Russian Counter-Terrorism Operations Designed to Justify Siloviki Presence in North Caucasus, not to Eliminate Any Militants, Ingush Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, May 31 – For the third time this year, Russian siloviki have conducted a counter-terrorism operation in Ingushetia, which ended with two dead; but Russian claims about the existence of “sleeper cells” there ring hollow because the FSB has now provided any evidence for their existence, Ingush experts say.

            Instead, they suggest, such operations are designed first and foremost to justify the money Moscow spends on the security forces and the continuing presence of Russian security forces not just in Ingushetia but throughout the North Caucasus, something that even those in the republic interior ministry can see.

            This level of distrust reflects not only what Ingush people know about the two who were killed this time around – one was a family man who earlier served in the FSB border forces and had shown no inclination to radicalism of any kind – but also their experience with earlier siloviki operations whose justifications collapsed on close examination.

            Tamirlan Akiyev, the head of the Ingush office of Memorial, tells the Kavkaz-Uzel news agency that “the official versions of the siloviki about the liquidation of militants generate doubts in society not because they are implausible but because they as usual are not supported by any evidence”  (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/350330/).

                Because the siloviki declared that they had faced resistance and that two militants were killed when the forces responded, “the local population has no faith in official information. This doesn’t meant that it is a priori false, but any information of that type must be checked or supported by additional evidence” besides official statements.

            Magomed Mutsolgov, the head of the MASHR human rights center, is even blunter. He says that the authorities have to earn the trust of the population, “and we know of dozens if not hundreds of examples of illegal actions by the force structures including tortures, kidnappings and extra-judicial executions.”

            It is to be regretted that the siloviki are not fulfilling their responsibilities to protect the population but rather taking actions in order to justify the money Moscow spends on them and their continued presence in Ingushetia and other republics of the North Caucasus by persecuting anyone who questions the rule of the powers that be, republic or Russian.

            The Russian siloviki, Mutsolgov continues, have to organize “counter-terrorism actions” every so often so that the powers in Moscow and Magas will feel compelled to support them especially since many of the officers of these units are anything but professional. Many are little more than unnecessary burdens on the budget.

            “In all the republics of the North Caucasus Federal District, there are a sufficient number of officers of law enforcement agencies and special services who have professional training no worse than those sent in from the outside.” These local people “are more motivated, know the situation in the region, and are connected with its residences and the future of Ingushetia.”

            Even an officer of the republic interior ministry, speaking of course on conditions of anonymity, concurred that the Russian siloviki had not earned the trust of the population and wouldn’t unless and until their units would provide more information on what is actually going on, rather than relying on declarations alone.