MOSCOW - Ramzan Kadyrov, the 39-year-old strongman who has held the post of president of Russia's Chechen Republic for nine years, rang in the new year by lashing out at Chechen immigrants who took to the streets in Vienna, Austria, on Christmas Eve to protest against his rule.
Declaring in a New Year's Eve address that "it is our custom that a brother answers for a brother," Kadyrov said he had given the order to find out whether the protesters "have brothers and fathers, which clan they belong to, where they were born, and who they are."
The Chechen ruler added, every available resource would be used to ensure that the relatives of the protesters "sort them out."
Kadyrov is known for publicly reprimanding fellow citizens who criticize the status quo in the republic. Last December, Chechen resident Aishat Inaeva complained in an Internet posting that officials were using violence to collect housing and utilities payments. Kadyrov forced her to appear on TV and recant.
Human rights organizations say Kadyrov has established a regime of personal power in the republic. The work of human rights activists in Chechnya is extremely complicated. They are threatened with physical violence, threats which are sometimes acted on. In December 2014, the office of the Joint Mobile Group of Russian human rights defenders in the Chechen capital of Grozny was destroyed in an arson attack.
The Russian opposition is currently preparing a report on Kadyrov. Ilya Yashin, deputy chairman of the opposition People's Freedom Party, or PARNAS, discussed it with VOA.
A: The very existence of a regime like the one in Chechnya is a big reason for doing this and making the results public. Because this is a unique region; there is none other like it in Russia. It is a region where Russian laws are essentially not in force, where an autonomous political regime has been created. And it is a region that is not spoken about; the problems in this region are not discussed. Nevertheless, the problem grows bigger each year, like a cancerous tumor. And today, in my opinion, it threatens not only the stability and security of the North Caucasus, but the national security of the whole country. Thus, the working title of the report is: "A Threat to National Security."
A: The threat is that Kadyrov has become a fairly major political figure which nobody can manage or control. The absence of any control or countermeasures gives Kadyrov a feeling of absolute license and impunity. He has large financial resources; standing behind him are thousands of well-trained and well-armed fighters who are loyal to him personally, not to Russia's laws or constitution. Considering all these factors, the problem of Kadyrov personally and his political regime as a whole creates a threat not just in relations between Chechnya and the federal center: It poses a threat to the country's national security, by discrediting the entire legal framework. When the head of one of (Russia's) regions publicly orders his policemen to shoot at police or investigators from other regions, and does not experience any pushback, it is, of course, a challenge to the entire Russian state.
[NOTE: Last April, after a Chechen man was killed in Grozny by police from the neighboring Stavropol region along with officers from the Russian Interior Ministry, Kadyrov told security forces under his control that they should shoot to kill any outside security officers "whether from Moscow or Stavropol," who appear on their territory without their knowledge.]
Since the state does not counteract this, I believe that civil society and the political opposition should raise the issue. Because I think that this problem still can be solved. However, if the trend continues, at some point this problem will simply be impossible solve.