A Short History of the Conflict in the Chechen Republic and the Involvement of NGOs in the Peace Process

Since 1990, the Chechen Republic has been in a constant state of conflict. Its resistance to Russian rule has its roots in the late 18th century, when Russia expanded into the territory that is now Chechnya. Anti-Russian sentiment intensified under Stalin in the 1940s, when most of the Chechen population was deported to Siberia and the Kazakh republic for allegedly collaborating with Nazi Germany. The modern conflict began in 1990, when the All-National Congress of the Chechen People (NCChP) called for Chechen independence, which was declared in 1992. Russia subsequently launched a military invasion into the republic in 1994. The relative defeat of the Russian forces prompted it to sign a treaty in 1997 that granted The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria semi-independence, but deferred the issue of its official status until 2001. Moscow-backed Aslan Maskhadov was elected President of the Republic, and tensions in Chechnya remained high. Several events, including the unsuccessful incursion of a Chechen separatist group into the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan, and a series of apartment bombings in several Russian cities for which the Chechen regime was blamed, caused Russia to launch another ground offensive in October 1999. Much better organized than during the first Chechen war, Russia quickly established control over the region. In 2001, another pro-Moscow regime was installed, and the conflict was declared over. On March 23, 2003, a new Chechen constitution was accepted through referendum. However, there still remain two governments in Chechnya today; the regional Russian government and the separatist Ichkerian government. Rebel Chechen factions and the Russian military continue to engage in violence, and no peace treaty has been signed to officially end the conflict.

Impediments to viable peace negotiations exist within both the Russian and Chechen governments, and within Chechen civil society. On the one hand, the Russian government has opposed any negotiations with the Chechen separatists because it has branded them as terrorists and claims that Chechnya has no legal right to secede. It also points to Chechnya's inability to establish functioning political, social, and economic structures when it had the chance to do so after 1997. Instead, Chechnya has become dominated by warlords and various mafia criminal groupings. On the other hand, both Chechen governments suffer from a lack of legitimacy and leadership. Loyalties exist within, but not among, the Chechen clans, which has resulted in the absence of a single leader who could represent the Chechens in negotiations with the Russian government. Finally, Chechnya's civil society is

disparate, uncoordinated, and lacking in representation, and the work of Chechen NGOs is often hindered by the Russian government.

As a response to the fragmentation of Chechen civil society, the Chechen Civil Society Forum (CCFS) was established in 2005 as a platform for internal networking and external representation for Chechen civil society actors who share the ultimate goal of peace. Russian and Chechen NGOs have increased dramatically in numbers since the 1990s, but they have been influenced by actions of the Russian government, which has a general tendency to reduce the space for political discussion and criticism, and discourages foreign funding of domestic NGOs. In 2006, Russia enacted a new NGO law that effectively regulates who may form an organization, expands the grounds on which NGO registration may be denied, and widens the supervisory powers of the state over NGOs. As a result, Russian NGOs generally perform social or charitable work and are domestically funded. Several NGOs concentrate their work on the Chechen conflict, but most are based in neighboring republics or in Moscow, and only a handful engage in human rights work or democracy promotion. Examples include the Human Rights Center "Memorial," the Russian Chechen Friendship Society in Europe (RCFS), and the Chechen Committee for National Salvation. "Memorial," established in 1991, protects human rights in Chechnya and reports on human rights abuses in the region, especially on "disappearances." The Chechen Committee for National Salvation, created in 2001, collects and distributes information about the situation in Chechnya, conducts anti-war activities, and assists Chechen refugees. In October 2006, RCFS, a human rights group that exposes abuses against civilians in Chechnya and provides assistance to victims of violence, was shut down after its co-founder was charged with "inciting racial hatred." He had published articles in the organization's newspaper that quoted antiwar statements from Chechen separatists, and the new NGO law of 2006 made it illegal for NGOs to be headed by persons with criminal records. As a whole, it is not only improbable that Russia and Chechnya will engage in peace negotiation anytime soon, but also highly unlikely that NGOs or any part of civil society would be able to participate in such negotiations.

Information for this short history of the conflict in the Chechen Republic has been drawn, in part, from the following sources:

"Chechens and Russians Begin New Talks." Patrick E. Tyler. New York Times. March 25, 2002.

Chechnya: What Can Be Done?, Carnegie Endowment for Peace. October 28, 2004.

Information provided by the Chechen Civil Society Forum available on its Web site: www.chechenforum.org/English/home.htm