DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CHECHEN CONFLICT HEARING BEFORE THE COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MAY 9, 2002 Printed for the use of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe [CSCE 107-2-3] Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.csce.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 2002 81-235CC For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: (202) 5121800 Fax: (202) 5122250 Mail Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 204020001 COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS HOUSE SENATE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado Co-Chairman Chairman FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas ZACH WAMP, Tennessee GORDON H. SMITH, Oregon ROBERT B. ADERHOLT, Alabama GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio STENY H. HOYER, Maryland CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland BOB GRAHAM, Florida LOUISE MCINTOSH SLAUGHTER, New York RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin ALCEE L. HASTINGS, Florida HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York EXECUTIVE B RANCH COMMISSIONERS LORNE W. CRANER, Department of State JACK DYER CROUCH II, Department of Defense WILLIAM HENRY LASH III, Department of Commerce (ii) DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CHECHEN CONFLICT MAY 9, 2002 COMMISSIONERS PAGE Hon. Robert T. Aderholt, Commissioner ........................................................ 1 Hon. Alcee L. Hastings, Commissioner .......................................................... 6 Hon. Joseph R. Pitts, Commissioner ............................................................ 20 WITNESSES Amb. Stephen Pifer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. Department of State ..................... 2 Aset Chadayeva, Pediatric Nurse and Former Resident of Chechnya ....... 12 Andrei Babitsky, Correspondent, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty ......... 14 Anatol Lieven, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace ............................................................................. 17 APPENDICES Prepared Statement of Hon. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Chairman, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe ............................. 25 Prepared Statement of Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Co-Chairman ........... 26 Prepared Statement of Amb. Steven Pifer ................................................... 28 Prepared Statement of Aset Chadaeva........................................................ 33 Prepared Statement of Andrei Babitsky ..................................................... 35 Prepared Statement of Anatol Lieven .......................................................... 38 Chechen Refugees Face Forced Return, by Catherine A. Fitzpatrick, reprinted from RFE/RLs Uncivil Societies, Vol. 3, No. 23, June 5, 2002 .............................................................................................. 44 (iii) DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CHECHEN CONFLICT MAY 9, 2002 COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND C OOPERATION IN EUROPE WASHINGTON, DC The Commission met in room 340, Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC, at 2:00 p.m., the Hon. Robert T. Aderholt, Commis- sioner, presiding. Commissioners present: Hon. Robert T. Aderholt, Commissioner; Hon. Joseph R. Pitts, Commissioner; and Hon. Alcee L. Hastings, Commis- sioner. Witnesses present: Amb. Steven Pifer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, U.S. Department of State; Aset Chadayeva, Pediatric Nurse; Andrei Babitsky, Correspondent, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; and Anatol Lieven, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. HON. ROBERT T. ADERHOLT, COMMISSIONER, COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE Mr. ADERHOLT. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, members of the Commission, for attending this hearing on recent developments in the war in Chechnya. The war between Russia and the region of Chechnya, the second in the past 10 years, continues with little respite. Much of the region is in ru- ins, resulting in a humanitarian disaster of enormous proportions. Vio- lence connected with the war has crossed into neighboring regions. The Rus- sian Government claims that in 1999 Chechen terrorists planted bombs in Russian cities that took the lives of hundreds of innocent citizens, al- though questions have been raised about the reliability of this evidence. In Chechnya, an estimated 300,000 people have been displaced by the war, many of whom are living in refugee camps in neighboring regions. Hundreds of people, suspected insurgents or otherwise, have been killed or have disappeared after being detained by Russian military forces. Human Rights Watch has documented eight mass graves and eight other makeshift burial sites where corpses of disappeared and others have been found. The largest of these mass graves, with 51 bodies, was discov- ered near the Russian army headquarters in February of last year. The Human Rights Watch report continues that most of the bodies found in those graves were last seen in the custody of Russian federal forces and most bore the unmistakable sign of torture. Injuries commonly found on the bodies include broken limbs, scalped body parts, severed finger- tips and knife and gunshot wounds. 2 Russian soldiers have died in ambushes, mine explosions or skirmishes with guerrillas. Some have reportedly been killed after capture by Chechen forces. The Russians assert that the war is an anti-terrorist operation and evidence reveals that some elements of the Chechen insurgency have been linked to the lethal plague of international terrorism. I believe we should work with any nation committed to fight against international terrorism, and I also understand that the Russian Gov- ernment has legitimate concerns about the criminality and the lack of governance that is characterized by Chechnya after the period of 1994- 1996 war. Murder, kidnaping, and even mutilation of victims frequently occurred, and Chechen authorities were either unable or unwilling to repress the criminal elements in their territory. However, the fight against terrorism cannot be carte blanche to re- press human rights, and we are currently seeing some in participating States of the OSCE, and it certainly cannot be an excuse to unleash war without the slightest regard to Geneva Conventions or the OSCE Code of Conduct against an entire people. The vast majority of the people of Afghanistan were glad to see the allied forces liberate them from the repression of the Taliban regime. Can anyone say the same for the Chechen people and the Russian army as it is currently operating? Recently, President Putin stated, Let us hope that the use of force in Chechnya will soon be a thing of the past. I know that people in Chechnya are tired of the use of force and the special operations. We can only add a heartfelt amen to those sentiments and hope that he will undertake a meaningful and sincere effort to stop the indiscriminate killings and the human rights abuses in Chechnya, many of which are perpetrated by Russian forces nominally under his control. At the same time, I would urge the Chechen leadership to heed the call of the United States Government and to dissociate itself from ter- rorist elements and to consider any just and reasonable solutions that would end the suffering by the people of Chechnya. I look forward to hearing the testimony of our witnesses today and will have some questions following the testimony. I would like to add that the Commission has extended an invitation to the Russian Em- bassy to send a representative to provide testimony at the hearing to- day, but their schedule did not permit that. The embassy is welcome to provide any written remarks for inclusion in the hearing record itself. First of all, we are glad to have Ambassador Steven Pifer, and he will be on the first panel. We welcome you to the Commission, and we look forward to your testimony. Amb. PIFER. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, for the opportu- nity to be here to talk about Chechnya and U.S. policy as regards it. With your permission, what I would like to do is submit a written statement for the record and then just offer some brief summary comments. Mr. ADERHOLT. Without objection. AMB. STEPHEN PIFER, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Amb. PIFER. Thank you. The Chechen conflict is now several months away from its third year. It has brought tremendous destruction and ruin to Chechnya and, sadly, there is no real sign at this point that this situation is going to end at 3 any time soon. The U.S. Government is committed to doing all that it can to bring about an end to this conflict and to relieve the suffering of the civilian population. The objectives with regards to Chechnya today are the same as they have been in the past; we seek a political settlement that will end the fighting, promote reconciliation, and recognize the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation. We also seek accountability for human rights abuses committed by all sides in the conflict and an end to them, and we seek unimpeded access to the displaced persons by humanitarian organizations. We are working toward these objectives in our ongoing discussions with the Russian Government, in concert with friends and allies, and in partnership with international and nongovernmental or- ganizations. We were encouraged by the speech on September 24 by President Putin which, to our mind, created an opening