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French
Paper Reminds World of “Forgotten Genocide” in Chechnya
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| The
Observateur showed pictures of the Russian barbaric war
against Chechens.
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PARIS,
June 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – All human rights groups
in the world should not forget the genocide and war crimes committed
by the Russian army against the people of Chechnya, a French newspaper
said.
In
an article entitled “The Forgotten Genocide” published Thursday,
June 20, 2002, the weekly Nouvel Observateur said: “No one
should forget the torture the Chechens were subjected to at the hands
of the Russian army, including electric shocks, beating to death, and
the amputation of body parts.”
Describing
the Russian soldiers’ crimes against the Chechens in 1994 and 1999
as acts of genocide against children, women and freedom fighters, the
French paper put the death toll of the Chechen victims at between
50-100 thousand.
The
one aim of the Chechen fighters’ struggle is to get their freedom
and force the Russian army out of their land, the paper said, adding
that it is in this context that Chechen operations against Russian
soldiers are launched.
Russian
President Vlademir Putin accused the Chechen freedom fighters of being
terrorists, something Europeans have not accepted, the paper said.
The
Observateur showed in its article a collection of pictures
taken by journalist and human rights activist Stanley Green, proving
that the Russians launched a barbaric war against the Chechen people.
The
paper also conducted interviews with some of the survivors of this war
who talked about their horrible memories during a war of genocide by
the Russians.
Mussa,
a Chechen young cab driver who was kidnapped and brutally tortured by
the Russian soldiers to force his parents to pay a $1500 ransom to let
him go, said that the Russian soldiers tied one of his hands to a
ceiling for 4 running till his hand fell of, the paper said.
“I
was blindfolded and when they took it off I found myself with one
hand, and then they started wetting my body and giving me electric
shocks,” he said.
Mussa
told the Observateur that the Russian soldiers forced him to
sign a statement confessing to his being one of the fighters, when he
was no more than a cab driver.
Malika,
a 25 year-old Chechen refugee and a mother of three, said that armed
Russian soldiers, accompanied by fierce dogs, abducted her from her
home in the village of Tsotestan in 1999, forcing her to leave her
children, including a baby.
“They
threatened to take me to a torture camp in northern Chechnya if I did
not reveal the fighters’ hideouts,” she said. “The next day,
they took me to one of the fighters houses where they killed 23 of
them, then started a brutal process of mangling their bodies before my
very eyes: they cut their fingers and ears off, ripped off their
bellies and burned their bodies,” she added.
The
Russians also arrested a number of members of parliament in 1999, and
they killed two of them in May 2000.
While
in detention, the MPs were indescribably humiliated by the Russians,
said Hussein Ashanof, a MP abducted in My 2000.
“We
weren’t allowed to go to bathrooms and they starved us for long
periods,” he said.
The
genocide crimes against the Chechens are not over yet, said Abti
Shagosef, former ruler of Tsotestan in 1997.
“They
broke into my house April 12, 2002, in Grozni, shot at me and my wife,
made us kneel on the floor and started terrorizing us by shooting
their gun fires all around the house,” he added.
History
The
Chechnya tragedy started during the Soviet era, when Stalin, in order
to maintain power and to prevent overthrow "by external powers
manipulating internal ethnic groups", was brutal in his control
of the Chechen people.
The
Chechens therefore actually said they would welcome Germany if they
recognized an independent Chechnya. This led to a mass deportation and
relocation of Chechen people (and others) to Kazakhstan and Siberia.
Around
800,000 people are said to have been relocated this way. Perhaps
100,000 or more of these people died due to the extreme conditions.
Chechnya
later declared independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet
Union. The 1994-96 war left 80,000 casualties. The Russian assault
devastated Grozny and other parts of Chechnya.
However,
the Chechens defeated Russia, revealing how poor Russian military
capabilities were. Earlier in 1999, the Islamic uprising in the
neighboring Dagestan region of Russia resulted in accusations by
Moscow that Chechen government forces supported a Dagestan rebellion.
While
this was denied, Chechen fighters (that are not controlled by the
central government) did support the Islamic uprising in Dagestan. This
incursion led to a conflict with Russian forces that defeated the
Chechens.
Following
the Chechen defeat in Dagestan, Moscow suffered bomb blasts believed
to be by various independence activists (although never proven). This
has also led to a rise in Russia of racist sentiments against people
mainly from the Caucasus regions.
Russia
is now engaged in a full-scale war with Chechnya. There have been many
reports of bombing raids by Russian forces and over 200,000 people are
said to have fled from Chechnya.
Grozny
and other parts of Chechnya are being pounded and destroyed. Once
more, the civilian population is caught in the middle. Civilian
casualties have been high and there has been international outcry at
the brutal Russian crackdown and indiscriminate bombing and targeting
of civilians.
The
Russian troops have been looting and burning homes and buildings, even
executing those who resist.
On
April 20, 2000, Chechen President, Ashlan Mashkadov, made a ceasefire
offer. However, Russian demands have been stern, which triggered more
suicide attacks and increased warfare by the Chechen combatants,
indicating that the conflict is far from over.
As
Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported in April 2001, "the U.N.
Commission on Human Rights adopted a resolution on Chechnya that
condemned serious human rights violations by Russian forces, and
raised concern about forced disappearances, torture, and summary
executions.
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