The Chechen Conflict and Russian Suppression of the Media
73True democracy is often measured by the ability of institutions specifically media institutions to exercise their right of freedom of expression when reporting on a particular event. There are many instances however in non democratic countries when that freedom of expression is violated. Of particular interest and alarm is the Chechen conflict. Russia’s control over the media pre and post the Soviet Union has ensured the absence of any democratic practices when it involves media coverage of the Chechen conflict. The Chechen case is of particular importance because of its geographic and ethnographic makeup. Few people are aware of the situation in Chechnya and this is a result of years of continued media repression. This report will provide a brief history of Chechnya’s conflict and a list of journalist killed while covering corruption and crimes in Chechnya. From this report you will be able to draw your own conclusion of whether in fact Russian authorities deliberately undertook to cover and silence journalists reporting on the Chechen conflict.
Understanding the Why behind this conflict is significant because it sheds light on the motives behind Russian practices and media suppression. Chechnya’s strategic location and resources are the main reason if not the only reason behind Russia’s continued oppression of the region. Similar to many other conflicts, resources are usually a main issue of contention. Chechnya is located in the mountainous Caucasus region between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, and it is bordered by the Russian republics of Dagestan and Georgia. Its strategic location is highly significant for Russia in that it allows it control of the former caucuses. Recent example is South Ossetia and Akhbazia located in Georgia. Russia’s main route to these territories is Chechnya. In addition Chechnya strategic location links Russia by pipelines and rail to the Caspian Sea oilfields. Controlling Chechnya means controlling oil deposits, gas and other minerals located in the territory. Since the 1960s, oil production in Chechnya was at an all time high averaging over 20 million tones. While this has significantly decreased in the past ten years due to the ongoing conflict between the two sides, much fine crude oil continues to exist in Chechnya spelling out revenue for the Kremlins.
The conflict between Russia and Chechnya has been ongoing since the 1800. The size of Chechnya is relatively small in comparison to Russia; however its mountainous location and guerilla style warfare has given it an edge over the undisputedly large Russian army. The Russian eventually subdued the Chechens in the mid 1800’s. Nevertheless the Russian army having realized the disadvantage of fighting endless guerilla warfare was ordered by General Yermalov to target and brutally repress the Chechen civilian population. This tactic proved successful albeit for a short period in weakening the resistance and ultimately granting a “victory” for the Russians. This victory was short lived as Islamic resistance continued to flourish. Stalin fearing a counterattack ordered mass deportation of the civilian population. Many of whom died along the journey.
In 1957 exiled survivors were allowed to return to Chechnya amid international condemnation. Following their return, they elected Jokhar Dudayev who then declared independence from Russia. However the excessive blockades and sanctions imposed by Russia in addition to arming the Dudayev opposition which continued until 1994 eventually left Chechnya economically disadvantaged and politically weakened. Yelstin then ordered a full invasion of Chechnya. The invasion was unsuccessful considering that guerilla style warfare was by now Chechnya’s main tactic. The Chechen rebels were able to restrain the Russian forces. The result was mass casualties and a quagmire that left the Russian public unhappy about the current situation. A ceasefire was declared in 1995, but as with any ceasefire a return to violence was inevitable considering that there were no clear sustainable goals.
In 1996 Dudayev died and Aslan Maskhadov was elected in his place. However because of his moderate stance Chechen rebels soon turned against him and attempted to impose an Islamic state with the unification of neighboring Dagestan. Meanwhile, Russia continued to use indiscriminate air and ground strike and left thousands of innocent civilian dead and million refuges. After years of conflict Russia was able to capture Grozny the capital of Chechnya in 2000, but the guerrilla style tactics used by the Chechen rebels left Russia in a quagmire and brought to mind the uncanny similarities of the Afghanistan invasion. Public condemnation and international pressure soon forced Russia to lessen its strangulation of Chechnya. Following the 9/11 disaster however, Russia was back in control. Under the pretext of fighting terrorism Putin eagerly took the opportunity of branding every action by Chechen rebels as a terrorist act and was given the green light to use all force necessary to subdue the rebels. A pro-Russian president Akhmed Kadyrove and later his son Ramzan Kadyrove were now in control of Chechnya. Aided by the Russian regime, Akhmed and Ramzan enacted a mafia style dictatorship. Chechnya although enjoying a false illusion of stability is in fact suffering from corruption. Trade in people and drugs in addition to rigged oil prices have created an atmosphere of fear and lawlessness. As long as Ramzan remains in power and Russia continues its tight grip on the caucuses, there is little hope for the civilian population of ever returning to normal existence.
In Chechnya there is little if any opportunity for journalists to exercise their freedom of expression. Restricted from all angles, they are unable to portray accurately the conflict or provide consistent evidence on the inhumane living conditions and crimes against humanity taking place in Chechnya. In addition years of political assassination against journalist undoubtedly deterred journalists from taking up the Chechen cause. From this report you will be free to draw your own conclusion on whether The Kremlin and the Chechen government ordered or took part in the execution of journalists in order to prevent and deter potential journalist from reporting the Chechen conflict.
The most recent violent episode that took place involving the independent media occurred in July 2009 and it was the orchestrated murder of the human rights activist Natalya Estemirova. The Russian and the Chechen government deny any involvement and continue to claim that accusations against them are simply an attempt to discredit their regime. Ms. Estemirova has won numerous international awards for her fight to expose corruption and human rights abuse by Russian and Chechen forces loyal to Ramzan Kadyrov and the Kremlin. There are claims by her friends and colleagues that Ms. Estermirova was threatened by Ramzan Kadyrov. Ms. Estermirova’s most recent work was a report accusing members of Kadyrov’s forces of carrying out revenge killing. In addition a press conference was schedule hours before her death calling for the prosecution of Putin. Unlike his predecessor Dmitry Medvedev has condemned the killing while Putin continues to remain silent. Ms Estermirova has worked with the investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya who was a journalist and human rights activist reporting for Chechnya and exposing the corrupt system led by the Kremlins, Ahmad Kadyrov and later his son Ramzan Kadyrov. Ms. Politkovskaya has written several books documenting the abuse committed by Russian forces and Russian backed Kadyrov’s. She has received death threats prior to her execution and was earlier arrested and tortured by Russian forces. During her incarceration she was poisoned but she had survived that first attempt on her life. Ms. Politkovskaya and Ms Estermirova have several factors in common: they both were humanitarian activists fighting to expose the corruption and human rights violation against the Chechen civilians, they were both disliked by the Kremlin regime, and they were both considered enemies of Ramzan Kadyrov. Ms. Estemirova and Ms. Politkovskaya were both shot execution style.
The year 2009 does not end with the killing of Ms. Estemirova. For the interest of this paper we will focus on the individuals that were involved in the Chechen cause. Stanislav Yuryevich Markelov is a human’s rights lawyer and journalist who represented Chechen families and released several reports documenting human rights abuse. His death was tragic as it symbolizes the arrogance by which The Kremlin and Kadyrov exercise their power. Markelov was challenging the early release of Yuri Dmitrievich Budanov who took part in crimes against Chechen civilians during his service in the Russian Military. Shortly thereafter Markelov was shot to death along with his assistant who was attempting to come to his aid. It is speculated that Russian state security services with ties to Budanov were involved. Needless to say his death prevented the continued detention of Budanov and his murder remains unsolved.
In 2006 Alexander Petrov was killed, details surrounding his death remain unclear. However what is clear is his criticism of the Russian judicial system and his attempt to bring to light the revenge killing by Russian forces committed against Chechen civilians.
In July of 2004 Paul Klebnikov was shot by unknown assailants. He was an American of Russian decent. He wrote about organized crimes in Chechnya and corruption in Russia.
In July 2003 Yuri Shchekochikhin another prominent human rights activist and outspoken journalist died suddenly. His medical documents were considered classified by the Russian authority, but his symptoms are attributed to poisoning. Yuri was an outspoken critic of Yelstin and later Vladimir’s war against Chechnya. He also wrote about corruption and prisoners abuse.
Roddy Scott was a freelance camera man of British origin. He was shot while filming the battle between Russian forces and Chechen rebels. He was dedicated to uncovering the hidden stories and often chose places usually difficult to access. He was shot dead among other Chechens and for a long period his death was not revealed by the Russian authorities. A close friend of his revealed that Roddy before his death was attempting to surrender to the Russian forces by raising a white flag but was nevertheless shot in the face by a Russian sniper. His death is tragic but more so the blatant attempt by the Russian authorities to brand him a terrorist aiding the Chechen rebel is not only insulting but reflects the arrogance by which the Russian authorities exercise their jurisdiction.
In November of 2000 Adam Tepsurgayev a 24 year old Chechen bled to death after being shot by two unidentified assailants. While working as a taxi driver Adam helped uncover some of the atrocities committed by Russian troops while attempting to fight Chechen separatists. Most of his work was published by Reuters. The Russians blamed his death on Chechen rebels a claim that is denied vehemently by the local residents.
Antonio Russo was a special correspondent of Radio Radicale. He was active in distributing material to the group PACE about the violation committed by Russian authorities against Chechen civilians. He was determined to uncover prisoner abuse as well as the use of chemical and biological weapons used against Chechen civilians and prisoners. He is said to have uncovered mass graves and wrote them down in documents he was to hand over to the European Court on Human Rights. These documents have not been found following his death.
Skandar Khatloni was covering the second Chechen war when he was murdered in September of 2000. He was attempting to uncover human rights abuse in Chechnya. He was shot five times in the head and bled to death.
Nadezhda Chaykova was 32 when she was tortured and murdered. Prior to her death she had embarked on an investigation to uncover embezzlement of money earmarked for the reconstruction of the Chechen economy. She had published some of her finding and was threatened and ordered to stop her investigation. She also had plans to disguise herself as a Chechen woman and live in Chechnya to uncover abuse by Russian troops. There is strong evidence suggesting Russian troops are behind her death.
In that same period another journalist named Ramzan Khodzhiyev a correspondent to ORT was shot dead attempting to leave Grozny. Russian authorities claim Chechen rebels killed him because of his support to the president. However, a passenger traveling with Ramzan at the time who did not give his name states that a Russian soldier shot him in the head while leaving Grozny after showing his credentials.
Dmitry Krikoryants a correspondent for Express Journal Correspondent was killed in 1993 by unidentified assailants who broke into his home and shot him dead. Many believe that he died because he was attempting to uncover illegal trade of Chechen oil by the government.
Vladimir Zhitarenko was killed in 1995. Vladimir wanted to express to Russians the difficulty of serving in the Russian military and especially the psychological and physical hardship they undergo while serving in Chechnya. He had covered much of the conflict in the surrounding caucuses as well as Afghanistan. He was killed by a sniper purportedly Russian.
Nina Yefimova was the 18th journalist said to be killed covering the escalated conflict between Russia and Chechnya. Prior to her death, Nina had received several death threats. She and her mother were kidnapped and shot to death in 1994. She had published many stories of crimes in Chechnya and many believe that to be the main reason she was assassinated, however the Russian authorities continue to claim she was killed for personal reason although they have never made an arrest.
Farkhad Kerimov a freelance cameraman went missing while covering the war in Chechnya in 1995. He was later found dead from a bullet wound through his head.
Natalya Alyakinaa a freelance correspondent covering the conflict in Chechnya was shot dead by a soldier after clearing a Russian checkpoint. No serious attempts have been made to bring her killer to justice.
In 1996 while filming the Chechen insurgent raid in Grozny, Victor Pimenov was shot and killed by a sniper. It was alleged that he was signaled out. Until today no one has been brought to trial and Russian authority claim he was just another casualty of war.
In the same year of 1996 another reporter Nadezhda Chiakova was killed while covering the war. She was missing for three weeks before her body was found tortured and mutilated. She died from a gun wound to her head. There are speculations that she was killed by Chechen separatist fighters going on a tip from the Russian authorities that she was a spy. However, a note written by her and given to her colleague states "In case I am killed or wounded, you should blame the Russian army or the Russian security services. Please do not put the blame for this on the so-called "Dudaev's fighters". An independent investigation was soon followed which revealed that prior to her death she was approached by Russian security services who suggested she becomes a spy for them. She left a video tape found after her death in which she says she refused the offer by the security services and began fearing for her life after receiving death threats. No one was held accountable for her death.
Ramzan Mezhidov died in 1999 from a rocket fired at him and his crew member while filming Chechen refugees fleeing to neighboring Ingushetia while under bombardment. Witnesses claim that the Russian firing the rocket knew that Ramzan was a journalist as he was holding a camera at the time. He was another casualty of the war.
Many more journalists have been killed and tortured whilst reporting on the conflicts in the caucus region. But who is to blame?
