Terrorism as a Consequence of Human Rights Violations in the First Russo-Chechen War

Marek Delong,Stanisław Topolewski

doi:10.47459/jssi.2021.11.38

Abstract

The aim of the article is to present Chechen terrorism as a consequence of violations of basic human rights, including the crimes of genocide committed by the Russian Federation in the First Russo-Chechen War in 1994-1996. It has been argued that terrorism has become a dramatic way of drawing the international community’s attention to the tragedy taking place in Chechnya. Over time, Chechen fighters were influenced by radical Muslim groups and used terrorist fighting methods. On the other hand, the Russians did not shy away from bombing entire villages they suspected of sheltering wanted fighters. All this led to an escalation of terrorism and radicalization of religious views among a large part of the society. Moreover, the lack of a decisive reaction from the West to the policy of exterminating the Chechen population by the Russian Federation has led to an increase in anti-Western sentiment, which had not been recorded in Chechnya before.

Highlights

The history of the Caucasus was largely shaped by the Russian state, which appeared in this area in the 16th century, and in the 19th century it took complete control of the region as a result of fierce and long-lasting wars
The ethnic policy pursued by the USSR exacerbated the ethnic situation in the Caucasus, while the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to an explosion of previously suppressed national movements, separatist tendencies and ethnic conflicts, which led to the destabilization of the situation in this part of the Russian Federation (The North 2012)
The aim of the article is to present Chechen terrorism as a consequence of violating basic human rights, including the crimes of genocide committed by the Russian Federation in the First Russo-Chechen War in 1994-1996

Summary

Introduction

The history of the Caucasus was largely shaped by the Russian state, which appeared in this area in the 16th century, and in the 19th century it took complete control of the region as a result of fierce and long-lasting wars. Religion has always strongly emphasized the separateness of the local population from the rest of the Russian community, identified with the Christian civilization circle. It has a political overtone, as the Muslim republic could not surrender to “unfaithful. Since the outbreak of the first Chechen war in 1994, the Russian authorities have presented the war as a fight against bandits and Islamic fundamentalists (Cornell 2005, 251) All this led to an escalation of terrorism and radicalization of religious views among a large part of the society. The publications of Mirosław Kuleba and Piotr Grochmalski turned out to be invaluable, as they were eyewitnesses of the events related to the Russo-Chechen war and with Shamil Basayev and Aslan Maskhadov

The proclamation of independence and the operation in Grozny

Violation of human rights and the first acts of terror

Russian fight against terrorism after the end of the First Russo-Chechen war

Findings

Conclusions