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Rape and Sexual Assssault in Chechnya

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Rape and Sexual Assssault in Chechnya Rape and Sexual Assault in Chechnya By Valentina Rousseva This article sheds light on the horrors of ethnic cleansing practiced upon the women and men of Chechnya by Russian soldiers since 1994. About 15 to 20% of the Chechen popula- prospects to marry and have a family, tion died or disappeared during the wars and her role in society. In addition, rape of 1994 and 1999.1 Many lost their has become a weapon of ethnic clean- homes, their belongings, as well as their sing in Chechnya. Women’s bodies are identification papers. A great number of controlled by the enemy, in order to ob- Chechens were placed in camps like In- tain control over the ethnic group’s fu- gushetia or sought asylum from the ter- ture. ror of the war in neighbor nations. Because of the lack of transparency Structural violence has affected all Che- in the region, the actual numbers of hu- chens, but most powerfully the women, man rights violations against civilian who exist as the marginalized group in a Chechen women is unknown, however, patriarchal society. the reported cases are considerable in Violence against Chechen women is numbers. These have and continue to multi-layered. The extreme poverty- happen at checkpoints, the outskirts of evidenced by an unemployment rate of towns, and in camps like Ingushetia. 60% (about 10% of the population lives Some reported cases describe Chechen in extreme poverty), lack of comprehen- women dragged out of their homes dur- sive and affordable health care and edu- ing the Russian “sweep operations”. cation- greatly influences their lives.2 They were beaten, molested, raped, and The wars of 1994 and 1999 brought new in many cases brutally murdered by Rus- forms of suffering to Chechen women. sian soldiers or “kontraktnik” (con- In addition to structural violence, many tracted soldiers). Eighteen-year old of them experienced painful losses of Kheda Kungaeva was taken from her relatives, friends, and members of their home in Tangi-Chiby by Russian sol- immediate family. Still, the most trau- diers.3 Colonel Yuri Budanov, a tank matic and debilitating experiences were commander, was the leader of the group. the sexual abuse and rapes by Russian Kungaeva was brought to a military soldiers, which many Chechen women camp where, according to a forensic ex- refer to as worse than death. This analy- aminer cited by Human Rights Watch sis will focus on rape and sexual abuses report, “Kungaeva was beaten, anally as powerful tools of oppression. The im- and vaginally penetrated by a hard ob- plications of rape by a non-Moslem man ject, and strangled at about 3:00am”. She on a Moslem woman’s life, seen through was violently raped before her death. the lenses of the specific culture and re- Similar cases happened in 2002, accord- ligion, could alter fundamentally her 3 Human Rights Watch: “Russian Federation 1 Human Rights Violation in Chechnya, Serious Violations of Women’s Human Rights in http://www.hrvc.net/main.htm. Chechnya, 2 Global IDP Project: Russian Federation, http://hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/chechnya_wom http://www.db.idpproject.org. en.htm. CS&P Vol 3 Num 1 November 2004 CS&P Valentina Rousseva 65 ing to Human Rights Watch. “Aset Asi- and will continue his clan. The loss of mova” (not her real name), a widow of virginity before marriage or any sexual 43, survived a gang rape by Russian sol- acts outside of the marriage bond are diers, which happened in her own home. shaming to the women, as well as to Credible reports of rapes and sexual their husbands who have failed in per- abuses are received for Russian check- forming their masculine duty--the re- points within Chechnya. According to sponsibility to protect their wives. A Human Rights Watch, “Alisa Riskha- Chechen woman’s rape, despite the fact nova” was detained in a checkpoint be- that it is by the enemy and during war- cause her passport picture did not re- time, seriously reduces her chances for semble her appearance. Russian soldiers marriage. In some cases the husband di- told her: “you will never have children vorces his wife because he cannot live again” and began kicking her and hitting with the shame. The issue of honor of her. She was then gang raped. the male is of greater power than the Rape is being used as a threat in de- compassion for the suffering of the tention centers, where women are fon- woman. dled and treated as a form of entertain- Rape of enemy women during war is ment without any respect for them as the key to dishonoring enemy males, human beings. They are stripped of their taking away their power and threatening personality and become just bodies. In a the future of the ethnic group by possible recent report, Russian soldiers made impregnation of the women. Rape, as Chechen women undress and dance na- stated by Yugoslavia war survivor ked in front of them.4 Rabija, is “planned in advance and in- Given the specific culture of the re- tended to destroy the soul of a nation” gion, rape and sexual assault have very (Barstow, 2000, p.62). As Todd complex implications for the lives of Salzman states, violation of the female women. The majority of the Chechen body is a “weapon of war” used to ethni- population is Moslem. In a patriarchal cally clean and create a homogenous na- society the role of the female inside and tion (2000). In the case of Chechnya, outside of the family is set. She is infe- Russia’s nationalist ideology could ex- rior to the male who is the main actor plain much of the dynamics behind the and public figure. The female reproduc- actions of sexual abuse and rapes of tive purpose is overemphasized in the Chechen women. First the Russian patriarchal tradition. Women are consid- forces removed a great number of Che- ered the continuum of the ethnic group, chen men in massive slaughters, or dis- and are the bearers of the ethnic identity placed them by sending them to camps and culture through their ability to give or detention centers. Then, when the birth to new generations. A Moslem Chechen women were left more vulner- woman’s best virtue is her virginity and able, Russian soldiers started the rapes. chastity. This is a guarantee to the hus- The use of rape as a strategy is tied to band that the children she bears are his the possible impregnation of Chechen women. In Russia, babies are always given their father’s name and are 4 Human Rights Watch: “Russian Federation brought up with their father’s culture and Serious Violations of Women’s Human Rights in Chechnya, religion. Chechen women are thus http://hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/chechnya_wom viewed by the Russian military as being en.htm. CS&P Vol 3 Num 1 November 2004 66 Rape and Sexual Assault in Chechnya CS&P the key to “ethnic cleansing”. The con- but not rape. Chechens remain deeply trol over them could lead to the complete suspicious of the Russian authorities’ extinction of their ethnic group and this work and have little faith in their impar- could ensure that Russia would be an tiality. Chechen women fear that their ethnically homogenous nation in the fu- reports could expose them to further vio- ture. lations. Chechen women are also treated The second use of rape as ethnic as second-class citizens. Without wit- cleansing is to prevent births within the nesses, their testimonies mean little ethnic group. Brutal rapes could debili- against the testimony of the Russian sol- tate women and make them incapable of diers. This lack of punishment and en- childbearing in the future. The trauma- forcement of women’s rights in Russia tizing experience by itself might make creates an environment that welcomes them unwilling to have a child. Accord- more sexual abuses of Chechen women ing to Salzman, the reduction of number in the future. of births might be the result of rape Article Four of the Geneva Conven- (2000, p.89). Feminists view war as the tion defines rape as a war crime, and Ar- powerful expression of patriarchal ticle Twenty-Seven clearly prohibits it. power. Rape during wartime is the most The Vienna Declaration and Program of extreme case of enforcement of the Action, adopted in 1993, states that vio- men’s control over women and their tra- lations of the human rights of women in ditionally inferior roles. The numerous armed conflicts, including rape, sexual cases of violence against women at slavery and forced pregnancy, are viola- home and at work, along with the well- tions of the fundamental principles of known problems of the Russian Federa- international human rights and humani- tion with trafficking of women and tarian law. With the establishment of the forced prostitution, form the context of International War Crime Tribunal for the the existing mistreatment and women’s Former Yugoslavia in February 1993, rights violations in Russia. This makes rape is now defined as a crime against rape and sexual abuse much more likely humanity. The United Nation Commis- to occur in the war zones. sion for Human Rights has adopted a Because of fear that they might be resolution urging Russia to investigate divorced by their husbands, unable to human rights abuses within Chechnya marry, or ostracized by society, many and to cooperate with international non- Chechen women never report rape or governmental organizations (INGOs) in sexual assault.5 The secret is a yet an- studying the situation. But Russia re- other torture for them, one they may live jected this resolution and no further ac- with for the rest of their lives.
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