Moscow is aware that Russian forces in Chechnya are committing human rights abuses,
says newly appointed Ambassador Georgiy Enverovich Mamedov.
But, he said, ongoing bloodshed and suicide bombings by Chechen separatists are
reasons that Canada and other Western countries must support Russia's latest attempts
to end the conflict in the embattled separatist republic.
"President (Vladimir) Putin is betting on a new political process," he told the
Star yesterday. "It is imperfect, perhaps. But in the situation that exists today,
there is absolutely no other choice.
"We know there are violations against the civil population (in Chechnya). But
rather than criticizing us, it would be better to help us in our efforts."
Mamedov, one of Russia's most senior foreign ministry officials, was deputy foreign
minister in charge of North American relations and disarmament issues before taking
the Ottawa posting a month ago.
His suggestion came after another day of bloodshed and recrimination, during which
a leading European human rights body condemned Russia for taking no steps to investigate
allegations of torture by Russian forces, and explosives intended for a suicide
bombing in a Moscow main street killed a 29-year-old bomb disposal expert.
Facing a presidential election next March, Putin has been trying to quell the
rebellion in Chechnya with a peace plan that included a referendum on a new constitution
to reassure Chechens they would enjoy autonomy under Russian rule, and the installation
of a pro-Moscow Chechen leadership.
Putin has also ordered a new presidential election for Chechnya in October, which
will sideline the Muslim republic's current president, Aslan Maskhadov —
who has been in hiding since the 1999 war began, but is considered by most Chechens
to be their legitimately elected leader. Putin has been sharply criticized for
refusing to negotiate with him.
"Numerous approaches have been made to Maskhadov, but he isn't capable of controlling
the lunatic fringe," Mamedov said.
Both the referendum held last March, and the planned election, have been widely
condemned by human rights bodies as fraudulent, and they point out that Russia
cannot hold democratic polls under conditions of martial law.
"Unfortunately we can't wait for ideal conditions," said Mamedov. "It won't be
an ideal Canadian-style election, but it is better than just letting things go
on as they are."
And, he said, human rights abuses by Russian forces have been investigated and
some perpetrators punished.
But the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, part of the 45-state
Council of Europe, said allegations of beatings, asphyxiation and other forms
of torture have not been probed. After an initial warning in 2001, the watchdog
body issued a rare second rebuke, citing interviews with detainees and medical
evidence of torture.
Human rights groups have also reported increasing attacks on women, including
beatings and sexual assault.
In Moscow, meanwhile, Putin condemned a spate of recent suicide bombings —
all carried out by embittered Chechen women —
as "terrorism," and vowed to root out and destroy the rebels who plan and carry
out the attacks from "the cellars and caves in which they are hiding."
Although Putin's popularity is still substantial, measuring 53 per cent in a recent
poll, it has slipped from its onetime high of more than 80 per cent, at the time
when Putin began the second war of the 1990s against Chechnya.
Since then, hundreds of Russian troops have been killed in ongoing attacks, suicide
bombings and hostage takings have struck the heart of the capital, and human rights
groups say 60 Chechens a month are disappearing without a trace in retaliatory
raids by Russian forces.
"The difficulty is that we're dealing with a generation of Chechens who grew up
fighting against Russia," said Mamedov. "There is bloodshed, mixed with anger
and frustration."
The longer it continues, Mamedov added, the more alarming the situation will be
for Chechnya, which is destroyed and destitute, and Russia, which is increasingly
traumatized by the suicide attacks and the prospect of chaos in its volatile southern
region.
The struggle for Chechnya is of central importance to Putin because the rode to
power as a strongman who could crush the separatist rebellion, pull Russia out
of its political and economic slump and restore the country to a place of pride
on the world stage.
Since taking power, the once-obscure former KGB official has become a charismatic
figure, with new Russian cult of personality dedicated to him.
With demand for Russian oil jump-starting the flagging economy, Putin has seen
an impressive 7 per cent growth rate, a 40 per cent rise in the stock market last
year, and for the first time since communism crumbled, a net inflow of investment
from Russians as well as foreigners.
But the darkest cloud on the political horizon is Chechnya — a republic
of less than 900,000 that has resisted Russian rule for two centuries. In 1994,
President Boris Yeltsin declared war on Chechnya when its leader, Djokhar Dudayev,
declared independence.
Yeltsin's war ended in a stunning victory for the rebels in 1996. Putin launched
another war three years later after Chechens were accused of bombing apartment
buildings in Moscow and southern Russia, killing 300 people.
But the violence has continued unabated. There are now fears Putin's peace plan
will lead to even greater bloodshed, as well as civil war in Chechnya, as pro-Moscow
and pro-separatist factions battle for control.
"Whatever the risk, we can't afford the status quo," said Mamedov. "This is the
smaller of two evils."