CHECHNYA LINKS LIBRARY

Russian military changes tactics of mopping-up operations in Chechnya

Timur Aliyev, North Caucasus – In November, the Russian military adopted new tactics of conducting “special operations” in Chechnya. Targeted “mop-ups” have become increasingly common while large-scale actions connected with blockading whole villages have turned relatively softer.

This fact was mentioned at a meeting of representatives of Chechen NGOs by a member of Russian human rights organization Memorial Usam Baysayev in his summary of last month’s events in Chechnya.

Baysayev thinks that Russian servicemen strive to relieve themselves of the responsibility for “disappearances” of people. Unlike in the case of large-scale “mop-ups”, which are conducted under the command of a concrete person, the commander of a targeted operation is usually unknown. “Five or six men in masks burst into a house at night and take away its inhabitants,” he says. “Who is to be held responsible then?”

Baysayev also claims there is a link between the change in the tactics of “special operations” and the statement of Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov made shortly after the hostage siege in Moscow. On November 4, Ivanov said: “From now on, the military forces in Chechnya will pursue a harsh, but specifically targeted special operation in all of the republic’s districts.”

The representatives of human rights NGOs met on November 23 in Ingushetia at a round-table meeting under the heading “The Role of Civil Society in Achieving Peace in Chechnya.” The aim of this meeting was to discuss the situation that arose after the October hostage-taking in Moscow.

The participants in the meeting “sought to draft recommendations as to how civil organizations can strengthen their peace efforts and put the life of citizens in Chechnya and North Caucasus as a whole back to normal”, said one of its organizers, Vladimir Weissman.

The round table meeting was organized by the International Helsinki Federation and comprised also the Memorial staff, as well as representatives of Chechen NGOs, namely the Chechen Committee of National Salvation, the Society of the Russian-Chechen Friendship, political coalition National Unity and others.

(P/T)