[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 148 (Friday, November 15, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2072]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     THE WAR IN CHECHNYA AND MOSCOW

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 14, 2002

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, next week following the NATO 
conference in Prague, President Bush is scheduled to meet with 
President Putin in St. Petersburg, Russia. It is expected that the two 
leaders will discuss such vital issues as the war against terrorism, 
the policies in Iraq, safeguards against weapons of mass destruction, 
and expanded energy cooperation between the United States and Russia. I 
would urge Mr. Bush to include on the agenda the continuing conflict in 
Chechnya.
  At this time, the Russian Government and its people are still 
recovering from the horrific events of last month, when a group of 
armed Chechen terrorists seized approximately 700 hostages in a Moscow 
theater and threatened them with execution if the Putin Administration 
did not withdraw its forces from Chechnya. After three days of terror, 
Russian special forces captured the theater, apparently killing all the 
terrorists. In the preliminary gas attack to neutralize the terrorists, 
over one hundred hostages lost their lives. This terrorist attack was 
appropriately condemned by the Bush Administration, and we all 
sympathize with the innocent victims of this attack.
  But, Mr. Speaker, this does not mean that we should not step back and 
seriously examine the circumstances that have driven some elements of 
the Chechen resistance to such suicidal extremes.
  Perhaps it is because the Russian military, in its drive to suppress 
Chechen separatism, has employed means which virtually guaranteed to 
drive a despairing civilian population into the arms of a radicalized 
resistance. In the three and a half years since the war reignited when 
Chechen militants invaded neighboring Dagestan, the Russian military 
has embarked on a campaign of carnage, destruction, and looting against 
the civilian population. There are credible and ongoing reports of 
atrocities committed by members of the Russian military--indiscriminate 
shelling and bombing, murder, assault, rape, torture, arrests 
``disappearances,'' kidnaping and holding civilians for ransom. It is 
imperative that military personnel who commit such egregious human 
rights violations face criminal charges but the Russian military and 
judicial system has yet to demonstrate its commitment to bring such 
criminal actions to account.
  Nor should we have any illusions about some elements among the 
Chechen fighters, who have murdered hostages, kidnapped civilians for 
ransom and used them as shields during combat operations, and embarked 
on a campaign of assassination against fellow Chechens who work for the 
Russian civil government in Chechnya. And, as Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of State Steve Pifer testified before the Helsinki 
Commission, ``We have seen evidence of individuals or certain factions 
in Chechnya who are linked to international terrorist elements 
including Al Qaeda.'' Without a doubt, war criminals and terrorists 
should be brought to justice, wherever they are and whomever they 
serve.
  In the wake of the attack on the theater in Moscow, President Putin 
has hardened an already uncompromising position against the Chechen 
fighters. But, it should be clear that the Russian scorched-earth 
policy against Chechnya and the Chechen people is not bringing peace to 
the region. Rather, such policies are sowing the dragon's teeth of 
hatred and conflict for generations to come.
  The distinguished Newsweek commentator Fareed Zakaria recently wrote: 
Terrorism is bad, but those fighting terror can be very nasty, too. And 
the manner in which they fight can make things much, much worse. It is 
a lesson we had better learn fast because from Egypt to Pakistan to 
Indonesia, governments around the world are heightening their 
repression and then selling it to Washington as part of the war on 
terror. Russian officials called the Chechen fighters ``rebels'' or 
``bandits'' until recently. Now they are all ``international Islamic 
terrorists.''
  Secretary of State Colin Powell continues to call for the observation 
of human rights and a political settlement in Chechnya, while 
consistently and properly supporting Russia's territorial integrity. 
But as the Danish Foreign Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, recently 
summed up the issue, ``We, of course, support Russia in the fight 
against terrorism ... but it is not a long-term solution to the 
Chechnya problem to launch a military action and bomb the country to 
pieces.''
  In addition, the war in Chechnya has affected thousands of refugees, 
who have fled the constant carnage. In September of this year, I and 10 
other colleagues from both the House and Senate wrote President Putin 
regarding the plight of the internally displaced persons escaping 
Chechnya to the neighboring province of Ingushetia. We urged the 
president to resist the forcible return of internally displaced persons 
seeking refuge in Ingushetia, elsewhere in the Russian Federation, or 
to any location where the security situation is unstable and proper 
housing unavailable. However, I have recently learned of 300 Chechen 
families who are currently facing expulsion from Ingushetia and are 
seeking refugee status in Kazakhstan. I hope the Russian Government 
will not expel these individuals, but instead will take all possible 
actions to alleviate the situation for the many innocent victims of the 
brutal violence.
  Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge President Bush to include these 
important issues in his talks with President Putin when they meet in 
St. Petersburg.

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