The
North Caucasus, with its chain of ethnic republics, remains the
most troublesome region in the Russian Federation. On top of the
economic and social problems that are common to all regions of Russia,
the North Caucasus faces a number of particular difficulties: the
continuing bloodshed in Chechnya, the high level of tension between
different communities, and the legacy of earlier conflicts and natural
disasters.
As
a result, the region has become the focus of much international
humanitarian effort there are many assistance programs that
have been organized by UN humanitarian agencies and by several other
organizations. These programs cover a wide range of tasks, all aimed
at helping the victims of the violent conflicts that have taken
place in the North Caucasus. In 2001, according to the UN Office
for Coordinating Humanitarian Affairs, over $80,000,000 was received
by UN agencies and other organizations to provide humanitarian assistance
to people in the region.
This
money has been spent on programs covering a wide range of different
needs: protection of refugees, food aid, the provision of shelter,
clean water and sanitation, mine clearing, the rebuilding of infrastructure,
and medical assistance. However, while all of these are undoubtedly
important, the scope of international involvement has remained limited.
It has been focused on dealing with the consequences of conflict
in the region, not its causes. There has not been a comparable effort
to prevent future conflicts and foster peace between divided communities.
Another
weakness of the international humanitarian approach is that all
action has been focused around the current war in Chechnya. Resolving
the current Chechen crisis is of course paramount for securing a
sustainable peace in the region but it would be a mistake
to overlook the problems created by earlier violent conflicts and,
especially, to avoid supporting conflict prevention programs in
other areas where tensions are high, and could escalate into full-scale
conflict in the future.
|
Refugees
from Chechnya crossing the border into Georgia, December 1999.
Photo © Bruno Stevens |
This
raises the question of whether there are ways in which civil groups
in the region might not only address the consequences of conflicts,
but also influence the course of events in areas where tension is
high between communities or ethnic groups. Are there ways to work
effectively outside the humanitarian dimension, or is
this too much to expect from the poorly developed civil structures
that are to be found today in the North Caucasus?
A chance
to put this question to the test was presented when the Moscow based
Open Society Institute began to implement a program called Hot
Spots. For the first time, a foundation working in the North
Caucasus set itself the goal of developing practical peace-building
initiatives in the region, rather than just supporting humanitarian
and human rights programs.

Since
2001, OSIs Hot Spots program has put in place a number of
complex peace-building programs in several regions of the North
Caucasus. These programs were designed to address the most serious
problems faced by the local populations, to have an impact that
would last beyond the duration of the projects themselves, and to
be inter-connected, so that they would be mutually beneficial and
have a cumulative effect. The aim was to identify specific issues
that might generate conflict, and make them the focus of the projects.
To
receive funding, programs had to satisfy a set of requirements:
they had to concentrate on a specific regional problem; to incorporate
activities that involved a wide spectrum of the population; to include
specific activities that promoted mutual understanding (meetings,
cultural and sporting events, joint labor projects, round tables,
etc.); and to encourage the various participants to work together
in a co-ordinated way.
The
projects undertaken so far have been focused on three regions: the
Karachai-Cherkess republic, north Ossetia and Ingushetia, and the
Chechnya-Dagestan region.
The
Karachai-Cherkess Republic and Neighbouring Regions
The
Karachai-Cherkess republic is the only one of the regions that were
chosen for the implementation of complex peace-building programs
that has not experienced war in the last decade. Obviously, in such
a situation, the goal of peace-building efforts in the area is to
strengthen regional stability, decrease tensions, to help the various
groups in channeling their demands into constructive forms of behavior,
and to develop a positive dialogue. Overall, the goal is -- to prevent
a possible violent conflict.
|
Refugees
from Chechnya crossing the border into Georgia, December 1999.
Photo © Bruno Stevens |
Despite
the advantage of not having the legacy of a war to contend with,
the situation in this region presents several problems. The local
civic sector is poorly developed, even in comparison with other
regions of the North Caucasus. There is no history of outside organizations
working in the republic. Paradoxically, the fact that the region
has not experienced first-hand the effects of armed conflict means
that some groups and especially some nationalist leaders
see armed struggle as a realistic (albeit perhaps distasteful)
means of achieving their goals and objectives. And the struggle
between different groups and individuals for control over property
(which was experienced by all regions in Russia after the fall of
the Communist system, and often was a prime source of conflict)
remains much more acute in Karachai-Cherkessia than in most other
Russian regions.
At
the heart of the tensions in KarachaiCherkessia are divisions
between the Turkic and the Circassian ethnic groups inhabiting the
area: the Karachai and Nogai peoples on one side, and the Cherkess
and Abazin on the other. Representatives of the different ethnic
groups in this region have little direct contact, and the initial
project here First Step to Mutual Understanding
was aimed at selecting groups of people, from different social
and political levels, who could form the basis for a constructive
dialogue between the communities.
However,
as we move from Phase One to Phase Two in 2003 we need to prepare
for an increase in internal tensions in the region, due to the upcoming
Presidential elections, expected to take place this year. Thus,
the projects that have been developed for 2003 are focused on engaging
crucial groups of the population in dialogue and joint activities
during the pre-election period.
In
North Ossetia and Ingushetia
In
the fall of 1992, a violent inter-ethnic conflict took place between
the Ossetian and Ingush communities. The basis for this conflict,
which had deep roots, was a dispute over territory in the Suburban
district of North Ossetia (which the Ingush claim because it was
part of the Chechen-Ingush republic before both peoples were deported
to Siberia and Central Asia in 1944). Since 1993, a process of reconciliation
between the two communities has been underway but it has
proceeded very slowly. There have been times when a resurgence of
tensions has threatened to overwhelm the progress that has been
made in the process of post-conflict recovery.
The
goal of civil peace-building programs in this region has been primarily
to improve the moral atmosphere, to get rid of negative ethnic stereotypes,
and to overcome the psychological barriers between the two communities.
Many Ossetians who live in the conflict zone still maintain that
the two communities cannot live side by side a position that
was officially voiced by the former leadership of their republic.
The
very slow process of resettling the Ingush refugees, which is far
from being complete, has not been matched by any actual improvement
in relations between the communities. Thus, if some of the obvious
material consequences of the conflict are slowly being taken care
of, this does not lead to an overall reduction in tension in the
region. The return of Ingush refugees to their homes (which in most
cases were destroyed) is not accompanied by genuine progress in
the area of conflict management.
Besides,
the Suburban district of North Ossetia and the dispute over it are
currently overshadowed by the war in Chechnya. Despite the difficult
situation in the area, no international organizations are currently
working there on a day-to-day basis. A number of international humanitarian
organizations are present in Ossetia and Ingushetia, but they focus
their activities on other tasks, mainly on the situation in Chechnya
and refugees from that region (though some of them are carrying
out short term programs in the Suburban district on an irregular
basis). Nongovernmental organizations in Ingushetia are also primarily
focused on the problems that are related to the war in Chechnya.
The same is true of North Ossetia; there are a number of experts
monitoring the situation, but until recently there have been no
long-term NGO programs aimed at improving the situation in the Suburban
district.
Nevertheless,
some short-term projects on this issue have been carried out quite
successfully. In January 2001 the NGO Caucasus Refugee Council
implemented a highly successful project to start a dialogue between
Ossetian and Ingush young journalists. A similar project was implemented
to establish contacts between scientists of the two republics. The
experience of these projects turned to be very valuable for the
development of the complex peace-building program in the region.
The
work of the complex program in this region has involved the mobilization
of local non-governmental organizations in five specific areas:
working with local media; working with children, teachers and social
workers; building a dialogue between students in North Ossetia and
Ingushetia; developing contacts between NGOs in both areas;
and giving legal advice to the population of the Suburban district
and refugees. It is hoped to build on these efforts to create broad
coalitions in both communities who are committed to a co-operative
approach to reducing tensions.
Chechnya
and Dagestan
This
program focuses on the Hasavyurt, Novolak and Babayurt districts
of Dagestan, and on a number of locations in the Chechen republic,
along the administrative border with Dagestan.
The
situation in these areas is very difficult, for several reasons.
There is the underlying issue of the territorial rehabilitation
of the Chechen population of Dagestan, whose houses and lands were
used to resettle other ethnic groups during the deportation of 1944-56.
On top of this are a series of disputes relating to the migration
of groups from the mountain areas of the republic into the plains,
which has led to serious changes in the ethnic composition of the
population and increased competition for limited land. And even
in comparison to the rest of the Russian Federation, this region
has seen a sharp drop in living standards over the last decade.
 |
Children drawing on the asphalt during one of the peacebuilding
projects in Cherkessk, the Karachai-Cherckess republic. Photo
© Non-Violence International. |
The
continuing war in Chechnya has also had a damaging effect on the
surrounding region. It has led to a significant number of refugees
entering Dagestan, complicating the situation there. In addition,
attacks by militants from Chechen territory against some of the
villages in the Botlih and Novolak district have caused a deterioration
in the relationship between the local Chechens and other peoples
of Dagestan.
Nevertheless,
the Hasavyurt region of Dagestan offers the precedent of an earlier
experience in managing inter-ethnic tensions so as to avoid the
risk of violent conflict. In the late summer of 1999, extremist
groups from Chechnya launched attacks into a number of villages
in Dagestan. The immediate result was a worsening of relations between
Chechens already resident in Dagestan, and the other local ethnic
groups.
Relations
were already difficult. Chechens were deported in 1944 from the
Auhov (now known as the Novolak) district of Dagestan. After they
returned from exile they were not able to come back to their houses,
since there were other people living there, mainly Laks (another
ethnic group in Dagestan) who were "resettled" there from
mountainous areas of the republic. The Chechens were given small
plots of land in the neighboring Hasavyurt district, but they continued
to press for the return of their original houses.
As
a result in 1991 there was an unprecedented decision made in Dagestan
to move the Lak people from the district to a new district, created
north of the republican capital, Mahachkala and to allow the Chechens
to return to their homes. However, partly because of lack of money
and poor management, the program that was adopted in 1991 is still
only in an early stage of implementation.
Against
this background, the incursions of fighters from Chechnya led to
a rapid growth of anti-Chechen feeling. The situation was further
aggravated by the fact that many local militias had developed in
Dagestan. These consisted of people who were officially allowed
to carry weapons, but were only under the loose control of official
authorities. Provocative leaflets began to circulate in the republic,
and there were clashes between militia groups of local Chechens
and people of other ethnic backgrounds.
In
this explosive situation, an independent group of Dagestan Chechens
known as SOS-Salvation was able to play a valuable role
in reducing the danger of conflict. It relayed information about
the situation to federal authorities, who could pressure the regional
leadership to avoid escalating tensions. It organized local meetings
of elders or religious leaders, feeding into traditional methods
of reconciliation, and promoted a public understanding that the
Dagestan Chechens should not be held responsible for terrorist attacks
launched from within Chechnya itself.
Following
on from this start, the first efforts at peace-building in the region
have included: organizing meetings of the elderly, holding joint
prayers for peace and other traditional activities; holding joint
sports events for the young, between neighboring villages along
the administrative border between Chechnya and Dagestan, and wherever
possible including federal servicemen as participants in these events;
distributing information about the culture and history of the different
peoples of the area, and organizing cultural events.
Building
on this foundation, the priority of the Hot Spots program
in this area is now to move to the new goal of using the possibility
of cross-border cooperation to support stabilization efforts in
Chechnya itself. A series of round tables was organized with representatives
of different professional groups of the two republics. The ideas
that were collected during these round tables have become the base
for designing the second phase of the Complex Peace-Building Program
in the area.
Though
it is difficult to measure the precise influence of these projects
on the situation in the regions concerned, the fact that in 2003
it is possible to set objectives that would have been considered
unrealistic just a year ago, shows that progress is being made.
Andre
Kamenshikov is Director of Non-Violence International - Newly Independent
States.
Back
to Top
|