DISSERTATION Titel der Dissertation „Association of impunity and traumatic reactions in torture survivors and human rights activists in North Caucasus“ Verfasserin Eliza Musaeva angestrebter akademischer Grad Doktorin der Philosophie (Dr. phil) Wien, 2013 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt: A 784 298 Dissertationsgebiet lt. Studienblatt: Psychologie Betreuerin / Betreuer: ao. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Germain Weber Univ.-Prof. Dr. Manfred Nowak, LL.M. 2 3 Acknowledgements I would like to express my appreciation and respect to my thesis directors, Prof. Dr. Germain Weber and Prof. Dr Manfred Nowak. I am deeply grateful to Ass.-Prof. Dr. Brigitte Lueger-Schuster for her guidance, patience and encouragement in my work during all these three years, as well as for her instructive and important comments at crucial stages of my research, and for her constructive criticism and insights. I also wish to thank my colleague from human rights organizations, Svetlana Gannushkina, and other colleagues from the offices in Moscow and in the North Caucasus, who contributed much to the first impetus of this thesis and supported me throughout the work. Their genuine interest and inspiration, their incessant desire for understanding and better action always motivated me to work harder. I am thankful to all people who helped me at different stages of this research, in particular to my colleagues who participated in the research and also helped to organize the data collection from the victims of torture. I thank all respondents who not only filled out the questionnaires, but also shared their views on the matters, which are not only 3painful, but about which it may also be dangerous to speak: state violence, impunity, torture experience. I am truly indebted to these people. My friends and family were always of enormous help and support for me. They were near when I needed encouragement and approval. 4 5 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 3 Preface 7 Part 1. Literature review 9 1.1 Impunity. Conceptual framework and models 9 1.1.1 Definition of impunity 9 1.1.2 The problem of impunity in the interdisciplinary context 10 1.1.3. Impunity. Psychological approach 16 1.1.3.1. Subjective aspect of perceiving impunity 18 1.1.3.2. Impunity and distorted reality 20 1.1.3.3. Social mechanisms for the restoration of distorted reality 21 1.1.4. Conclusions 24 1.2. Social and Historical Aspects of Impunity in the Process of Traumatization in the North Caucasus 25 1.2.1 Chechens and Ingush: Traditions and Mentality 25 1.2.2. Religion 26 1.2.3. Chechnya. From War to State Terror 27 1.2.4. Complete impunity 30 1.2.5. The „Chechenization“ of the Conflict 32 1.2.6. International Organizations and the Human Rights Crisis in the North Caucasus 34 1.2.7. The European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR) 36 1.2.8. Ingushetia. How it Got Involved in the Conflict 37 1.2.8.1. Ingushetia and Chechnya in the Soviet time. Their common „history of injustice“ 37 1.2.8.2. Ingushetia and the Second War in Chechnya 38 1.2.9. Conclusion 41 1.3. Traumatization in torture survivors and HR activists 43 1.3.1. Impunity as a shared social context for survivors of torture and human rights activists 43 1.3.2. Traumatization of torture survivors 47 1.3.2.1. Definition and historical aspect of using torture 48 1.3.2.2. Epidemiology of torture 51 1.3.2.3. Torture in Russia 52 1.3.2.4. Torture in the context of impunity 53 1.3.2.5. Psychological impact of torture trauma in the context of impunity 54 1.3.3.Factors of traumatization and stressors, which are related to human rights work. Secondary traumatization & chronic threat 58 1.3.3.1. Secondary traumatization in HRactivists 60 6 1.3.3.1.1. Definition and concept specification 60 1.3.3.1.2. Specific factors which lead to secondary traumatization in HR activists 61 1.3.3.2. Traumatization by threat 68 1.3.4. Conclusion 70 Part 2. Empirical part 72 Part 3. Conclusion and general discussion 109 3.1. Limitations and future research 111 4. Abstract 113 5. Zusammenfassung 115 Appendix 1. Glossary 147 Appendix 2. Blank for Associations Test 150 Appendix 3. Correlations matrix. Correlations of Emotional Response to perceived impunity with trauma-related characteristics 151 Appendix 4. Correlations between basic beliefs items and trauma-related measures 153 7 Preface During the last decades the problem of torture and other ill-treatment in the name of counter-terrorism has been becoming ever more topical. International agreements and treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Genocide and the Convention against Torture are violated with impunity, meaning that state parties to these agreements are reneging on their international obligations. The importance of the problem is reflected in the growing body of research concerning different aspects of impunity and mental health. Among them are the following themes: the role played in psychological disturbances by beliefs about trust and justice (Başoğlu et al., 2005; Foa et al., 1999; Şalcıoğlu, 2004); the therapeutic effect of reparation and retributive justice (Carmichael et al., 1996; Hamber, 2001; Roth- Arriaza, 1995); the psychological impact of impunity on the individual and society levels (Agger & Jensen, 1996; Becker & Castillo, 1990; Dri et al., 2009; Lira, 1995; Lykes, 1994; Rauchfuss & Schmolze, 2008; Zur, 1994); the transmission of the psychological effects of impunity to succeeding generations (Beckerman, 2000; Dri et al., 2009); the effect of participating in trials or truth-commissions on the psychological and emotional suffering of survivors (Aldana, 2006; Brouneus, 2008; Herman, 2003; Laplante & Theidon, 2007; Mendeloff, 2009; O’Connell, 2005). A significant number of publications deal with the impact of impunity on the aggravation of psychological conditions and the impediment it presents to healing processes among survivors (Agger & Jensen, 1995; Backer, 2001; Başoğlu et al., 2005; Lira, 1995; Rauchfuss & Schmolze, 2008; van Willigen, 1992). This multifaceted problem is being studied from various perspectives and relies on the interaction of different sciences - moral, legal, political, historical, military, philosophical (Dri, 2009; Greenberg, 2005; Parry, 2010; Roth et al., 2005; Silove, 1999 etc.). Nowadays impunity is understood as a threat to the psychological well-being both of victims and of society in general, its norms and values (Baeza, 2000, p.28). Yet despite the growing literature on legal and psychological aspects of torture, the problem of impunity and its role in the traumatization of torture survivors of the fight against terrorism is not taken into account in the abundant theories and models of traumatisation, nor in the exploration of the link between human rights and psychological well-being, nor in the psychological assistance to torture survivors. 8 Traditionally the majority of research on impunity refers to the situation in Latin America (the so called “dirty wars” there) (Agger and Jensen, 1996; Baeza, 2000, 2001; Becker, 2001, 2003; Edelman et al., 1998; Kordon and Edelman, 1988; Lagos, 1994; Lira, 1995; McSherry, 1992; Sveaass and Lavik, 2000; Zur, 1994 etc.). I approach this problem based on material from the North Caucasus. Many torture victims in Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia (Russian North Caucasus) do not choose to remain silent about what happened with them, but have to, because of fear of reprisals against themselves, members of their families and/or close friends. It is fundamental not to limit the topic of justice to those who suffered. Official and public procedures condemning those who organized and/or executed crimes are necessary. Impunity can be considered as one of the key factors of indirect secondary traumatism among family members, not only through its psychological effect, but also because it places them in actual danger. For example, the relatives of militants (their brothers, cousins) are often abducted and tortured today in Ingushetia and Chechnya (Memorial, 2010). Unauthorized arrests and abductions, incarceration in secret prisons, temporary enforced disappearances often accompanied by torture: these and other traumatic events first became constituent parts of the tragic war policy in Chechnya, and later in the fight against terrorism in the neighboring North Caucasian republics of Ingushetia and Dagestan. There is no official statistics for forced abduction and torture in Chechnya. But according to Human Rights Center Memorial’s data they are compatible with those for Big Terror in the USSR in the 1930s (Baisaev & Grushkin, 2003). The main interest of researchers dealing with this region has been focused on the question of the psychological consequences of war itself. The mental health of the population which survived the war (Hargreaves et al., 2007; Idrisov, 2010) and the perception of terrorist threat by the inhabitants of the Chechen Republic (Bykhovets, 2007) are topics - impunity and torture survivors – which, although urgent these days, have barely been investigated by scholars. There is practically no psychological research on impunity in the region despite the body of literature produced by sociologists, historians, political scientists (Dunlop, 1999; Gammer 2008; Gilligan, 2009; Kramer, 2004/2005; Wood 2007), ethnographers (Chesnov, 1999; Raubisko, 2011; Sokirianskaia, 2008; Tishkov, 2004), journalists, and human rights activists (Cherkasov, 2012; Dmitrievsky, 2008; Mnatsakanyan, 2007; Yashurkaev, 1995). I expect that profound exploration of the influence of impunity on torture survivors will provide insights into the social mechanisms of both traumatization and recovery. This research may open a space for both further research in this subject area, as well as for the development of psychological assistance programs for torture survivors and HR activists. 9 Part 1. Literature review 1.1 Impunity. Conceptual framework and models 1.1.1 Definition of impunity The word “impunity” entered English in the first half of the sixteenth century. It derived from Middle French impunité and Latin impunitatem “omission of punishment.” The Latin was formed from im- “not” and poena “punishment.” It is related to such words as “subpoena,” “penalty” and “penal,” all of which derive from poena.