Chechnya: We are not your enemy in the war on terror

[struggle4progress]

Akhmed Zakayev

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The Russian war in Chechnya has left 180,000 civilians dead, 17 percent of the population and twice as many homeless. Thousands of innocent people kidnapped by Russian soldiers disappeared without a trace. Some were ransomed to their families, alive and dead. Some were found in mass graves, disfigured by horrible torture. A human rights group recently published the confession of a Russian officer who took part in more than 50 secret executions.

Before Sept. 11, the West viewed Chechnya as a massive violation of human rights and condemned Russia for suppression of free speech and democracy. Then, democratically inclined Chechens - and Russians - felt the moral backing of the West and reciprocated with gratitude and respect. The Chechen problem was taken for what it was: a result of the disintegration of the Soviet empire that could be solved through negotiations.

But on Sept. 11, President Vladimir Putin pledged Russia's support to President George W. Bush; in return, Chechnya was declared a part of the global war on terror. So, while the statistics of atrocities in Chechnya have beaten all records in Bosnia and Kosovo, Slobodan Milosevic sits in the dock in the Hague while Putin attends the G-8 summit.
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I would like the U.S. president to say to the Muslims: The slaughter of your kin in Chechnya is not what we mean by democracy. The killings, the torture, the humiliation are not part of the war on terror. The wish of a small people to live in freedom and dignity is not punishable by death.
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Akhmed Zakayev, a deputy prime minister of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, received political asylum in Britain.

http://www.iht.com/articles/525576.html