|
SNA CHECHENPRESS. Publications andMedia Section, 08/07/08
The ChRI Prime Minister Akhmed Zakaevgave a telephone interview to the NorthCaucasus Service of the Radio Liberty (RadioMarsho) in a programme about the crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on the Chechen territory.
Aslan Ayubov (Radio Marsho): Since the Second World War there has not been such a bloody and destructive war on the European soil as the war in Chechnya. The Prime Minister in the Ichkeriya Government Akhmed Zakaev states that the destruction of Chechnya’s capital is a crime which must be vindicated and which serves as a reminder of similar crimes committed in Chechnya.
Akhmed Zakaev: The unprecedented destruction of the city of Grozny, the mass murder of its citizens is a crime which comes under the definition of crimes against humanity. It has been recognised in the rest of the world and accepted as an incontrovertible fact.
The crime committed in Samashki which became infamous all over the world, has been qualified by lawyers, politicians and human rights organisations as a crime against humanity. Furthermore, since the beginning of the second Chechen war, the crime committed in Aldy which also became known to the whole world, has also been classified as a crime against humanity.
You could add to this list the events in Komsomolskoe, Goiskoe, Bamut, the villages razed to the ground by heavy artillery attacks, despite the fact that their inhabitants were still living in them at the time. This list also includes the deliberate shelling by heavy artillery and the killing of the inhabitants of the capital who had tried to leave the city by roads, declared ‘evacuation corridors’ by the occupying forces. Or the mass murder of people en route to Tolstoy-Yurt after the road had been declared a ‘corridor for the exit of civilians’. All these evil deeds fall under the definition of crimes against humanity.
These and other crimes including the violation of some military conventions, the disproportionate use of force, the deliberate destruction of infrastructure – are all examples of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Besides, hundreds and thousands of murdered and missing people, including the missing as a result of the detention and abduction by the occupying forces – these cases are in their thousands and they also belong to the category of crimes against humanity.
Aslan Ayubov: Akhmed Zakaev, resident in London, has told us that material has been gathered for a separate book which will be published next year in several European languages.
Akhmed Zakaev: We have gathered together a lot of documents on the subject. Today considerable work is being done here, abroad, to prepare the book for publication in English and some other European languages. Our people are working on it and one way or another, the work is going to be completed next year and the books will be published. I can assure you that by that time criminal proceedings as well as judicial prosecution of some of those people [the Russian offenders – ChP’s note] will have started in a number of countries.
AslanAyubov :ZakaevAkhmedsupportsandconsidersit helpfulifindividualstake their cases to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to see justice done and to defend their rights. Moreover, theChechenswhohavefoundasylumintheWest, cantake the matter to the courts of their countries of residence, stresses Zakaev.
Akhmed Zakaev: The European Court of Human Rights is recognised by Russia. Despite the fact that the rulings of the Strasbourg Court in the cases of our compatriots mostly require payment of damages their significance is considerable and is not reduced to damages alone. The court’s rulings are an important step and part of the process of protecting people against such crimes. The next step is as follows: at the moment the process is under way, whereby people who have left Chechnya on account of Russia’s military aggression are granted citizenship in the countries where they are resident. Once they have been granted citizenship, once they have received their passports they get a right to start criminal proceedings in line with the legislation of their country and bring the offenders who are based in Russia to justice.
Aslan Ayubov: It is not the first time that Russia inflicts war on Chechnya. The Russian-Chechen relations have never been easy. A lot of blood has been spilt on the Chechen soil. I have asked Akhmed Zakaev what needs to be done to stop such bloodshed in the future.
Akhmed Zakaev: So far in the whole of the four hundred year period of confrontation with Russia which you have just mentioned, at no point has Russia been asked to answer for the crimes committed against our country and our people. Moreover, for them [the Russians – ChP’s note] the aggression and the crimes against our people serve as a fertile soil for their military and political leadership, the breeding ground for their politicians and their generals. To look at it from a military point of view these aggressions are intertwined with their economy. If you make the military answer for their crimes at least once, if they get punished at least once, this would serve as an example for all those who come to power in Russia. This is one solution.
Another is this: if anyone thinks or suggests today that our people’s struggle and its victims are in vain and do not benefit the people or the country, this is not true. Historically speaking, despite the tragic nature of the war it has taken the Chechen people to the level of awareness when they can determine their own fate and their own future. We have paid for this and are still paying a terrible price for this but today we have every opportunity to make the world remember the crimes committed against us and to bring those guilty of the crimes to justice. |
