In the last issue of the "Monitor" we wrote about the tragic situation developing in the North Caucasus, as well as about the danger that the fighting in Dagestan might lead to an inter-ethnic conflict inside the republic between the local Chechen population and other ethnic groups. We mentioned specific actions to be taken in order to prevent such an escalation of events.
Over the past month the situation in the North Caucasus continued to change rapidly. Russian federal forces, encouraged by the support of the local population they have received during the fighting in Dagestan advanced into Chechnya. Unlike in the past, most Russian media gave a favorable picture of the Russian army and the majority of the population supports these actions. Unfortunately this means, that we should expect a further escalation of violence in Chechnya and new terrorist acts in the Russian Federation remain highly probable.
Yet in Dagestan itself, we have reasons to believe that our efforts were not in vain, and though the situation remains highly tense, the danger of an inter-ethnic conflict evolving has diminished. What is especially encouraging, is that a number of nongovernmental organizations have visibly contributed toward this result. We devote a major part of this issue of the "Monitor" to this important and unfortunately unique experience.
1. Chechen youth organization "Laman-Az".
The Chechen organization "Laman-Az" has been created in the beginning of 1997 by a group of young people (mainly students of the local university) after a international conference "Peace to the Caucasus" which took place in Grozny in January 1997. It was officially registered by the Chechen ministry of Justice in May 1998.
One of the first activities of this organization was called "Clear air" - an effort to plant trees in one of the districts of Grozny, which was devastated by war. In 1998 members of "Laman-Az" took part in a number of events. They participated in a conference "New steps to a future without landmines" which took place in Moscow in May 1998; were observers on Georgian-Abkhaz youth meetings; took part in the organization of the Caucasus Forum of nongovernmental organizations.
The organization collected information about the NGOs in Chechnya and initiated a meeting of Chechen NGOs that took place on July 15, 1999 in Grozny. This was the first such meetings of Chechen NGOs, and it was an important step in consolidating NGO efforts. Unfortunately, due to the current war, many ideas and plans discussed during that meeting could not be implemented.
Before the current outbreak of violence "laman-Az" had a number of plans and specific proposals for future work, such as:
· publishing information about the situation and the needs in Chechnya;
· Setting up an Internet page about Chechnya and the activities of "Laman-Az";
· Organizing computer and language courses for young people;
· Working on the landmines problem in Chechnya;
· Organizing meetings of Chechen, Georgian and Abkhaz NGOs on environmental questions;
· Creating a Center for youth initiatives.
Unfortunately, the current tragic events forced "Laman-Az" as well as other local NGOs to suspend its usual activities and focus on bringing out information about the real situation in the war-torn region. This is especially important since most Russian media does not give a balanced picture of events - unlike in the past war (what is largely a result of continuos criminal attacks against reporters and kidnappings over the past years).
Address: gorodok Mayakovskogo, 129, apt. 43
Staropromyslovski district, Grozny, Chechnya
Chair: Roman Gashaev
2. New Ingush organization is gathering information about local NGOs.
The Ingush youth organization "Assa" was organized in the end of 1998. The people who created it were concerned by the refugee situation in Ingushetia, which still hosts over 40,000 forced migrants from the Prigorodny district of North Ossetia as well as a significant number of refugees from Chechnya (obviously the latest crises had substantially aggravated that situation, brining it to the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe). Another motive for organizing this group came from the example of the work of the "Laman-Az" organization.
Though the working experience of this organization is quite limited, it already took active part in a number of meetings of the Caucasus Forum of NGOs.
Local activities in Ingushetia include:
· Assisting other NGOs thrrough the work of volunteers. "Assa" works especially well with the Committee of Ingush Women "Almos" , headed by Leila Tsoroeva (whom we wrote about in previous issues of the "Monitor").
· Participating in the organization of a meeting of forced migrants with deputies of the Ingush Parliament.
· Collecting information about the work of various NGOs in Ingushetia and Chechnya for preparing for the publication of a directory of them and their activities.
The information that is being gathered for a directory includes three components. First of all, that is the official information about the organization (name, registration date, number of members and volunteers, equipment). Secondly its the working experience of each organization, its goals and objectives, its partners among local and international organizations. Finally, information is collected about the plans of the organization for future activities, as well as its suggestions and requests for other NGOs.
Though the current developments have seriously influenced the activities of most Ingush NGOs, a publication of the first directory of such organizations could still be an important information resource for international organizations that plan to work in the region. And the young people from the NGO "Assa" may be helpful in carrying out humanitarian activity in Ingushetia, which is currently receiving the bulk of refugees from war-torn Chechnya.
Address: Demchenko street, 45, apt. 5
Ingushetia, Russian Federation
Chairman: Dakhilgov Umatgiry
Concerns over Dagestan - success of NGO conflict prevention efforts?
As we have mentioned in the previous issue of the "Monitor" our organization, Nonviolence International, together with other NGOs was involved in efforts to avoid a inter-ethnic conflict in Dagestan between the local Chechen population and other ethnic communities, which could develop as a result of the hostilities in Dagestan's border districts.
The fighting that took place in some western districts of Dagestan between intruders from neighboring Chechnya and the federal troops together with the Dagestan militia, provoked to a rapid growth of tensions between most of the local population and the local Chechen community. Despite the fact the overwhelming majority of the Chechen population in Dagestan denounced the invasion and announced that they were ready to fight in order to protect their homes together with other peoples of Dagestan most Dagestan people were very suspicious of their real position. Certain incidents were reported in the media of some local Chechens supporting the invaders.
Though these were a few separate incidents and they were often not verified, they have created a wave of negative attitudes toward the Chechens in Dagestan. This was further exacerbated by the fact that the fighting took place in the Novolakski district, which was disputed between local Chechens and other ethnic groups. Chechens were deported from this district in 1944, and since then other ethnic groups have moved in (mainly the Laks and the Avars). A program to return the Chechens to this district was adopted a number of years ago, but its implementation was hindered by the lack of financing and corruption.
As the federal forces (who were backed by the Dagestan militia) drove out the invaders from Chechnya, incidents were reported of the looting and burning down Chechen houses by some groups of the Dagestan militia. At the same time leaflets were being spread around Dagestan calling on a total and irreversible deportation of the local Chechen population. Following are some excerpts from these leaflets:
"…Today we say - enough! It is time to resist! Chechens have no place in Dagestan, in the Caucasus, in Russia. Force them out from everywhere. Let's organize a people's deportation of 1944, which they have forgotten. Let them travel without any homeland or shelter. In all Chechen villages organize pogroms, take away their property and houses. Our refugees will need this. Demand that Chechens be fired from all administrative, management and business positions. Remember people, it is with the hope on them that bandits crossed our border…" (It is unclear, who prepared and distributed such leaflets, however the damage was done.)
All these events created a situation when an inter-ethnic conflict in Dagestan seemed not only possible but highly probable. Some leaders of the Avar community have also made provocative statements (avars are the largest ethnic group in Dagestan, about 30% of the total population of the republic).
However, as this situation has escalated, certain NGO activities were carried out in order to prevent an outbreak of violence. An important role in this belonged to the fact that there already has been an active local NGO "on the scene", among the Dagestan Chechen population, which had contacts with a number of organizations in Russia and internationally. This was the Dagestan Regional Charitable Fund "SOS-Salvation" (formerly - the Hasavyurt Regional Charitable Fund "Salvation"), which we wrote about in previous issues of the monitor.
At the very beginning of the fighting in the Novolaksky district of Dagestan a group of NGOs from various NIS states signed a letter to the Russian, Dagestan and local authorities, calling on them to take all necessary measures to avoid hostilities against the local Chechen population. This took place on a meeting of NGOs involved in conflict management and prevention activities in the Central Asian city of Alma-Aty, Kazakhstan. Though most of the organizations on that meeting came from Central Asian states, a number of them have known the "SOS-Salvation" fund through various events (such as the meeting of the NGO Working Group on conflict management and prevention in November 1998 or the Steering Group meeting of the CIS Conference on refugees). Thus, they were able to understand the dangers of the situation and take action.
This statement had two important effects:
First of all, it was the first such warning that came from a number of organizations from various countries.
Secondly, it showed to the Dagestan Chechens, that there are people and organizations internationally, who know about their situation and are concerned about it. This gave people hope that their problems may be solved in a nonviolent way, and mobilized Dagestan Chechens around Umar Djavtaev - a moderate and balanced NGO leader.
Second action on the part of NGOs came as a response to an attempt of the mayor of the city of Hasavyurt to expel from town all people who are residents of Chechnya. An order to do so was signed by the Hasavyurt administration on September 10th. The problem was that in Hasavyurt there still have been a couple thousand Chechens who came as refugees during the 1994-96 war, and had nowhere to leave. If an effort would be made to expel them by force, it could spark violence in the city of Hasavyurt and evolve in a conflict between the police and militia forces and the local Chechen population.
In response to an urgent call from Hasavyurt, the Moscow-based NGO Nonviolence International (also affiliated with a network of organizations internationally) had contacted some Deputies of the Russian State Duma (the Lower House of the Russian Parliament) and urged them to take action. Such action was taken, and a number of officials from the federal government had contacted the local and republican authorities. As a result the demand for all nonresident Chechens to leave Hasavyurt was revoked. This episode got coverage in one of the national TV news broadcasts.
During the same days a group of members of the Moscow-based Human Rights Center "Memorial" had undertaken a field trip to Dagestan, researching the situation there and encouraging local authorities to stop human rights violations in the aftermath of the fighting. The presence of outside observers on the scene had an important effect in terms of promoting the local officials to put an end to unlawful practices in the aftermath of the conflict.
Both "Memorial" and Nonviolence International kept in close contact with Umar Djavtaev - the leader of the "Salvation" Fund during the days of the conflict. This for the time being gave the "Salvation" Fund an important unofficial position among the local Chechen population and increased the influence of this organization among its own people. As a consequence, NGOs were able to successfully work with the local Chechen community. In fact they were able to consult, through the "Salvation" Fund, the leadership of the Dagestan Chechens about effective strategies of behavior in these tense situations.
For example, they helped in editing statements made by the National Council of Dagestan Chechens in a way that they could not be perceived as containing threats. This is quite important, because for people caught up in a very threatening and tense situations it is difficult to objectively judge how there actions and statements are perceived by the hostile part of the population.
When the above mentioned leaflet calling for the deportation of all Chechens from Dagestan was released, both members of "Memorial" and of Nonviolence International immediately contacted a number of Russian MP's and urged them to speak to high ranking Russian officials about this dangerous development of the situation. Such conversations took place and as we have been informed - the situation around the Dagestan Chechens was discussed between federal and republican authorities.
Finally, the "Salvation" Fund was provided by some small but important financial aid for two purposes: to have stable and reliable communications, and thus continue to provide up to date information about the developments in the Hasavyurt area of Dagestan; to purchase a high quality copy machine, in order to (if necessary) produce leaflets and communicate to the local population directly, counteracting any possible calls for violence.
Whether influenced by all these efforts or not, but on September 14th the Chairman of the State Council of Dagestan, Magomed Ali Magomedov made a strong statement in defense of the Dagestan Chechens that was broadcasted throughout the republic. This statement (though it had come a bit late) had a positive effect on the development of the situation. It became certain that most Dagestan authorities were not interested in the development of a new interethnic conflict on the territory of their republic, though certain local "strong men" may have for a while considered this as a possibility. The situation had gradually eased somewhat, though the risk of such an inter-ethnic conflict has not gone away completely.
Today Nonviolence International, together with a number of Russian and Dagestan organizations is working on a project that should use the process of restoring houses destroyed during the war in order to unite representatives of various ethnic groups living in and around the areas effected by military action. We are currently trying to organize groups of builders of various ethnic background (including local Chechens) to work together on restoring the damaged homes. This would also be based on the local tradition of "peoples construction" - when local communities unite to help people who require assistance. If this effort is successful - it will be another important confidence building step, which will diminish the possibilities of inter-ethnic violence in the region.
Analyzing the work carried out in Dagestan to prevent an inter-ethnic conflict developing as a consequence of the fighting that took place, we believe that this is a rare case when we have evidence to prove that conflict prevention activities by NGOs may be effective. Obviously it would be wrong to say that a war was prevented due to NGO activities in the area, just as it is impossible even in principle to be sure of what could have happened if certain actions had not been taken. However, there is clear evidence of the effect of NGO involvement in this particular case:
· NGOs were the first to speak out about the danger of inter-ethnic violence breaking out (in spite of a prevailing attitude of "patriotic" hysteria in Russian media and among the public).
· The NGO leader who did not have any official position, clearly became the unofficial leader of the Chechen community in Dagestan. People, including Chechens who held important positions in the republican government turned to him for help.
· Moscow-based NGOs, who knew the situation in the region and received the alarming information were able to convene their concerns to federal authorities, and get them to take action - at least in the form of calls and conversations with the Dagestan leadership.
· The leaders of the local Chechen community was receptive to suggestions made by NGOs, and had even made changes in their statements according to NGO recommendations.
· Certain actions intended by local authorities, that may have increased tensions or even triggered the situation were halted.
· The Dagestan Chechens themselves strongly felt that the NGO efforts to avoid a conflict brought practical results.
And most and foremost - a conflict that could have erupted, did not happen.
However, it would be wrong to praise ourselves and close our eyes on the problem. A disastrous war is taking place in Chechnya - just across the border. Anything might happen in such an environment. But the fairly successful experience of NGO conflict prevention activities in Dagestan gives us encouragement, that such an approach may actually bring success and must continue to be supported.
View general information about this project
NONVIOLENCE INTERNATIONAL - NEWLY INDEPENDENT STATES HOME PAGE