It was suggested after the initial relatively mild American
response to the Tehran demonstrations, one of the key elements of
the current Washington administration’s foreign policy was to
ignore or downplay certain events in hopes that such a pretense
would lessen the potential American involvement in difficult
international matters.
The lack of a firm diplomatic reaction by the White House to the
recent kidnapping and assassination of the well-known Chechen
human rights activist, Natalia Estemirova, apparently is another
example of this calculated effort (other than VP Biden’s personal
gaffes) not to disturb the status quo with strategic nations.
This is as opposed to Hillary Clinton’s specific reference to the
trial of the political celebrity, Aung San Suu Kyi, of
strategically less important Burma.
Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, thought the Chechen crime so
important she brought up the issue directly with Russia’s
president, Dmitry Medvedev, during his recent visit to Germany.
Medvedev was forced to publicly acknowledge the problem that he
previously had dismissed as simply another incident in a recent
spate of violence in the North Caucasus.
Whether Washington is willing to admit it or not, the murder of
the internationally acclaimed Estemirova, who had been a close
friend of the famous journalist Anna Politkovskaya, also a murder
victim (Moscow, 2006), is a symptom of the brutal suppression of
dissent that exists in Russia’s mountainous regions of Chechnya,
Ingushetia, and Dagestan. Vladimir Putin for years has been
particularly sensitive to any outside interest in the rebellious
activities of the people of these areas. He apparently made that
clear to President Obama during the latter’s recent Moscow trip.
The problems of the North Caucasus, and Chechnya in particular,
go back many years. This predominantly Moslem area of Russia was
in support of the Bolshevik Revolution from the beginning.
Chechen nationalists saw as very enticing the early communist
propaganda rhetoric of respect for ethnic identity, religious
tolerance, and cultural independence.
By the time Stalin took control, however, these revolutionary
slogans had been abandoned by the Kremlin and Russian domination
was in full sway. Most importantly, the preservation of Arabic as
a principal lingua franca had become characterized as
“old regime.” That act, along with its anti-Islamic connotation,
appears to have become the early touchstone of modern Chechen
rebellion.
Moscow in recent years doesn’t seem to be able to control its own
appointed Chechen politicians, who find excess to be their only
means of governance. In his best Machiavellian manner, Putin
guided the presidential appointment of Ramzan Kadyrov, son of a
former Chechen puppet president who had defected from rebel
ranks. Kadyrov has introduced new internal security mechanisms
such as roving bands of loyalists to act as law enforcement
deputies. These brutal paramilitary squads have earned their own
name: “Kadyrovsty.”
The Russian action against Georgia last summer actually spurred a
renewal of fighting against Russian authority in Chechnya’s
neighboring Caucasus regions of Ingushetia and Dagestan. In
truth, local outbreaks in all three of these states are virtually
the norm. A leader is caught, imprisoned, or killed, and another
rises to take his place. Going back to the Czars and before, each
outside authority has been challenged. These mountain warrior
people have a lust for independence in their DNA. The Russians
see it as criminality.
The Kremlin is always hard-pressed to find a Chechen leader who
has the toughness to take on the job of controlling that state.
After the Merkel chiding Medvedev finally took a strong
pro-justice position through vigorous lip service condemning the
killing of Natalia Estemirova. This has allowed the Chechen
president to assume the same righteous indignation and present
his own solid pro-law and order position — while the actual
perpetrators are never uncovered.
The human rights organization “Memorial” has openly charged
Kadyrov with complicity in the kidnapping and shooting of
Estemirova. The head of “Memorial” has said he is standing by his
clams against the Chechen president. In turn Kadyrov has
announced he is going to sue the human rights organization and
its head over the public statements.
The preponderance of publicly known evidence points to
involvement of some element of the Kadyrov-controlled security
service, but those facts are not expected to make it to court.
More likely will be an official whitewash with full Moscow
support — and Washington silence.
One thing that can not be denied is that the opponents of the
Kremlin-backed Kadyrov government tend to end up dead. In
addition to Natalia Estemirova’s recent killing this July, there
were two other government opponents assassinated in March — one
in Vienna, the other in Dubai. Apparently under the
self-characterized “progressive” Washington administration, human
rights is a matter of political selectivity.
