortured, raped and murdered.

In addition to the human losses, Chechnya has suffered irreparable damage to the economy, infrastructure, culture, education. Entire towns and villages, factories, institutions of culture and education, medical facilities, rare architectural, historical and cultural monuments were destroyed. Many years of bombardments and artillery shelling led to disastrous pollution of water, soil and air, inflicted irreparable damage to the natural environment, flora and fauna. As a result, in today’s Chechnya the population is massively dying out from the consequences of many years of war, many children are born with physical and mental disabilities, there were epidemics of various incurable diseases.

Russia in Chechnya had violated all the principles and norms of international law relating to the means and methods of warfare. Russia used all kinds of existing armaments, including those prohibited by international conventions as well as the chemical weapons and the weapons with depleted uranium. Chechnya was turned into a death zone.

The international organizations and the world leaders have not given appraisal of the actions of the Russian military in Chechnya, where the war was fought against the entire nation. They did not demand responsibility of Russia for its crimes against the Chechen people.

Where is law and justice?

More than 300,000 Chechens have fled their country forever and became refugees. This process continues to this day. Every year from Chechnya to Europe run thousands or even tens of thousands of people who cannot live there in constant fear because of the criminal regime, the regime of terror, repression and violence created by the Russian authorities in Chechnya.

We, the members of the Board of the Vilnius Lithuanian liberation movement Sąjūdis believe that Russia has been committing most serious crimes against the Chechen people for centuries; denies the right of the Chechen people to self-determination and national independence; as a result of the Caucasian War of 1785 – 1864 and the military invasion to the independent Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in 1994 – 1999 the Chechen nation was colonized by Russia.

Being guided by humane considerations and legal principles, we call upon you to:

1. Appraise the Chechen issue from the viewpoint of the principles and norms of international law and justice.
2. Perform comprehensive objective international investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed by Russia against the Chechen people.
3. Bring the perpetrators to the international responsibility for war crimes against the Chechen people.
We ask to hold a moment of silence each year on 11 December in memory of victims of genocide of the Chechen people committed by Russia.

Members of the Board: G. Adomaitis, A. Akelaitis, V. Aleksynas, R. Arutiunianas, A. Augulis, V. Augustinas, A. Bagdanavičienė, K. Balčiūnas, N. Balčiūnienė, S. Boreika, A. Budriūnas, J. Česnavičius, P. Dirsė, S. Eidukonis, P. Gvazdauskas, V. Jakubonis, R. Jakučiūnienė, V. Jankūnas, A. Juknevičius, A. Kaziukonis, L. Kerosierius, J. Kuoras, A. Markūnienė, H. Martinkėnas, K. Milius, J. Parnarauskas, G. Rotomskienė, P. Sakalauskas, M. Sidaravičius, R. Simonaitis, E. Švedienė, A. Vaičiūnas, L. Veličkaitė, G. Uogintas, B. Zaviša, S. Žilinskas

For information: Phone: A. Budriūnas: +370 673 95837; L. Kerosierius: +370 5 231 8111
email: vilnius@sajudis.com http://www.sajudis.com