When Chechen rebels took over a school in Beslan, Russia, most of the American public did not know why. The attack took people by surprise. Unfortunately, no one in Russia or Chechnya was at all surprised by yet another attack.
The tense relationship between Russia and Chechnya became vicious around 1991, following the demise of the Soviet Union. Chechens wanted their independence from Russia, like they had seen so many of their neighboring regions receive.
Both former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and current President Vladimir Putin believe allowing Chechnya independence will destroy the Russian Republic. Putin fears once Chechnya leaves, there will be nothing to stop the other 88 regions from demanding their independence as well.
Russia has been willing to back up that argument with force. Yeltsin started the first war against Chechnya in 1994 to try and bring the region back under Russian control. However, after Chechen leader Shamil Basayev took the Chechen capitol of Grozny, Russian troops withdrew.
Chechnya then went through a period of having an appallingly weak central government, coupled with extremely high crime rates. Offenses such as kidnapping became the norm. The second war started in 1999 after a deadly Chechen rebel attack. Now, Russian troops and loyal Chechen fighters keep control of the region, according to The New York Times. Since the Russian troops have been occupying Chechnya, numerous reports of human rights violations have been made.
In March 2000, the United Nations adopted a resolution condemning Russia's conduct in Chechnya. In a joint statement in April 2004, the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture and the Memorial human rights center in Moscow also condemned the alleged atrocities committed by Russian troops.
"(The) international community should take immediate action to address human rights abuses continuing in Chechnya ... ," the group stated according to www.humanrightswatch.org.
The Chechen rebels are not without blood on their hands. According to The New York Times, almost 600 people have died in Chechen rebel attacks since June 2004. There was the bombing of two Russian passenger airliners in August 2004. Also, there was an October 2002 attack on a theater in Moscow, in which rebels took 700 people hostage and killed 129. Furthermore, there was the attack on the school in Beslan that attracted world attention because it involved innocent children.
Russia has another more recent reason for keeping close tabs on Chechnya: the rise of international terrorism. Though the region is populated with mainly moderate Sunni Muslims, Putin has said that Chechnya is his first line of defense against terrorism.
Though the rebels' fight is mainly self-contained to a question of sovereignty, they have received money from sympathetic terrorist groups and some have even gone to Afghanistan for training, according to a Newsday article. Also, the recent trend of large-scale attacks has the mark of al-Qaida-like techniques according, to The New York Times.
It seems the Chechens and Russians are locked in a never ending battle with no side conceding to the other. There is, however, a sliver of light in this bloody tunnel.
A draft for a power-sharing agreement between Chechnya and Russia is ready to be signed. The draft grants Chechnya the status of a "region of intensive economic development," according to Radio Free Europe. This status would give Chechens exclusive rights to their natural resources and their development, which includes oil.
The draft also makes it illegal for any Russian "force agencies" to intervene in internal Chechen affairs.
However, there is doubt that Russia will give in to the demands of the agreement. If so, then the two sides will be locked in an ongoing battle for the right to claim Chechnya as their own.
-Beth Benson is a journalism and political science junior.
-This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed - include your full name, major and year in school.
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