11.05.2007 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Analysis of why peace agreement of 1997 between Chechnya and Russia failed ("Chechnya: Why Did 1997 Peace Agreement Fail?") [ID 20714]

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10.01.2007 - Source: Minorities at Risk

Chronology for Chechens in Russia (1785 - August 2000) ("Chronology for Chechens in Russia") [#38026],  [ID 15912]

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23.02.2006 - Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Chechens and Ingush remember mass deportation to Central Asia and Siberia in 1944, ordered by Josef Stalin ("Russia: On Army Day, Chechens Quietly Remember Mass Deportation") [#44940],  [ID 15908]

"Between 23 and 24 February 1944, nearly half a million Chechens and Ingush were systematically rounded up and herded into freight trains. They were then sent to the dry plains of Kazakhstan, to Kyrgyzstan, and to the Siberian taiga. "We have asked my nephew's school [in Moscow] not to teach him to lay flowers on the monument to some unknown man on Defenders of the Fatherland Day, because this army has brought us nothing but grief." Their deportation was ordered by Josef Stalin, who accused the two peoples of collaborating with the Nazi army. About half the deportees are estimated to have died either during the journey or within the year that followed their deportation, succumbing to cold, hunger, and disease. It was not until 1956, during Nikita Khrushchev's de-Stalinization campaign, that Chechens were permitted to return to their homeland. The charge of mass treason against them was also dropped."

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15.11.2005 - Source: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung

History, stereotypes and outlook of Chechnya conflict ("Der Tschetschenienkonflikt. Geschichte, Stereotypen und Ausblick") [#39611],  [ID 15909]

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24.10.2005 - Source: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights

Still nobody held accountable for missile attack that hit Grozny in 1999 in which 100 to 120 people died and 400 were injured ("A Symbol for the Second Chechen War: Six Years after the Bombing of the Grozny Market Nobody Held Accountable") [#39238],  [ID 15910]

"Moscow, 24 October 2005. Six years ago, on 21 October 1999, a missile attack hit Grozny. There were three places with the highest toll: the central food and clothing market, the Republican maternity house and the mosque. Between 100 to 120 people died. Around 400 were wounded, many of them died later. Civilians were the main target of this attack on the city with hundreds of inhabitants, where the tactical “land-to-land” missiles with cassette weapon parts, equipped with so called “ball bombs”, were used. The Russian military command and the political officials had to be aware about their actions. A clear war crime was committed by the people in charge."

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08.2005 - Source: Freedom House

History of Chechen conflict ("Freedom in the World 2005") [#41619],  [ID 15911]

"A small, partly mountainous Northern Caucasus republic, Chechnya has been at war with Russia for much of its history since the late 1700s. In February 1944, the Chechens were deported en masse to Kazakhstan under the pretext of their having collaborated with Germany during World War II. Officially rehabilitated in 1957 and allowed to return to their homeland, they remained politically suspect and were excluded from the region's administration. After being elected Chechnya's president in October 1991, former Soviet Air Force Commander Dzhokhar Dudayev proclaimed Chechnya's independence. Moscow responded with an economic blockade. In 1994, Russia began assisting Chechens opposed to Dudayev, whose rule was marked by growing corruption and the rise of powerful clans and criminal gangs. Russian president Boris Yeltsin sent 40,000 troops into Chechnya by mid-December and attacked the capital, Grozny, widening the conflict. As casualties mounted, Russian public opposition to the war increased, fueled by criticism from much of the country's then-independent media. In April 1996, Dudayev was killed by a Russian missile. A peace deal was signed in August 1996, resulting in the withdrawal of most Russian forces from Chechnya. However, a final settlement on the republic's status was put off until 2001. In May 1997, Russia and Chechnya reached an accord recognizing the elected president, Aslan Maskhadov, as Chechnya's legitimate leader. Following incursions into neighboring Dagestan by renegade Chechen rebels and deadly apartment bombings in Russia that the Kremlin blamed on Chechen militants, then-Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin launched a second military offensive on Chechnya in September 1999. Russian troops conquered the flat terrain in the north of the republic, but progress slowed considerably as they neared heavily defended Grozny. Amid hostilities, Moscow withdrew recognition of Maskhadov."

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15.01.2004 - Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (formerly Global IDP Project)

Brief historical overview ("Profile of internal displacement: Russian Federation") [#18748],  [ID 15913]

"• Russian expansion in the Caucasus meets fierce Chechen resistance throughout the nineteenth century • Forced collectivization and attempts at "Russification" by the Bolsheviks led to renewed unrest and rebellion in Chechnya, culminating with brutal repression during the Stalinist 1930s • Chechens and Ingush deported en masse to Soviet Central Asia and other far reaches between 1944-1957 • In 1957, Khrushchev decreed their return • With Ingushetia opting to remain within Russia, Chechen leader Djohar Dudayev, a former Soviet Air Force General, proclaimed Chechen sovereignty on November 2, 1991 • As a result of the declaration of independence, some 100,000 Russians left Chechnya • December 1994-August 1996: Russian troops undertake a military intervention in the republic; up to 400,000 people flee to other areas of Chechnya and the Russian Federation • 1997-1999: Chechnya remains unstable; insecurity and hostage-taking oblige to a reduction of international humanitarian aid; Sharia law introduced by the President of the Chechen republic"

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