CHECHNYA LINKS LIBRARY

Ingushetia is now a danger zone

Ingushetia was among the most prosperous republics of the Russian Federation, yet during the past two years it has plummeted so far down that it’s almost level with Chechnya in terms of lack of security.

KGB officer installed

Conditions started to deteriorate at the end of 2001. Being neighbors of warring Chechnya took its toll as did the influx of Chechen refugees. The disintegration of their internal politics also played a major role. Moscow planned to replace President Ruslan Aushev with Murat Zyazikov, a secret service officer. During the presidential campaign the republic split into two hostile camps: one group was made up of supporters of former Interior Minister Khamzat Gutseriyev and backed Ruslan Aushev; while another group supported Zyazikov by accusing his opponents of economic wrongdoings.

Moscow naturally adopted Zyazikov’s campaign platform and blamed Aushev for harboring Chechen fighters in his country. But because Aushev knew many Chechen leaders, he realized that peace talks were the only way out of the Chechen impasse.

In an electoral scandal Zyazikov’s main opponent, Khamzat Gutseriyev, was legally removed from the race. Zyazikov had lagged far behind Gutseriyev in the first round, but easily won the second one and became the second president in Ingush history.

Since Zyazikov’s election as president, the situation in the republic has become worse. The deployment of Russian secret services and its military in Ingushetia has greatly increased, followed by a sharp rise in kidnappings. Fighters along with innocent inhabitants have been killed almost on a weekly basis during secret operations carried out by Russian forces. Between September 2003 and March 2004, forty six people have been kidnapped in the republic, none of whom have ever been found.

Relatives claim that the Ingush branch of the Federal Security Service (FSB) is involved in the abductions. The president, however, remains virtually silent about the entire issue, admitting only that he knows of seven people who have disappeared.

After the night attack

These days, since the recent guerilla attack, repressive measures, i.e. mop up operations and targeted searches, have been launched throughout Ingushetia. Officials arrived at Chechen refugee camps and arrested more than a hundred men. According to human rights activists, seven Chechens from the Altiyevo camp, suspected of having ties to the fighters, are currently being held at Ingushetia’s Ministry of Interior.

As a result of these incidents, there has been an upsurge in anti-Chechen sentiments in Ingushetia, and isolated cases of Chechens being mobbed have been reported.

A 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew was set for all vehicles in the republic, and police units patrol the streets in each town making sure it’s enforced. Anyone breaking the curfew is arrested and taken to police headquarters.

Many residents are convinced this is not the end of the story. People are not all that afraid of what has happened, but rather of what may happen, which could be worse and on a larger scale. Many feel that all of this has just been a test to get reactions of opponents and responses from the local population, as well as to demonstrate their strength and capabilities. Military experts confirm this view.

An Ingush uprising?

Reports about the fighter units that recently attacked Ingushetia will remain the center of attention for a long time. Eyewitnesses reported that the insurgents included Slavs, Chechens, and Dagestanis, and even some female fighters were among them. However, the overwhelming majority were actually Ingushetians, as verified by many witnesses.

Akhmed Zakayev, Aslan Maskhadov’s European representative, expressed the same opinion in a Radio Liberty interview.

“I understand the events in Ingushetia were an uprising of the Ingush nation against the current administration, during which people started to disappear without a trace. And I believe that Chechens were among them, helping their Ingush brothers. During both the first and second wars, Ingushetians stood by us and together we fought the enemy, so they know how to fight,” Zakayev explained.

(D/E,T)