Following the murder of two members of the security forces in Sunzhenskiy District a few days ago, an Ingush opposition website has said it is time the authorities took action against illegal armed formations and put a stop to the blood feuds which have taken so many lives in the past few years. It is possible that international terrorist groups may be behind these showdowns and the author suggests that there should be a special application of the Criminal Code to protect relatives against retribution. The following is the text of the report by Yakub Khadziyev headlined "On the brink of mutual destruction, or how to stop widespread bloody retribution", published on the Ingushetiya.ru website on 25 August; subheadings have been inserted editorially:
Ingush police officers attacked
Two people - one a present and one a former member of the police - were killed in the village of Alkhasty in Ingushetia's Sunzhenskiy District on the night of 19-20 August. This is not the first crime committed against the Ingush security forces. The murders of Deputy Interior Minister Dzhabrail Kostoyev, OMON [special-purpose police detachment] commander Musa Nalgiyev, with three young children, the burning of the homes of police officers in the village of Yandar, an assassination attempt on the chief of the department of internal affairs of the town of Karabulak [Akhmet Murzabekov], and yesterday's attack on [Timur] Khamkhoyev [staff member of regional operational headquarters] in the village of Nesterovskaya all remind one of some kind of organized destruction, with no sign of an end to it.
What is happening? Could any of us even ten years ago have imagined in their wildest dreams that Ingushetia would find itself in this situation? In analysing the current situation, I will try to draw a picture of the events in Ingushetia over the past few years.
On the night of 21-22 June 2004, the republic came under attack from militants, which led to 80 people being killed. The militants killed police officers and prosecutors. What happened, not without the help of the media, was portrayed as retribution by militants against members of the Ingush Interior Ministry who had unleashed a merciless struggle against illegal armed formations.
The relatives of the police officers killed on that terrible night wasted no time. They vigorously searched for the attackers from among the Ingush and many of them were killed or are either under investigation, at large or have been given long prison terms. Thus, the law-enforcement bodies, as well as the relatives of the dead policemen, are searching for the attackers. The members of illegal armed formations who are still at large are also not waiting for the security officers to come after them or for a bullet from someone settling a blood feud, but are waging a real struggle with the republic's law-enforcement bodies. No-one knows how many years this struggle will go on for. The relatives of the dead and the detained from both sides are virtually taking part in a bloody feud of retribution against one another. There may be some other unknown quantity here, but either we will never know or we will only know in many decades to come.
Foreign agencies linked to blood feuds?
This slaughter must be stopped. But to achieve this those engaged in this feud must be brought together, and state-run establishments and the public must take action. First, the search for the militants must be carried out in such a way that their relatives are unaware of the source of the information leading to the arrest or the death of a member of illegal armed formations. Then there can be no retribution against the supplier of the information.
Furthermore, the search for and especially the arrest of a militant must be carried out in such a way that he and his relatives are unaware of the names of the police officers who took part in the operation.
Second, the relatives of the Interior Ministry officer killed on that tragic night must not know even subsequently that precisely this member of illegal armed formations is being charged with their relative's murder. This runs counter to existing legislation, but in the conditions prevailing in the Caucasus, it is better if the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code on victims and their rights are applied in a different way. Such actions could deprive both sides of a "basis" for mutual retribution.
Third, it cannot be ruled out that all these bloody showdowns in Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan are taking place with the participation of international terrorist organizations or foreign special services, who are well aware of the mentality of the Caucasus peoples. There must be a reason for the blood feuds which turn into murder. For example, the future of the mutual bloody animosity of many clans, who have been skilfully set one against the other following the numerous murders and reprisals carried out by militants and pro-Kadyrov [pro-Moscow Chechen prime minister] formations against one another, has been prepared in Chechnya for decades ahead. Ingushetia is currently only on the threshold of such a situation.
It is the task of the appropriate services in Russia to fight the intrigues of these hostile organizations. There are influential politicians in the West who are struggling for the collapse of the Russian Federation, and the bloody events of recent years in a number of North Caucasus republics are possibly links in this malicious plan.
Fourth, the people in the republic, including elders and the clergy, must try to reconcile those who after the night of 21-22 June 2004 entered a blood feud and must try to improve the moral and psychological climate in Ingush society. The public can carry out this work more successfully than state-run establishments and the media. The main thing now is to determine, that is to know what form these bloody feuds are taking, who are behind them and who are carrying them out, etc. As pointed out earlier, the efforts of state bodies and the public are needed to achieve this. Then we will cease losing our brothers and sisters, and peace will reign.
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