The Chechnya Primer

Recently, a Chechen author came to Seattle, and only a handful of people went to see him. Khassan Baiev is a doctor who stayed in Chechnya from the beginning of the first Chechen war in 1994 until he was forced to flee in 2000, all the while operating on anyone who needed his help. His book The Oath is the only one I have come across in the English language written by a Chechen. I had read the book before he came, and I have to say it was hard to imagine that the man I was talking to had actually been through the things he had been through. Bombings, torture, devastation.

Someone asked him a question about his experiences in Chechnya, and he said that he had thought that America would somehow save them. When he moved here, he was really disappointed to see that most Americans had no idea what was happening to his people. So I would like to tell you a few things.

First of all, Chechnya is not its own country, although it should be. Twice now it has declared its independence and twice it has had it crushed. Chechnya held its own elections prior to Russian invading in 1999, where a president name Aslan Maskhadov was elected. Because the international community never officially recognized Chechnya's independence, the UN seems to think it an "internal" problem that one country invaded another, and that war crimes have followed.

Chechen women have written appeals to the EU asking for help, saying that they had the impression that rape was an order given to soldiers by their commanders. In what the Russians call "sweep up operations," massacres are committed where up to 80 people are killed in one day. Eighty unarmed people.

The referendum asserted that Chechnya was a part of Russia, but supposedly gave it more independence. The vote for the referendum is a point of debate among human rights groups. Many Chechens were told that if the referendum passed, their loved ones would be returned to them. Of course, that hasn't happened. So, last month, on October 5, "elections" for Chechnya's president were held. I say "elections" because, hell, Chechnya already voted for its president, but Russia doesn't want to recognize Maskhadov; they consider him a wanted criminal. The elections were by all means a farce. Everyone but Russia's top man for the job dropped out before Election Day for unknown reasons. All the polls were surrounded by armed soldiers who frisked people before they could vote. All the Russian soldiers stationed in Chechnya were allowed to vote, and the thousands of Chechen refugees who fled and who have yet to return were not allowed to vote.

For all the independence Chechens were supposedly given by the referendum, it appears that the occupation is still in full force. The countryside is still full of mines. The violence by all accounts is just as bad as it was before the election, only we don't hear about it anymore. Medical care and running water are unavailable. The capital city, once a very modern metropolis, is nothing but rubble.

When I asked some friends of mine if they were concerned about Chechnya, they said that they didn't know what was going on there and that they didn't think they should do anything because the US isn't involved. But the US is involved. Our government funnels money to Russia, which uses it to fund the war, which is really about oil like the US invasion of Iraq. On top of this, Bush and Putin have this little deal of "if you don't criticize my war-crime-ridden-invasion, I won't criticize yours." With Bush and Putin getting together as recently as this past month with chatty conversations about oil, I find it hard that any intelligent American could think the US is uninvolved.

If you want to do something about Chechnya, the first thing you can do is educate yourself. Baiev has started the International Committee for Chechnya's Children, which is raising funds for the sole purpose of getting Chechnya's injured children to Moscow where they can receive the proper medical care. Donations can be sent to ICCC, PO Box 38-1305, Cambridge, MA 02238. If you are interested in doing any local work in Seattle, contact me at qiisam@yahoo.com. Otherwise, just let it be known that Russia still won't allow international humanitarian workers into Chechnya, and the UN isn't offering to make anything better.