From: MSN Nicknamepsychoteddybear24  (Original Message)    Sent: 11/8/2007 2:44 PM
Chechnya Weekly - Volume VIII, Issue 43
November 8, 2007

IN THIS ISSUE:
* Chechens Weigh In on the "Caucasus Emirate" Idea
* Kadyrov Reportedly Purges Former Close Associate
* And Holds Forth on Upcoming Elections and Education
* Police and Workers Targeted in Ingushetia
* Briefs
* The Caucasian Emirate: A Not so New Idea
By Andrei Smirnov
* Zakaev Takes on the Emirate
By Mairbek Vatchagaev
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chechens Weigh In on the "Caucasus Emirate" Idea

Kavkazky Uzel and Prague Watchdog published reports on November 6 and November 1, respectively, quoting the opinions of ordinary Chechens about Chechen rebel leader Dokka Umarov’s declaration of a “Caucasus Emirate” (see articles by Andrei Smirnov and Mairbek Vatchagaev below).

Ramzan, a Grozny resident and former teacher at one of Chechnya’s higher learning institutions, told Kavkazky Uzel correspondent Sultan Abubakarov that Chechnya declared independence once already in 1991 and that the supporters of the republic’s first president, Djokhar Dudaev, were in favor of independence, not “mythical ‘Emirates.’” “Everything that has happened and is happening in Chechnya, for some reason, is always advantageous to the Kremlin leadership,” said Ramzan. “In 1999, when they had to bring Yeltsin’s ‘successor’ to power, the apartment building bombings and the militants’ incursion into Dagestan took place. When the West began to demand that Moscow begin the process of political settlement [of the Chechen war], ‘Nord-Ost’ [the October 2002 Moscow theater siege] took place. Then, when the international community again started to pay serious attention to Chechnya, the tragedy in Beslan took place. Even the death of Shamil Basaev took place on the eve of the arrival in St. Petersburg of the heads of the G8 [a reference to the July 2006 G8 summit in St. Petersburg]. And now, when parliamentary and presidential elections are at hand, when the West is again beginning to criticize Russia … Chechens come out with the idea of a Caucasus Emirate.”

An unnamed former deputy of the Chechen parliament of 1991 told Kavkazky Uzel: “I know that standing behind this crazy plan to create a ‘Caucasus Emirate’ is Movladi Udugov, who in 1999 organized the Congress of the Peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan and drew the Chechens into a second war. In any case, the announcement of an emirate will only mean … that the separatists will lose their last supporters in the countries of Europe, and Moscow will be announcing on every corner that Chechnya is a component of the international Islamic terrorist network and will be ‘wasting’ Chechens with even greater zeal.”

An anonymous Chechen Interior Ministry officer told Kavkazky Uzel: “Umarov and other Ichkerians, both those running around the mountains and those hiding abroad, lost touch with reality already a long time ago. The Chechen people don’t need any emirates or caliphates. People want to live a peaceful life, build homes [and] educate their children, not to carry on an endless Jihad for the sake of incomprehensible goals. Umarov could equally well announce the creation of a ‘Caucasian Empire’ or a ‘United States of the Caucasus’.”

Earlier, on November 1, Prague Watchdog published comments by Chechens about Dokka Umarov’s declaration of a “Caucasus Emirate.” “The declaration of a Caucasus Emirate with Dokka Umarov at its head is a result of the separatists’ total radicalization," Ruslan, a 46-year-old political scientist and journalist in Grozny, told Prague Watchdog. "By the way, the word ‘separatist’ just slipped off my tongue. From now on they won’t be called that any more. It may be that the preaching of radical Islam will help them in this war more than all the holy Sufi saints and sheikhs who are thought to be traditionalists. I think that the declaration will benefit Russia, of course. Everyone knows that the guerrillas are doomed, and that there will be no Emirate, but by taking this step they are cutting themselves off from their last source of help – the support of ordinary people. On the other hand, I think that the guerrillas will receive an increased level of financial aid from the Arab countries. It may be that those sponsors have set certain conditions on the aid, and that they expect the guerrillas to declare goals that are more ambitious than the mere liberation of Ichkeria. I anticipate that we shall soon see another escalation of tension in Chechnya and the other republics of the North Caucasus.”

Movladi, a 33-year-old unemployed amnestied separatist guerrilla in Gudermes, told Prague Watchdog: “I can’t help secretly envying the guerrillas and I pray Allah to help them. What does it matter what the Emirate will be like? What is needed in Chechnya and all over the Caucasus is Sharia law. What relation does Russia have to the peoples of the Caucasus? None at all. Russia merely took us over at various times in history. Now it’s time for us to take back what was stolen. I don’t agree with the part about declaring jihad on America and Britain. There are many righteous Muslims living there – let them do it. To put it briefly – it’s a thankless and unnecessary act to declare jihad on other states. God created human beings the way they are. So I don’t think we are right in this. Every Muslim should do his own Jihad in his own country. The guerrillas should concentrate on liberating their own land."

Kadyrov Reportedly Purges Former Close Associate

Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov fired Deputy Interior Minister Alambek Yasaev, Kavkazky Uzel reported on November 7. The website reported that Yasaev, who was considered a close Kadyrov associate, was “hiding” in Moscow.

Kavkazky Uzel quoted an anonymous Chechen Interior Ministry source as saying that the reason Yasaev was fired is that he had made “impartial” statements about siloviki from Kadyrov’s native village of Tsentoroi. According to Kavkazky Uzel, several weeks ago, a video clip surfaced in Chechnya on which Alambek Yasaev was shown speaking to people in his native village of Oiskhar (Novogrozny) in the republic’s Gudermes district. Oiskhar is located not far from Tsentoroi, which is also known as Khosi-Yurt. On the video, Yasaev reportedly accuses Khosi-Yurt residents of “slaughtering” anyone who gets in their way and calls on his supporters to resist them, stating: “Rather than become ‘wives’ of those from Khosi-Yurt, it would be better to die fighting them, if we are men.”

The same source reported that Yasaev was subsequently summoned by Kadyrov personally for an explanation. Yasaev was allegedly beaten, all of his property seized and he was forced to sign a document saying he had resigned from his post voluntarily. The website reported that Yasaev then left for Moscow. There, according to a “confidential source,” he met with Ruslan Yamadaev, a deputy in the State Duma and brother of Sulim Yamadaev, commander of the GRU’s Vostok special battalion, and asked Ruslan Yamadaev for “aid and support.”

Alambek Yasaev was named deputy interior minister for the public security police in March of this year, Kavkazky Uzel reported. Earlier, he was a commander of a battalion in the security service of pro-Moscow Chechen administration headed by Akhmad Kadyrov and in 2004 was named commander of the republic’s newly formed Akhmad Kadyrov OMON special police unit. Just prior to being named deputy interior minister for the public security police, Yasaev was made deputy interior minister for the city of Grozny. He was also commander of the second regiment of the Chechen Interior Ministry’s patrol-sentry service (PPS), also known as the “Kadyrov spetsnaz,” which is made up of former members of the republic's now-defunct Anti-Terrorist Center.

And Holds Forth on Upcoming Elections and Education

On November 1, the BBC quoted Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov as telling its correspondent in Grozny that there is no need for any official opposition parties in Chechnya and repeating that 100 percent of Chechnya’s voters will support the pro-Kremlin United Russia party in the upcoming State Duma elections set for December 2. President Vladimir Putin will head United Russia’s list of candidates. Kadyrov also told the BBC that the Chechen people love their government and denied that he or his militia has committed any human rights violations.

According to the BBC, Kadyrov, who had “minimal security” as he “marched through the city streets” in the Chechen capital to meet its correspondent for an interview, was “blunt” when asked whether there was a need for opposition parties in Chechnya. “Why do we need to create an opposition if we, the government, are going in the right direction and people love us?” he said, adding that there was already an opposition, he described as “the people who tell us when we need to do things differently.”

Still, the BBC cited an unnamed independent media organization in Chechnya as saying that “a state of fear” exists in the republic, “And that probably means that most people who do turn out to vote in next month’s elections will heed Mr. Kadyrov’s call to vote for United Russia,” the BBC wrote.

Meanwhile, Prague Watchdog reported on November 2 that Chechnya’s Education Ministry had established a special education commission to make decisions about individual students on the basis of academic progress reports and to implement "concrete measures," up to and including expulsion.

According to the website, the ministry set up the commission following a recent visit by President Ramzan Kadyrov to Chechen State University (ChGU). “During his visit to the university Kadyrov happened to encounter two students who were standing to one side during a break in classes, smoking,” Prague Watchdog reported. “Kadyrov went up to them and took them to task, saying: ‘Have you come to university to study or to smoke?’ The lads immediately threw their cigarettes away, but Kadyrov noticed one of them had chewing gum in his mouth so he continued to upbraid them, telling them that they were not behaving like Chechens. ‘Are you a Chechen?’ he asked one of them. The student replied: ‘Of course!’ ‘Well, you don’t look like one,’ Kadyrov said, and turned to the university’s principal, Anzor Muzaev. Pointing to the shamefaced students, Kadyrov said that nothing would come of individuals like them, and told him to take steps to punish them. Both students, who were enrolled at the medical faculty, have been summarily expelled from the university.”

Prague Watchdog reported that there will soon be “a single dress code” for Chechen State University students: “Men will be required to wear a jacket and necktie, and women will have to wear a headscarf bearing the university’s logo as an obligatory part of their attire.”

Meanwhile, on November 3, RIA Novosti reported that Kadyrov demanded that his photograph be removed from the fronts of buildings, offices and private homes in Grozny. “If someone very much wants to hang someone’s photograph, better to do it in their office,” the news agency quoted Kadyrov as telling a Chechen government meeting.

Police and Workers Targeted in Ingushetia

On November 8, Kavkazky Uzel reported an attack on a car carrying Lieutenant Colonel Magomed Yevloev,head of the criminal investigation department of Ingushetia’s Sunzhensky district, and wounded his driver, Bashir Khamkhoev, in the leg.. Yevloev himself was not hurt in the attack, which took place on the evening of November 7, and the attackers reportedly escaped from the scene of the crime in an Opel jeep. There were no further details about the incident.

On November 5, unknown gunmen fired on an automobile carrying two railroad engineers in Nazran; both men died on the scene. Also on November 5, unknown gunmen shot and killed three workers at a brick factory in the village of Yandary in Ingushetia’s Nazran district. Interfax reported that a fourth worker was wounded. According to Kavkazky Uzel, one of the slain workers was from Kabardino-Balkaria, while the second was from the Stavropol Krai city of Budennovsk and the third was from Belarus.

Meanwhile, on October 29, Ingushetia’s Interior Minister, Musa Medov, told a meeting of law-enforcers that the situation in the republic is improving. “As for all of the crimes that have had a wide public resonance, there are already concrete favorable results: criminal cases are being completed – it is just a matter of time,” Kavkazky Uzel quoted Medov as saying.

The website, however, quoted Aslambek Apaev, a North Caucasus expert with the Moscow Helsinki Group, as saying that there has been a sharp deterioration in the situation in Ingushetia since an additional 2,500 troops were sent to the republic in August. “It must be admitted that the acute worsening of the situation here took place after the introduction of additional troops into the republic,” Apaev told Kavkazky Uzel. “Unapproved detentions and seizures of citizens, frequently accompanied by beatings and torture, began; firing on military posts, attacks on control-admission checkpoints, the murders of Russian-speaking citizens and law-enforcement employees have become more frequent.”

Briefs

- Policemen Targeted in Chechnya

Two policemen were wounded on November 7 when unknown gunmen fired on a police patrol in the Chechen capital Grozny, Kavkazky Uzel reported. The website quoted an anonymous Chechen Interior Ministry officer as saying that the attackers fled after police returned fire. On November 5, an employee of the Chechen Interior Ministry’s criminal investigation department was wounded by unidentified gunmen in Chechnya’s Grozny district. “Unidentified people shot and wounded an officer of the criminal police with submachineguns from a passing Lada car in the village of Prigorodnoye, Grozny district, on Monday evening [November 5],” On November 6, Itar-Tass quoted an unnamed source as saying. “The policeman was returning home from his precinct.” According to Itar-Tass, the policeman was hospitalized. On November 3, a local policeman was seriously wounded near an automobile market on Petropavlovsky Highway on the outskirts of Grozny during an attempt to arrest two suspected rebel fighters. According to Kavkazky Uzel, a young girl who was in the area when the shootout occurred was also wounded. One of the suspected fighters, a 23-year-old local resident named Turpal-Ali Yunusov, was killed, while the other, Magomed Salgeriev, managed to escape. RIA Novosti reported on November 3 that a serviceman was wounded when unknown gunmen fired on two Interior Ministry vehicles traveling on the Grozny-Argun Highway near the Grozny district settlement of Petropavlovskaya. According to the news agency, the wounded serviceman was an engineer from Bashkortostan.

- Hunters and Forest Rangers Murdered in Kabardino-Balkaria

On November 5, RIA Novosti reported that the bodies of nine men, all of them hunters or forest rangers, were found in a wooded area in Kabardino-Balkaria where police suspect they were killed after running a cross a group of militants. . A police source told the news agency that the attackers killed the victims, identified as four hunters and five gamekeepers who were accompanying them, and took away their rifles. Citing Kabardino-Balkaria's Interior Ministry, the Associated Press reported on November 5 that the bodies of the men, aged 30 to 50, were found on November 4 with their hands tied and gunshot wounds to the head. The ministry said they may have been killed the day before. Ruslan Bichelov, identified as the brother of a ranger killed, said on NTV television that the attackers took hunting rifles and knives the men had been carrying and killed four dogs that had been with them. According to NTV, the hunters and rangers who were killed were dressed in camouflage and traveling in two vehicles of a make often used by police and security forces, suggesting the attackers could have mistaken them for law-enforcement authorities. AP quoted regional investigator Valery Ustov as saying in televised comments that the murderers of the hunters and rangers may have been involved in an October 2005 attack on law-enforcement and government offices in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria's capital. Ustov gave no specific grounds for the suspicions, AP reported.

- Strasbourg Court Again Rules Against Russia in Chechnya Case

The European Court for Human Rights ruled on November 8 that the investigation into allegations that former Grozny resident Suleiman Medov had been tortured was not conducted effectively. Arsen Sakalov, director of the Ingush NGO "Pravovaya initsiativa" (Legal Initiative), which is aiding the plaintiff, told Kavkazky Uzel the Strasbourg-based court ruled that while Medov had not presented sufficient evidence to prove he had been tortured by federal Interior Ministry personnel, the Russian authorities did not properly investigate his torture allegations and must pay him 5,000 euros ($7,333) in compensation. Medov claims he was tortured by federal forces in several detention facilities in Chechnya in 2000, including the notorious Chernokozovo remand center.