THE CHECHEN CRISIS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR RUSSIAN DEMOCRACY HEARING BEFORE THE COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION NOVEMBER 3, 1999 Printed for the use of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe [CSCE 106-1-12] Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.house.gov/csce 61-761CC U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON : 2000 COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS HOUSE SENATE CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado Chairman Co-Chairman FRANK R. WOLF, Virginia KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, Texas MATT SALMON, Arizona SPENCER ABRAHAM, Michigan JAMES C. GREENWOOD, Pennsylvania SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas JOSEPH R. PITTS, Pennsylvania TIM HUTCHINSON, Arkansas STENY H. HOYER, Maryland FRANK R. LAUTENBERG, New Jersey BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland BOB GRAHAM, Florida LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER, New York RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin MICHAEL P. FORBES, New York CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut EXECUTIVE BRANCH COMMISSIONERS HAROLD HONGJU KOH, Department of State EDWARD L. WARNER III, Department of Defense PATRICK A. MULLOY, Department of Commerce COMMISSION S TAFF DOROTHY DOUGLAS TAFT, Chief of Staff RONALD J. MCNAMARA, DeputyChief of Staff AMBASSADOR WILLIAM H. COURTNEY, Senior Advisor ELIZABETH M. CAMPBELL, Staff Assistant/Systems Administrator MARIA V. COLL, Office Administrator OREST DEYCHAKIWSKY, Staff Advisor JOHN F. FINERTY, Staff Advisor CHADWICK R. GORE, Communications Director, Digest Editor ROBERT HAND, Staff Advisor JANICE HELWIG, Staff Advisor MARLENE KAUFMANN, Counsel KAREN S. LORD, Counsel for Freedom of Religion MICHAEL J. OCHS, Staff Advisor ERIKA B. SCHLAGER, Counsel for International Law MAUREEN T. WALSH, General Counsel (ii) THE CHECHEN CRISIS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR RUSSIAN DEMOCRACY NOVEMBER 3, 1999 OPENING STATEMENTS PAGE Rep. Christopher H. Smith, Chairman .......................................................... 1 Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Co-Chairman .............................................. 3 Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, Ranking Member ......................................................... 4 WITNESSES PAGE John B. Dunlop, Senior Fellow, The Hoover Institution ............................... 6 Fiona Hill, Director of Strategic Planning, Eurasia Foundation ................. 9 Lyoma Usmanov, Representative of Chechen Republic to the United States ............................................................................................ 13 Yoav Karny, Journalist ................................................................................ 15 APPENDICES PAGE Prepared Statement of Rep. Steny H, Hoyer ............................................... 30 Prepared Statement of John B. Dunlop, The Hoover Institution ............... 32 Prepared Statement of Fiona Hill ............................................................... 35 Prepared Submission of Lyoma Usmanov ................................................... 42 Victors and Vanquished in Chechnya by Robert Bruce Ware, reprinted from the Los Angeles Times, Nov. 8, 1999 .............................. 53 Letter to Pres. William J. Clinton, submitted by the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe ............................................ 55 President of Ingushetia Pleads for Humanitarian Corridor, submitted by Cathy Fitzpatrick, International League for Human Rights ................. 57 Articles submitted by Human Rights WatchMoscow .............................. 60 The Current Crisis in Chechnya, Prepared Submission of Islamic Su- preme Council of America ........................................................................ 65 (iii) THE CHECHEN CRISIS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR RUSSIAN DEMOCRACY NOVEMBER 3, 1999 COMMISSION ON SECURITY AND C OOPERATION IN EUROPE, WASHINGTON, DC The hearing was held at 10:00 a.m., in room 2226, Rayburn House Office Building, the Honorable Christopher H. Smith, Chairman, pre- siding. Commission Members present: Hon. Christopher H. Smith, Chair- man; Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Co-Chairman; Hon. Steny H. Hoyer, Ranking Member; Hon. Frank R. Wolf; Hon. Joseph R. Pitts; and Hon. Benjamin L. Cardin. Witnesses present: Dr. John Dunlop, Senior Fellow, the Hoover Insti- tution; Dr. Fiona Hill, Director of Strategic Planning, Eurasia Founda- tion; Lyoma Usmanov, Representative of Chechen Republic to the United States; and Yoav Karny, journalist. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, CHAIRMAN Mr. SMITH. The Commission will come to order. Good morning. I am pleased to welcome you to this hearing of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Helsinki Commission. Today the Com- mission will examine the Chechen crisis and its implications for Rus- sian democracy. In response to armed incursions into Dagestan by Islamic extrem- ists in August and September of this year, and in the wake of un- solved terrorist bombings in Russia that killed almost 300 persons, Russia has renewed its war against Chechnya as the alleged culprit behind Russias problems with terrorism. Unfortunately, in using the excuse of seeking to punish a handful of guilty or alleged guilty per- sons, the Russian Government is applying indiscriminate force far out of proportion to its stated objectives. As was the case four years ago, thousands of innocent persons are being killed or displaced by the Russian offensive. As winter ap- proaches in the North Caucasus, a humanitarian catastrophe threat- ens in the neighboring region of Ingushetia, where the majority of refu- gees have fled to makeshift camps. At last report, up to 190,000 persons from Northern Chechnya had been internally displaced. (1) 2 The capital city, Grozny, is under siege by the Russian army, and a Russian rocket attack on the market in the center of town left a re- ported 143 dead. It would appear that Moscow, supported at the present by Russian public opinion, is going full blast to revenge its humiliating loss of Chechnya in the 1994 to 1996 war. Honesty compels us to make the assessment that in the three years of de facto independence, the Chechen Government has been unable to create a viable basis for the rule of law or a growing stable economy. To a considerable degree, this is a result of the devastation of the war, the absence of economic reform, and the relative isolation of Chechnya geo- graphically. But Chechnya would have enjoyed a great deal more international support over the past three years if foreigners had not been afraid to go there lest they be kidnapped and potentially killed, as was the case with the American citizen and humanitarian worker, Fred Cuny, who went to Chechnya on a humanitarian mission. To this day, his exact fate is not known. Of course, many residents in Chechnya were also the vic- tims of kidnapping and murder, including several clergy and members of Christian churches. There is agreement, I am sure, among my colleagues in the Con- gress as well as in the Executive Branch, that any country, including the Russian Federation, is justified in using appropriate methods to combat terrorism. However, launching a war against innocent civil- ians is another matter. Russia is a participating State of the OSCE and has agreed to cer- tain standards regarding the protection of citizens when addressing internal security matters. Chechnya is currently recognized by the international community as part of the Russian Federation; but this cannot be regarded as merely an internal affair, despite what Rus- sian military and political officials say. The 1991 Moscow Document of the OSCE clearly states that com- mitments undertaken in the field of the human dimensionand we are certainly speaking of the human dimension here are matters of direct and legitimate concern of all participating States. In this connection, I note that the Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov has announced that Russia has agreed to allow a delegation from the OSCE to visit Ingushetia, Dagestan, and the parts of Chechnya un- der federal control. While this recognition of OSCEs role is welcome, the Russian Government has also declared that it no longer recognizes President Maskhadov as the legitimate head of the Chechen Republic. The president was elected, as we know, in February of 1997 in a multi- party election observed by international observers, including the OSCE, with the approval of the Russian Government. We expect the Russian Government to recognize the legitimate representatives of the people of Chechnya. We are also concerned that heavy-handed military solutions and Russias attempts to combat terrorism with a campaign of harass- ment against Caucasian minorities in Russian cities like Moscow may presage a move away from the rule of law, civil liberties, and demo- cratic development. There is speculation that the Yeltsin administra- tion may use the conflict in Chechnya as an excuse to cancel or post- pone parliamentary elections scheduled for December. 3 Moreover, the Chechen war may also have a serious and negative impact on the security situation in the entire Caucasus region. The region has already seen much armed conflict, violence, and human suffering, most recently the brutal assassination of a number of gov- ernment leaders in Armenia. I have, on several occasions in the past, criticized what I believe was an anemic response by our own Administration towards Russias treat- ment of the civilian population of the Chechen war during 1994 and 1996. I believe that the Administration appeared to give the green light to Moscow as early