Information war in the Russian-Chechen conflict may not become a taboo

24/06/2004 – published under the title “According to Moscow, all Chechens are bloodthirsty bandits” in De Standaard, 2 July 2004 (Belgium)

The Russian propaganda machine keeps on spreading the wildest rumours on Chechens: Chechens are behind the recent attacks in Ingushetia, Chechens have links to Al-Qaeda … Annemarie Gielen of Pax Christi Flanders bursts the myth: ”No  people is so little radical in its Muslim believe as the Chechens.”

One of the biggest challenges in a war situation is to get a picture of what is happening as correct as possible, in order to be able to act on basis of this knowledge. A good example of confusion is the reports on the military actions in the Russian federal republic Ingushetia. Russian sources mention that the actions of Monday night in Ingushetia were executed by Chechens, assisted by foreign mercenaries. Chechen and Ingush sources mention that the majority of the fighters have the Ingush nationality, led by an Ingush, with the help of a few smaller groups of Chechen fighters. Media and organisations took over the Russian reports. Not really the most objective source.

With horror Russian and European media reacted to the expansion of the conflict towards Ingushetia and to the brutality of the Chechen/ Ingush fighters. The military activity in Ingushetia and the involvement of these fighters may not surprise, though, for several reasons.

Ingush and Chechens form together one group with related language and culture. From 1918 till 1924 Ingushetia and Chechnya were part of one republic. Later both territories would make up a soviet republic a few times, until 1991. After the declaration of independence in 1991 by Dudayev, first president of Chechnya, Ingushetia stepped out of the Ingush-Chechen Republic without bloodshed: it chose to stay within the Russian Federation. When the war between Russia and Chechnya broke out in 1994, Ingushetia was a first, logic place whereto Chechens could flee.

The new Ingush president Zyazikov is not very popular with his own population, as he is trying very hard to answer áll wishes of the Russian government. This means, among others, that all refugee camps are now closed with use of violence and humanly degrading measures. The previous president, Ruslan Aushev, was much more concerned with the faith of the refugees, the brother people. His replacement by the Kremlin was already an ominous sign. Besides, his successor has no control whatsoever on the mass presence of Russian troops, who misbehave seriously. Extortion, kidnapping and illegal trade are a thorn in the flesh of the Ingush population. The country moans under the military presence and the huge number of refugees. Therefore, Ingushetia is, whether they want it or not, involved in the armed conflict right from the beginning.

The fact that six high ranked figures – among whom the Minister of Interior Affairs of Ingushetia and the prosecutor of Nazran – were executed on purpose and on the spot, is very important. It is evidence of the enormous dissatisfaction with the so-called “collaborators” with the Russian “occupants”. Further more, mention is made of attempts to free Chechen prisoners: no source, though, goes deeper into this. This doesn’t mean that Pax Christi Flanders preaches violence, but it demands the more a correct reporting.

Russian propaganda wants to make the world believe with all its strength that Chechens, and only they, are behind these recent attacks. Just as all Chechens seem to be criminal Islamic fundamentalists and therefore can be fought rightfully and reasonably. If there is one people, though, that is so little radical in its Islamic believe, it are Chechens. Although the war has changed much for the worse, the vast majority of the population is moderate in the perception of its Muslim believe. Other Muslims even spit them out for that.

There is another stubborn myth: the links between Chechens and Al-Qaeda, or bonds with other Islamic organisations and Arabic countries. There is no link between what Chechnya strives for and what Al-Qaeda aims for. Ideologically and politically the objectives are too far from one another. If Chechnya would have been interesting for Al-Qaeda in one way or the other, declarations from both sides would have been made a long time ago. Within the Arabic world there is no interest for the Chechens. Not any Arabic country has granted asylum to a Chechen refugee. During a meeting of the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations not any Arabic country has voted for the acceptance of a by the European Union proposed resolution on the situation in Chechnya. They voted together with Russia, China and Cuba. The fact that Khattab, an Arabic Afghanistan veteran, has decided to fight with the Chechens against what Chechens call the Russian occupation, proves only his personal engagement. In Chechnya other Arabs are not fighting, whatever Russian sources may claim. Besides, if there are Muslims, who were trained in Afghanistan or Pakistan, travelling to Chechnya, than it concerns really just a few. It are the same Muslims who travel also to, for instance, Belgium …

Moscow won by far the information war it wages. The world believes indeed that it is all about a struggle against terrorism and Islamic fundamentalism and that all Chechens are bloodthirsty bandits. President Putin succeeded to sell the Chechen drama as an interior “fait divers” to the world leaders. Everything points at the opposite, though! No single argument can justify the cruelness, evilness and senselessness of this war. Why do we not hear, read or see more about this in the media?

Daily, people die, Russians and Chechens, because the political will is lacking to search for a sustainable peace. Such a peace can only come about if an opening is created for negotiations with those, who received the legitimacy from the international community, including Belgium, on 27 January 1997: the government Aslan Maskhadov. This government has rejected each form of terrorism consequently till today and is openly prepared for talks with the Russian government, despite the suffering caused to the Chechen people. This is, among others, pointed out in the proposal for a Peace Plan, elaborated by the Chechen Minister of Foreign Affairs, Iliyas Akhmadov, and discussed during the interesting conference of December 2003 in the Province House in Antwerp (Belgium), where the Chechen World Congress, the head of the Common Parliamentary Commission European Union – Russian Federation and Pax Christi Flanders agreed upon the promotion  of active non-violence in further peace plans. The Peace Plan of the Chechen government talks also of a request to the international government to take up the role of mediator and peace keeper.

The current situation, after the murder in Grozny of the by president Putin appointed head of the Chechen administration, Akhmad Kadyrov, and after the assassinations in several towns in the Ingush Republic, shows that the “solution”, that Moscow imposes, provides no answer to the real needs, namely to stop all military violence, to guarantee safety for all Chechens, also outside the borders of the Chechen Republic, and to create circumstances for humanitarian relief aid and sustainable economic and social reconstruction.

We must not have to answer for the destruction of one of the oldest, still existing cultures on the European continent, either for the murder of a whole people. One quarter of the population is already killed…

In the mean time, the war in Chechnya became a taboo in Russia. Not only in diplomatic talks with European politicians, but in the whole Russian society. Hundreds of thousands of people are struck by suffering, know dead among their relatives and friends, and nobody can talk about it. Therefore Pax Christi Flanders asks our government leaders and politicians not to avoid this question in discussions with their colleagues from the Russian Federation. With comprehension for the suffering, also caused to the Russian people, we ask that Belgium positions itself as a mediating party, prepared to look for a non-violent and sustainable solution. In the end, the Russian Federation, with more than 100 billion people, is a good trade partner for Europe. Can we leave this society to its fate?

Additional information, not printed in De Standaard: Pax Christi Flanders is already years actively involved in the search for possibilities to dialogue and peace in the Russian-Chechen conflict, rejecting all forms of violence. We regret deeply all the victims that fell in Ingushetia and Chechnya.

Annemarie Gielen,