Bloodbath in Beslan


Putin’s Policies Fuel National Conflicts in the Caucasus

THE BLOODY end to the school hostage crisis in Beslan, North Ossetia,
angered, sickened and shocked people around the world. Officially, more
than 340 died, and the figure is expected to rise substantially. Many
hundreds are injured or unaccounted for.

Niall Mulholland

The 1 September brutal assault by terrorists on the school, and their
barbaric treatment of hostages – including children and elderly women –
underscores the completely reactionary character of the Chechen separatist
Islamic group which carried it out.

The hostage takers had demanded a withdrawal of Russian troops from
Chechnya and the release of rebels jailed after a series of armed attacks
in another Russian republic, Ingushetia, in June, which killed nearly 100
police officials.

The root causes of the latest atrocity reside in the decade-long
Chechen war, and, more generally, in the national conflicts that have
arisen in the former Soviet republics following the disastrous restoration
of capitalism.

Successive Russian governments have murdered and terrorised the people
of Chechnya and destroyed most of the cities and towns. It is estimated
that over 40,000 children have been killed by Russian forces, although
those horrors were hardly ever shown on television or condemned by Putin’s
allies in the West.

The vast majority of Chechens live in extreme poverty. The country is
denied self-determination by the brutal occupation of the Russian army,
and by pro-Moscow Chechen militias and a puppet regime.

‘International terrorism’?

PUTIN HAS tried to ‘internationalise’ the conflict, by declaring that
the brutal Russian occupation of Chechnya is part of the so-called
"war against international terrorism". Last week, Russian
officials succeeded in getting the UN Security Council to pass a
resolution condemning the siege.

At the same time, Putin declares the Chechen conflict is an
"internal matter". He wants Western backing, but no
interference, as Russian forces carry out even more vicious attacks in
Chechnya.

In a national TV address, Putin ominously said he would bring the
Caucasus ‘under control’ and tighten security. But he was also forced to
concede that corruption in the security forces and a lack of
"professionalism" had contributed towards the bloody outcome.

Blair and Bush have wasted no time in trying to use the terrible Beslan
events to their advantage; "Russia’s 11 September" is used to
justify the endless "war on terror" and the clampdown on
democratic, civil and human rights. No doubt, both leaders hope this will
aid their re-election chances.

Undoubtedly, there is widespread anger amongst working people in Russia
at the hostage takers. This poses a real danger of increased ethnic
tensions and conflict in Moscow and other Russian cities with large
Caucasian populations. The cry for harsher measures against terrorism can
get an echo, in Russia and the West. However, there is also widespread
despair amongst Russians, with many blaming Putin for failing to resolve
the Chechen conflict, as he promised to do years ago. This is compounded
by the authorities’ mishandling of the siege during and afterwards.

Putin re-ignited the conflict in Chechnya to boost his credentials as a
"firm leader" prior to becoming president of Russia. But the
conflict continues to dog his rule. Despite the Russian president’s claim
that things are "getting better" in Chechnya, the last two weeks
saw two planes and a metro station in Moscow attacked, with the loss of
around 100 lives. In 2002, hundreds of theatre-goers in Moscow died after
a disastrous assault by Russian special forces to free hostages held by
Chechen rebels.

The Russian president’s attempts to crush the insurgents by repression
and bribery have failed. In October 2003, a pro-Moscow Chechen president,
Akhmad Kadyrov, was ‘elected’. Putin aimed to rule Chechnya through this
brutal stooge and Russian officials boasted that the separatists were
deeply divided and nearly defeated. However, on 9 May, this year, Kadyrov
was assassinated by a bomb blast.

West ignores abuses

AFTER 9/11, the US and Western countries ignored the continual human
rights abuses and mass murders carried out by Russian forces in Chechnya,
as they sought a new alliance with Putin in the ‘fight against terror’.
Furthermore, for the US and other Western countries, Russia’s importance
as a giant exporter of oil and gas has grown in recent years.

Subsequently, the exiled Chechen separatist leader, Aslan Maskhadov,
who was previously termed a ‘moderate’, was disowned by the Western
powers. But this left the way open for hard-line, Islamic groups to fill
the vacuum in Chechnya, although Putin undoubtedly exaggerates the role of
"Arab" and other foreign Islamic fighters.

The new generation of Chechen insurgents, who believe they are fighting
a "Jihad", act out of complete desperation, after experiencing
years of extreme repression, and often witnessing the death of husbands,
brothers, sons and other family members and friends at the hands of
Russian forces.

Their ability to strike is aided by the enormous levels of corruption
in Russian society; Chechen fighters have previously made their way
through Russian army checkpoints by simply paying a bribe!

The increasing complication of the Chechen conflict is compounded by
the fragile ethnic tensions in the North Ossetia region. Thirteen years
ago, North Ossetia (mainly Orthodox Christian) went to war with
neighbouring Ingushetia (mainly Muslim). Furthermore, Russian forces have
recently conducted "anti-terrorist" operations in Ingushetia,
where they believe separatists have gained support. Only weeks before,
Georgia and South Ossetia were on the verge of war.

Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, Russia has attempted to
dominate small nations to its south, provoking instability across the
north and south Caucasus. Russia bitterly opposes independence for
Chechnya, while actively supporting secessionists in areas like Abkhazia
and South Ossetia, two contested provinces in Georgia.

This imperialist meddling is causing all sorts of contradictions and
conflicts. The Moscow-supported Abkhaz revolt, in 1992, was supported by
armed volunteers from Chechnya. Later, Chechens returned home and began
fighting for independence. One of these was Shamil Basayev, now a leader
of ‘The Second Group of Salakin Riadus Shakhidi’, a Chechen Islamic group
which Russian officials last week blamed for the Beslan seige.

Arms are awash across the Caucasus, many of which originate from
Russian forces, and circulate among militias. The recent upsurge of
Chechen-linked violence in Russia, in the Caucasus and, of course, in
Chechnya, indicates the danger of a new ‘third Chechen war’ or wider
regional conflict erupting.

Strongman Putin?

ALTHOUGH THE government and pro-Putin Russian media fan the fires of
racism to keep anti-Chechen feelings high amongst Russians, the continuing
Chechen conflict shows that Putin cannot deliver ‘security’ or ‘peace’ in
Chechnya or anywhere in Russia.

Putin desperately resists Chechen autonomy, let alone independence.
Important regional natural resources and supply lines, and other
geo-strategic considerations, means that the capitalist elite in Russia
will forcibly act to stop genuine self-determination for Chechnya.

Recent ‘elections’ in Chechnya put in place as President, Alu Alkhanov,
the latest pro-Moscow stooge. Western leaders, like France’s President
Chirac and Germany’s Chancellor Schroeder, may back the result, but the
sham elections did not fool the majority of Chechens.

Earlier this summer, Putin’s rule was also coming under renewed
pressure from working people in Russia. The Kremlin is increasing its
authoritarian rule and introduced widely hated cuts in social benefits,
including housing subsidies, pensions, public transport and prescriptions.
The President’s boast that he would double Russia’s GDP sounds
increasingly hollow to the country’s impoverished millions.

Underlining the reactionary and counter-productive character of
terrorism, the bloody events in Beslan may, for a short period, deflect
anger over social and class issues. However, ongoing conflict and the deep
economic and social problems in Russia, will send the working people of
Russia on a collision course with the Putin regime and the ruling class.

To achieve a fundamental change to their lives, the Russian working
class will have to re-embrace the ideas of Lenin and Trotsky – the ideas
of genuine Marxism. A socialist society, with an economy under the
democratic control and planning of the working class, is the only way to
lift the majority of people out of poverty, joblessness, low pay,
exploitation and poor working conditions.

A socialist programme also includes allowing the right of oppressed
nations to decide their own future. This means the Russian workers’
movement supporting self-determination for the Chechen people and an end
to Russian occupation of the country; for a socialist Chechnya as part of
a socialist confederation of the region, on a voluntary and equal basis. A
socialist programme would include winning over the rank and file of the
mainly conscript Russian soldiers, who face appalling conditions and are
poorly paid.

Only a united mass movement of Chechen workers and poor, linked to the
working class of the region, can overcome national, ethnic and religious
differences and deliver the aspirations of the Chechen people –
successfully winning national rights and social and economic liberation.