Persoverzicht Tsjetsjenië - september 2017

• 2017-10-03
• Democratie & mensenrechten Europa in de wereld

4 september 2017

Rally held in Moscow outside Myanmar Embassy: Reportedly, several hundred people took part in an unauthorised rally on Sunday outside the Myanmar Embassy in Moscow in support of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. No incidents were reported during the action. A rally in support of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar is planned to be held on 4 September in Grozny (capital of Chechnya). (Gazeta.ru, Kommersant, MK, NG)

5 september 2017

Rally held in Grozny in support of Myanmar Muslims: According to the Chechen Interior Ministry, more than 1 million people took part in a rally on Monday in Grozny in support of Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya minority. Earlier, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov condemned the Myanmar government's actions and stressed that he would oppose Moscow if it supports the Myanmar authorities. Kommersant writes in a comment that a standoff between Myanmar government forces and Rohingya Muslims has unexpectedly turned from a foreign policy issue into an issue of internal policy for Russia. In the view of some experts, Kadyrov positions himself as the leader of Russian Muslims. Analyst Alexei Makarkin does not rule out that Kadyrov's role as the defender of Muslims could have been coordinated with the Kremlin, but adds that this initiative creates risks. MK notes that Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov's statements run counter the official position expressed recently by the Russian Foreign Ministry and cites a Russian Foreign Ministry statement of 28 August, in which it "condemned an armed raid by the Rakhine Rohingya Salvation Army insurgents against police stations and army units" and expressed "support for the Myanmar government's efforts to normalize the situation." Expert Alexei Malashenko says in a comment that Kadyrov de facto denounced Russia's foreign policy. In an editorial, Nezavisimaya Gazeta remarks that the Chechen leader "in essence encroached on the Russian President's constitutional rights and obligations." Meanwhile, at a press conference after the BRICS summit in China on Tuesday, President Putin opposed any violence in Myanmar and also said that "everyone is entitled to his own opinion." (Gazeta.ru, Kommersant, MK, NG, RBK, Vedomosti; Russian MFA comment of 28 August: http://www.mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/2846550)

6 september 2017

Rise of political Islam in Russia: At a press conference after the BRICS summit in China on Tuesday, President Putin reacted to Russian Muslims' outrage over the Myanmar government's actions in relation to the Rohingya Muslims. Press recalls that several hundred people took part in an unauthorised rally near the Myanmar Embassy in Moscow on 3 September, while more than 1 million people rallied in support of Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya minority in Grozny (capital of Chechnya) on 4 September. Commentators speak of the rise of 'political Islam' in Russia. Addressing recent statements made by Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Duma deputy and former prosecutor of Crimea Natalia Poklonskaya, MK sees a linkage between Muslim and Orthodox Christian activists in Russia. (MK, NG, RBK)

7 september 2017

North Caucasus: The National Antiterrorist Committee said that four militants, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist group [banned in Russia], were killed in an operation on Wednesday in North Ossetia. (ii) The National Antiterrorist Committee said that a ringleader had been killed in a counterterrorist operation in Dagestan's Khasavyurt district on Tuesday. A civilian was killed and a police officer was wounded during the operation. (Regnum; Ekho Moskvy)

11 september 2017

Chechnya's leader calls to stop rallying in support of Myanmar Muslims: Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov wrote on Instagram that the international community has paid attention to the situation of Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya minority and stressed that "there is no need for rallies" in support of the Rohingya. Press recalls that according to Chechen police, more than 1 million people took part in a rally to support Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims in Grozny on 4 September. Meanwhile, the media reports that up to 130 people were detained at unauthorised rally in support of the Rohingya on Sunday in St. Petersburg. (Gazeta.ru, MT) 

13 september 2017

Visits: (i) Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is scheduled to visit Russia on 13 September. (ii) Libya's Deputy PM Ahmed Maiteeq is expected to arrive in Russia on 13 September. The visit will start in Grozny (Chechnya). (Interfax)

15 september 2017

Libyan settlement: Libyan Deputy PM Ahmed Maiteeq, who arrived in Russia on Wednesday, began his visit in Grozny at an invitation from Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Addressing prospects for the inter-Libyan dialogue in an interview with Kommersant, Maiteeq expresses the view that a meeting between Commander of the Libyan National Army Khalifa Haftar and Prime Minister of Libya's Government of National Accord Fayez al-Sarraj is unlikely to take place in Russia in the near future, adding that "we should first implement agreements reached in Paris." In his view, Russia can play an important role in the settlement in Libya. (https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3410085)

19 september 2017

Two women jailed for plotting terror attack in Rostov-on-Don: The North Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don has found former students, Tatiana Karpenko and Natalya Grishina, guilty of terrorism. The court sentenced Karpenko to 14.5 years imprisonment and Grishina to nine years in jail. Both women were also fined. According to investigators, Karpenko and Grishina, who were adherents to radical Islamic movements, have been plotting a terror attack at a shopping centre in Rostov-on-Don. (Kommersant, RG)

22 september 2017

Russian Ombudsman visits Chechnya following reports on human rights abuses: On a visit to Chechnya, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatiana Moskalkova said that Chechen authorities have opened criminal cases into disappearances of 18 people in Chechnya. Earlier, Novaya Gazeta and human rights activists reported illegal detentions, torture and killings of gay people in Chechnya. (Interfax, Novaya Gazeta, TASS)

25 september 2017

Chechnya's Kadyrov visits Belarus: Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov starts his visit to Minsk on Monday for meetings with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko and PM Andrei Kobyakov. This is Kadyrov's first visit to Belarus. (NG)

Series of resignations of regional heads expected: Kommersant does not rule out that the heads of several regions, including the Ivanovo, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Murmansk, Novosibirsk and Omsk regions, the Nenetsky autonomous district, the Krasnoyarsk territory and the Altai territory, as well as one or two regions in the North Caucasus, may soon resign. (Kommersant)

26 september 2017

Number of grave crimes in Chechnya up: In a report released on Monday, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said that the number of grave and particularly grave crimes in Chechnya has grown by more than 210% in the first six months of 2017, compared to the same period of 2016.  Sources, contacted by RBK daily, link the increase to law enforcement agencies' operations to cut off a so-called 'green corridor' for sending militants to Syria. (ii) The media reports on Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov's visit to Minsk on Monday and meetings with Belarus President Lukashenko and PM Kobyakov. (RBK, NG; Rossiya 1; see also economic headlines)

Belarus and Chechnya agree to cooperate: During Chechen leader Kadyrov's recent trip to Belarus, the sides discussed the establishment of an assembly plant in Chechnya by the Belarusian producer of agriculture machinery BobruyskAgroMash (a related bilateral agreement between the Agriculture Ministries was signed some time before), supplies to Chechnya of Belarusian passenger, freight, quarrying, road-building and municipal engineering in the perspective of setting up joint production ventures. Belarus agreed to assist in the creation in Chechnya of dairy and livestock farms, and the development of infrastructure and social environment of rural settlements. Also, President Lukashenko offered assistance of BelarusNeft in the extraction and processing of oil in Chechnya. (NG)

27 september 2017

Resignations of Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnoyarsk governors: President Putin has accepted the resignation of Nizhny Novgorod governor Valery Shantsev, who has run the region since 2005, and appointed Gleb Nikitin as acting governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region. Until now, Nikitin has been First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade. Vedomosti reports that Nikitin and Dmitry Azarov, who was appointed as acting governor of the Samara region, are close to Rostec state corporation headed by Sergey Chemezov. According to latest reports, Krasnoyarsk governor Viktor Tolokonsky has submitted his resignation. Some commentators did not rule out that the head of the Federal Agency of Scientific Organizations Mikhail Kotyukov might be appointed acting governor of the Krasnoyarsk territory. The head of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov on Wednesday announced his intention to resign. (Gazeta.ru, Izvestia, Kommersant, MK, NG, RBK, RIAN, Vedomosti)

28 september 2017

Governors' resignations: Press continues to report on a new wave of governors' resignations in Russia. Krasnoyarsk governor Viktor Tolokonsky and the head of Dagestan Ramazan Abdulatipov have announced their resignations. Expert Alexander Kynev, cited by Kommersant, notes that the public announcement of resignations breaks a scenario planned by the Presidential Administration. (ii) According to some reports, the first deputy director of Russia's Federal National Guard Service Sergey Melikov is considered a likely candidate for the post of Dagestan's new head. (iii) In a report, experts of the pro-Kremlin Expert Institute of Social Research and the 'Special Opinion' Centre named, among main features of new heads of regions elected in the 10 September elections, dialogue with society, the use of modern communicative and managerial technologies and demand for change. (Gazeta.ru, Kommersant, NG, RBK, RG, Vedomosti)