C. Integrity
3. Republic of Chechnya
3.2 Recent developments
3.2.1 Elections 2016
The Chechen parliament dissolved in June 2016 in order for the regional elections for the Chechen Parliament to coincide with the federal elections for the State Duma on 18 September 2016 (767).
United Russia maintained its 37 seats in the Chechen parliament, with 87.66 % of votes. Fair Russia/A Just Russia and the Communist Party won the remainder of the 41 seats (768). United Russia also won the State Duma elections in the Chechen Republic. Gaining 96.3 % of the votes, it achieved by far the
(760)Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the RF, Chechen Republic, 15 November 2016; Ria Novosti, Hero of Russia Magomed Daudov elected as Speaker of Chechen Parliament, 4 October 2016.
(761) Chechen Parliament, Constitution of the Chechen Republic, 23 March 2003, Article 6; Deutsch-Russische Außenhandelskammer, Staatsaufbau der Russischen Föderation, n.d.; EPRS, Russia’s constitutional structure: Federal in form, unitary in function, October 2015, pp. 4-5.
(762)Supreme Court of the Chechen Republic, Courts of the Chechen Republic, n.d.
(763)ICG, Chechnya: The Inner Abroad, 30 June 2015, p. 31.
(764)ICG, Chechnya: The Inner Abroad, 30 June 2015, p. ii; SEM, Focus Russland; Korruption im Alltag, insbesondere in Tschetschenien, 15 July 2016, pp. 12-13.
(765)ICG, The North Caucasus: The Challenges of Integration (I), Ethnicity and Conflict, 19 October 2012, p. 5; Falkowski, M., Ramzanistan Russia’s Chechen Problem, August 2015, p. 19; EASO, Chechnya: Women, Marriage, Divorce and Child Custody, September 2014, p. 9.
(766) Falkowski, M., Ramzanistan Russia’s Chechen Problem, August 2015, p. 19.
(767) RFE/RL, Chechnya Schedules Preterm Parliamentary Elections, 20 June 2016; Jamestown Foundation, Non-Chechen Candidates from Moscow Plans to Run for Seats Representing the North Caucasus in Upcoming Parliamentary Elections, 22 July 2016; Meduza, The Chechen parliament just decided to dissolve itself, 16 June 2016.
(768) Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the RF, Chechen Republic, 15 November 2016; Chechen Parliament, Results of the parliamentary elections are known, 21 September 2016; Ria Novosti, The Chechen parliament will consist of three parties:
Gained seats: United Russia, Fair Russia, and the CPRF, 20 September 2016.
best result in any of the republics (769). An observer writing for the Jamestown Foundation noted that only candidates close to Chechen leader Kadyrov stood a realistic chance of winning. Human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina, who ran for the State Duma elections in Chechnya, stated that although she was unable to campaign in Chechnya, she wanted her candidacy to be a public message to the people (770).
3.2.2 The current regime in the Chechen Republic
As reported by HRW, given the strong relationship of interdependence between Putin and Kadyrov, the latter has so far been able to run Chechnya as his personal fiefdom (771). He dominates official media and actively uses social media (772), where he publicly states that he ‘“owns” all the people of Chechnya’ (773). According to observers, in the past 10 years, he has established a quasi‐Islamic state, based on a strict variant of Sufi Islam meshed with Chechen nationalism, where public and private behaviour is closely monitored (774). According to Memorial, Kadyrov depicts himself as the ‘Keeper of the Koran’ (775); he is also described as a Padeshah, referring to an ancient Persian royal title (776). As noted by ICG, the reliance on a religious and traditional source of his rule has resulted in the establishment of a personality cult surrounding Kadyrov (777).
The regime is supported by a tight‐knit circle of extended Kadyrov family members and loyal supporters, many of whom fought in the Chechen wars as part of the paramilitary forces known as kadyrovtsy (778). According to a representative from a Western embassy interviewed during a fact‐
finding mission by the Danish Immigration Service, these units are used to abusive tactics from the war. Therefore, ‘they do not behave as proper law enforcement officers are expected to do’ (779).
Human rights groups and analysts reported that every employee of the Chechen state government and certain state‐run institutions, as well as businesspersons, have to pay monthly contribution to the Kadyrov Fund, a charity run by Akhmad Kadyrov’s widow which builds mosques and schools and provides social welfare support to poor families (780). This unofficial taxation system is of an extortionist nature: the Danish Immigration Service mentions a case of a person who has reportedly lost his job
(769)Ria Novosti, Elections to the Duma - 2016, 23 September 2016; Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, Elections to the Seventh State Duma of the Russian Federation. Chechen Republic, 18 September 2016; HSS, Berichte aus dem Ausland - Politischer Bericht aus der Russischen Föderation - Nr. 17/2016 , 6. Oktober 2016, p. 1.
(770)Jamestown Foundation, Non-Chechen Candidates from Moscow Plans to Run for Seats Representing the North Caucasus in Upcoming Parliamentary Elections, 22 July 2016.
(771) HRW, "Like Walking a Minefield"; Vicious Crackdown on Critics in Russia’s Chechen Republic, 30 August 2016, p. 12.
(772) HRW, "Like Walking a Minefield"; Vicious Crackdown on Critics in Russia’s Chechen Republic, 30 August 2016, p. 12.
(773)DIS, Security and human rights in Chechnya and the situation of Chechens in the Russian Federation – residence registration, racism and false accusations, January 2015, p. 124.
(774)ICG, Chechnya: The Inner Abroad, 30 June 2015, p. ii, p. 18; Falkowski, M., Ramzanistan Russia’s Chechen Problem, August 2015, p. 14; WSJ, Chechnya: Russia’s Islamic State?, 2 June 2016.
(775)Memorial, Counter-terrorism in the North Caucasus: a human rights perspective. 2014 – first half of 2016, 2016, p. 23.
(776)ICG, Chechnya: The Inner Abroad, 30 June 2015, p. 11.
(777)ICG, Chechnya: The Inner Abroad, 30 June 2015, p. 11.
(778)ICG, Chechnya: The Inner Abroad, 30 June 2015, p. 8; The Telegraph, Ramzan Kadyrov: Putin's 'sniper' in Chechnya, 24 February 2016; Falkowski, M., Ramzanistan Russia’s Chechen Problem, August 2015, p. 15; Caucasian Knot, 26-year-old Kadyrov's nephew appointed First Deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya, 15 March 2016.
(779)DIS, Security and human rights in Chechnya and the situation of Chechens in the Russian Federation – residence registration, racism and false accusations, January 2015, p. 180.
(780) ICG, Chechnya: The Inner Abroad, 30 June 2015, pp. 23-24, 26; Falkowski, M., Ramzanistan Russia’s Chechen Problem, August 2015, p. 17.
after refusing to pay (781).
According to the ICG, Kadyrov tolerates no opposition to his rule and ‘dissidenters are considered enemies’ (782). This attitude is echoed by senior government officials. The ICG cites the deputy Chechen interior minister who stated in 2013 that ‘those who even yap against the authorities, I swear by Allah and the Quran, up to the maximum possible … I do not want to tell this in front of the camera, [but] I personally will try to create as much trouble as possible for this man' (783).
HRW reported that the Chechen government has engaged in a campaign to stifle any opposition to Kadyrov, through physical attacks, unlawful detention, disappearances, and harassment. These violations intensified at the end of 2015 after the population became more critical of its leadership in the wake of a drop in oil prices and the floundering economy (784). According to HRW, ‘residents of Chechnya who show dissatisfaction with or seem reluctant to applaud the Chechen leadership and its policies are the primary victims of this crackdown’ (785).
In early 2016, Kadyrov reportedly also spoke out strongly against any opposition to Putin, calling them the ‘enemy of the nation’ and ‘lackeys of the west’ (786).
As reported by Memorial, Kadyrov’s strong‐armed approach is not limited to the sphere of party politics. Through the media, Kadyrov provides frequent instructions on behaviour in accordance with religious and traditional customs (787). This includes instructions to ordinary citizens, in particular women, but also Muslim leaders (788).
As reported by ICG, he publicly interferes with court decisions (789), speaks up to support forced marriage of underage girls (790), and intimidates the political opposition and human rights activists. In September 2016, he reportedly called upon police officers to shoot drunk drivers or – in a modified interpretation of the prosecutor general of Chechnya, implied encounters between police and drunk drivers or drug addicts would lead to scenarios that justified the use of firearms (791).
The following section will describe in more detail the impact this particular power structure has on law
(781)DIS, Security and human rights in Chechnya and the situation of Chechens in the Russian Federation – residence registration, racism and false accusations, January 2015, p. 139; Falkowski, M., Ramzanistan Russia’s Chechen Problem, August 2015, p. 17; on systematic extortion see also Memorial, Counter-terrorism in the North Caucasus: a human rights perspective. 2014 – first half of 2016, 2016, p. 34.
(782)ICG, Chechnya: The Inner Abroad, 30 June 2015, p. 35; Memorial: Counter-terrorism in the North Caucasus: a human rights perspective. 2014 – first half of 2016, 2016, p. 31.
(783)ICG, Chechnya: The Inner Abroad, 30 June 2015, pp. 35-36.
(784)HRW, "Like Walking a Minefield", Vicious Crackdown on Critics in Russia’s Chechen Republic, 30 August 2016, p. 18.
(785)HRW, "Like Walking a Minefield", Vicious Crackdown on Critics in Russia’s Chechen Republic, 30 August 2016, p. 2.
(786)Falkowski, M., Kadyrov attacks the Russian opposition, 27 January 2016.
(787)Memorial, Counter-terrorism in the North Caucasus: a human rights perspective. 2014 – first half of 2016, 2016, p. 23.
(788)ICG, Chechnya: The Inner Abroad, 30 June 2015, p. 18.
(789)ICG, Chechnya: The Inner Abroad, 30 June 2015, pp. 31-32; see also section on judges below.
(790)RJI and CAN, Submission from Russian Justice Initiative (RJI) and Chechnya Advocacy Network Concerning the Russian Federation's Compliance with the CEDAW Convention in the North Caucasus Region, October 2015, p. 8.
(791)The Interpreter, Assassination Attempt on Kadyrov Revealed As He Sparks New Scandal with Call to Execute Drug Addicts, 3 October 2016; Jamestown Foundation, Ramzan Kadyrov Lashes out at Chechens Who Flee Republic, 4 October 2016.
enforcement and the judiciary.